Beer 80: La Trappe Quadrupel

What a day.  A  co-worker inadvertently attempted to poison me.  I am indeed sick as I suspected yesterday.  I had medicine head for a big meeting today and had to work really hard to make sense and stay awake.  How I am still awake - hell, even alive - at this point is beyond me.

Let’s start with the poisoning.  I’m allergic to artificial sweetener and spent the entire morning powering through sugar-free (or artificially sweetened) Halls cough drops.  But I didn’t know they were sugar-free until post-lunch at which point I started feeling more off than I thought I should.  I won’t bore you with the details of how I know I’m having an allergic reaction but let’s just say I left work before the numbness and blindness set in.  It was the…longest…drive…ever.  But I managed to get home, take more cold medicine and Advil and pass out on the couch.  Now I've rallied and am drinking a La Trappe Quadrupel.

La Trappe is brewed at one of the seven remaining Trappist monastery breweries.  It is the only one in The Netherlands.  The Quadrupel comes in at 10% ABV - evidently I continue to self-medicate.  (Also if any members of my family are reading this…don’t be alarmed.  I’m typically very responsible.)  It poured a reddish amber color and smelled sweet and of malt.  Sometimes I’ll drink a beer with a high ABV and can’t taste the alcohol.  This is NOT one of those beers.  It is all up in my taste buds.  It drinks big and thick and is sweet and finishes with a bite.

According to the La Trappe’s website, it is now aged in oak barrels and you can pick up some of the flavor that the barrel imparts.  I also noticed toffee and something fruity in the flavor.  I’d probably like this even more if I weren’t so stuffed up and feeling like crap.  With a little luck, I’m going to attempt to get twelve hours of sleep tonight and will wake up a new woman.  Cheers to that.