Boulevard's Smokestack: Sixth Glass Quadrupel Ale

Since I’m constantly snooping through the inventory of beer, wine and liquor distributors, I tend to find some things I’ve never tried. When the Boulevard Brewery began releasing their Smokestack Series of beers, I jumped at the chance to bring them into the store. Mostly because I wanted to try them, but customers could try them too, I guess. Me first!!

Boulevard Brewery is located on the Missouri side of Kansas City. In 1988, a guy named John McDonald found a cool old brick building and start installing a Bavarian brew house inside of it. Production cranked up in ’89 and the first keg rolled off the line in November of that year. John loaded up that first keg of Pale Ale in his pickup and drove it to a restaurant a couple of blocks away. Flash forward a bit to 2006 and the brewery jumped from the original plan of 6,000 Barrels per year to 600,000 Barrels per year. That’s a pretty hefty upgrade!

Down the line, Boulevard delved into the super-premium beer category with their Smokestack Series. There are six beers available year-round and a few other special releases and seasonal brews. The all year beers are The Calling, Tank 7 Farmhouse, Tell Tale Tart, Dark Truth Stout, Long Strange Tripel, and Sixth Glass Quadrupel. The last one is the topic of discussion this round.

Sixth Glass is a typical Quadrupel in that it is dark brown, very malty, low hopped, higher in alcohol, and a tinge sweet. What isn’t typical is that a beer so outstanding is made three hours from my front door. I know there are great brewers in the U.S. making great beers, but when I drink a Sixth Glass, I shudder a bit and wonder how this isn’t made by Trappist monks in a Belgian monastery. The name of the beer refers to the Hans Christian Anderson story The Watchman of the Tower. The taste of the beer refers to heaven itself. It has the taste of toasty barley blended with hints of cream, dark caramel, and that heavy artisanal bread you get from a really good old world bakery. I enjoy this beer with smoked ham and soft cheeses. I enjoy it sitting on my couch while I slouch. I would drink it on a train with a crane in the rain… Okay, I’m getting a little too Seussical. The long and short of it is, this beer is incredibly good and at 10.5% ABV, you don’t need much of it to make you feel its effects. It is available in 12 ounce 4 packs and cork-topped 750s. It rates a 10.5% ABV and an IBU of 22. Love it.

Check out their cool website at www.boulevard.com

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