The game had been competitive. It was October 17^th of 2021, a Sunday mind you, and I was watching my New England Patriots in a contest with the Dallas Cowboys. As I am so often wont to do, I had selected some beers from New England breweries to enjoy with the game. Am I the only one to match local beers with the local team? I know I am not. Anyway, the contest was a tight one into the second half, when I decided to up the ante and ask for some-divine intervention? I did so by popping open a bottle of Spencer Monks’ Reserve Ale.

Spencer Trappist Ales are brewed at Saint Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. Just west of Worcester (pronounced wuhstuh, not war-chest-er), the Abbey is only about 56 miles from Gillette Stadium. Do the monks spend Sundays watching Patriots football and drinking their beer? I don’t think so.

They do, however, brew some amazing beers, and Spencer Monk’s Reserve Ale is one of them. A true Trappist quad, this is a delightfully rich and complex dark ale for sipping and savoring.

My bottle says:

Fragrant, robust and full-bodied, this classic Trappist Quadruple is mahogany in color and crowned with a dense, tan, frothy head. Its malt-forward flavor profile yields to a warm finish.

Spencer Monks’ Reserve Ale has an alcohol content of 10.2% by volume and I paid $11.99 for a 4-pack of 11.2-ounce bottles at Sherlock’s in Kennesaw, which I though rather reasonable. The label is stamped best by 03/04/24, so I have some time to drink my remaining bottles.

Spencer Monks’ Reserve Ale pours to a dark brown color with a medium sized head of creamy tan foam and a robust nose of brown bread studded with raisins. Taking a sip, the beer is full in body, subtly roasty, spicy with clove, deep with dark fruity raisin, yeasty funk, warming alcohol and drying spice in the finish.

A complex sipper for sure, and an excellent example of the style, though for sure quads are perhaps the most idiosyncratic of styles and can vary a great deal from brewer to brewer. My invocation of a higher power did not succeed, and the Patriots lost to the Cowboys. Still, it was a great game to be sure, one that might even be described as…divine?