Hey everyone, I'm glad to see you again! Let me start today with a question to break the ice, what kind of drunk are you? You know the situation. You're at someone's place, a bar, a wedding, whatever..It doesn't matter who you are, after a certain amount of drinking everyone's personality changes in one way or another. I'm the guy that you can't tell is drunk unless you know me pretty well. I still make my rounds and talk to everyone and stay in a normal state of mind overall. My one give away is that if this is not my first time meeting you, you are probably going to get a hug, maybe two or more if you are lucky.

Well anyway, moving on... Today I am having Boulevard's Sixth Glass, a quad from their smokestack series with a great story behind it.

But first, Let us take a look at what Beer Advocate tells us about a quad (Quadrupel): "Inspired by the Trappist brewers of Belgium, a Quadrupel is a Belgian style ale of great strength with bolder flavor compared to its Dubbel and Tripel sister styles. Typically a dark creation that ranges within the deep red, brown and garnet hues. Full bodied with a rich malty palate. Phenols are usually at a moderate level. Sweet with a low bitterness yet a well perceived alcohol."

Thank you Beer Advocate, you are a delight. Compared with other high alcohol by value(ABV) styles such as Imperial Stouts or Barley Wines, well made quads are much more approachable to the casual beer drinker. Sixth Glass weighs in at 10.5 percent ABV. Truthfully this isn't like most of the quads out there, but who wants that? I like this one much better. it pours a deep copper with a nice tan head that laces the glass. The aroma hits me with plums, clove, some banana, and spice, more spice than other quads I frequent such as Avery's The Reverend. The flavor hits with a hearty dose of toffee with dark fruits like raisins and plum and then the whole experience ends with a nice clove and spice finish with the alcohol note (my favorite thing about it). The alcohol note lingers along with some of the spices a bit longer than other Quads, something that would probably change some after cellaring for a while.

Though admittedly a great beer, the story behind the name of this beer is even better. "Do you know what dwells in the glass?" asked Ole, an eccentric character in the short story "The Watchman of the Tower" by Hans Christian Anderson (linked is the section I am talking about but you can google the title to find the full short story). Each glass is spoken of in terms of what it does to a man when he drinks it. It is a very delightful and comical representation of the levels of drunkenness one goes through. The sixth glass is the last one that is mentioned:

"The sixth glass! Yes, in that glass sits a demon, in the form of a little, well dressed, attractive and very fascinating man, who thoroughly understands you, agrees with you in everything, and becomes quite a second self to you. He has a lantern with him, to give you light as he accompanies you home. There is an old legend about a saint who was allowed to choose one of the seven deadly sins, and who accordingly chose drunkenness, which appeared to him the least, but which led him to commit all the other six. The man's  blood is mingled with that of the demon. It is the sixth glass, and with that the germ of all evil shoots up within us; and each one grows up with a strength like that of the grains of mustard-seed, and shoots up into a tree, and spreads over the whole world: and most people have no choice but to go into the oven, to be re-cast in a new form."

If you check the photo, you'll see that there is a demon face on the front of the Sixth Glass bottle. It is a heavy beer so you will be pretty far gone if you have six glasses of this one. If you have time, read the whole section involving the glasses. HC Anderson is more famous for his less adult stories such as The Little Mermaid. Also, if you haven't yet, start trying the smokestack series beers. I promise you'll jump on the bandwagon, they are the real deal.

Cheers!

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. -Ernest Hemingway

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