Southampton Abbot 12 - Tasting and Aging Notes
By jason on Jul 14, 2008 in Belgian Styles, Reviews
Name: Abbot 12
Brewer: Southampton
Style: Belgian Quadruple
Vintage: 2008
Cellared On: June 6th, 2008
Original Tasting: July 6th, 2008
Hello everybody! I’m back from a few technical difficulties and extremely happy to be leading off with a brew from one of my favorite breweries - Southampton!
The Abbot 12 is a dark brown amber beer, reminding me much of the color of maple syrup. It smelled very sweet too, rich with notes of dark ripe fruits.
Complex malts were the star of this brew. Brown sugar and caramel flavors dominated the palette, but there were plenty of fruity undertones here as well. Raisins and figs were noticeable, and I thought I detected bit of date flavor in there as well. The fruity tastes were really enjoyable, but I thought they would be a bit more prominent after first smelling this beer. No trace of alcohol at all. The finish was long, smooth, sweet, and delicious.
The thing that impressed me most about this beer was the fact that it was so light (for a Quad) and easy to drink. It was easily the lightest Belgian Quadruple I’ve ever had, and definitely one of the tastiest.
Next Tasting: December 2008
Jason
Just learned about your site recently….nice work!
I too am I a big Southampton fan and the Abbott 12 is great…especially when you get one with a little age on it. The last time I was there, one of the brewers (Spencer) opened a couple bottles of the 2004 vintage (from 12oz bottle)and it was spectacular…particularly with some cheddar that my buddy snuck into the brewery.
Lenn | Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
Hi Lenn, thanks for the nice words.
I’m not surprised at all that this brew ages so well, I’m a bit jealous of you getting to try the 2004 vintage!
By the way, I love the focus of your site. I’ve made it a point to get a lot of NY breweries on here, it’s nice to see another site with a similar focus. I just subscribed!
jason | Jul 30, 2008 | Reply