I have said plenty lately about the fine beer produced by the Trappist breweries. I continue to enjoy drinking one every now and again, even if here in Alberta the price point can be a bit steep.

I spotted a Trappist rarity the other day, the La Trappe Quadrupel Oak-Aged. La Trappe re-instated an oak barrel aging program a few years ago and releases a new version of the oak-aged Quad every few months. I hadn’t tried it before, so thought I would give it a spin.

It pours medium amber with good clarity. It has a moderate off white head with substantial lacing. I detect caramel and toffee in the aroma with an earthy, peppery yeast note followed by a distinct vanilla, woody oak character. I can also tell there is some alcohol in there (the beer is 11%).

The front sip is a nice sweetness of caramel, toffee, candy corn and ripe fruit. The middle picks up both some yeast earthiness and a sweet vanilla oak note. I get a lot of sweet wood ester, vanilla and Southern Comfort flavours. The finish is part phenol, part wood, part alcohol and part fruitiness. The linger is oaky, vanilla, sweet and earthy yeast. Overall the alcohol is well hidden, as it should be in a Trappist.

I have no sizeable qualms with the beer. It is interesting and offers a complex array of flavours.  However, the oak imparts too much vanilla and sweetness and puts the beer out of balance. The Trappist yeast gets a bit lost amidst the esters of the oak.

Something seems out of whack with this beer. There is nothing specifically wrong, it just simply doesn’t seem Trappist enough. I feel like they are trying to do too much here and sacrifice that certain indescribable quality that makes Trappist special. Lots of breweries oak-age their beer these days, but Trappist beer is special enough on its own that maybe, just maybe, oak-aging is overkill.

I think give me the regular version of the La Trappe Quad. Because in this case regular is superior.