Sierra Nevada - Ovila Quad with Plums

What's up everybody? Felt like doing a little late night review and remembered that I had the latest beer from Sierra Nevada in my fridge!

That's right, I got a bottle of their latest Ovila release which they're calling belgian style abbey quad that they've brewed with plums. 

I'm sure you've heard the story about how Sierra Nevada went about getting the Plums for this beer so I'm going to spare you from the summary. It's a cool story and if you haven't heard about it I'd suggest looking it up or simply clicking here. Honestly, most everything Sierra Nevada does is awesome both within their beers and just in how they operate. 

The best thing I can tell you before I even remove the cage and cork is that this beer was only $3.99 at my local liquor store. This is a 10.2% beer and it was $4. I like that ratio for sure. It's a fairly small bottle and is only 12.7oz but for the price and abv I think it's a steal. 

Enough intro though. Let's get this Ovila poured! 

Ovila pours out a really nice dark purple color. It's pretty clear actually when held up to the light. You get some really nice dark ruby and more purple shades even some mahogany. This actually looks a lot like a plum. Same dark color with the red shades coming through in the skin. Ovila left a good 2 finger head that stuck around for a while leaving a semi decent lacing. Nothing too sticky, almost looks a bit soapy. 

The nose on Ovila is pretty nice actually. I get a BIG hit of Plums right away. I'm getting quite a bit of alcohol on the nose too, almost a lot like a red wine. Of course there's some big Belgian yeast characters shining through. Lots of a bread characteristics. Not like white bread but almost like a sweet roll or pastry kind of sweetness. A lot of sugar shining through as well. I'm getting a bit of raisins coming through perhaps even some red grapes. This smells really nice but most noticeably, I'm really happy to get such a big hit of Plum right away.

I figured I've stuck my nose in this thing enough. Time to get to drinking! 

The first thing I taste is raisin. Now, I know raisins are big in Quads but I also know I hate raisins. This is pleasant though. It's very sweet. Nice and sugary. Middle of the mouth I'm getting those plums. It's incredibly subtle but they are there. Giving off that little bit of sour from the inside but also a slight bit of bitterness from what I could only guess would be the skin of the plum. It's very enjoyable. That's immediately followed by that belgian yeast character, the typical bread characters you'd get from a Quad. It's not bad though. Not overpowering.

As I finish this and the flavors sort of linger I get a ton of plum. Honestly, after drinking this I feel like I've eaten a plum within the last hour. It's very pleasant. It's sweet and actually a bit refreshing. 

I'll be honest, I'm really not a fan of the Belgian style. In fact, this would be the 3rd Belgian beer that I've honestly enjoyed. I think this is definitely a fantastic beer. I'd buy it again and probably will next time I stop by the liquor store. I didn't get a ton of the typical dark fruits you'd get in a Quad. I got a bit of raisin and of course, the Plums, which I'm sure Sierra Nevada was going for... since they brewed it with Plums! 

Rating: B+/A-

I could see this being a gateway Quad for someone like me who doesn't necessarily like the style. In my case, I've somewhat avoided the style because I tend to find the Belgian style a bit overpowering. This is a really solid offering from Sierra Nevada (they're incredible!) and ultimately may lead me to more beers that I've overlooked for the most part.

Anyway, wife said this tasted like someone poured red wine into my beer... so again, I don't think she hated it! It's a start!