What drew me to this beer was the label.  It reminded me of that beast Balrog in Lord of the Rings giving me the impression that this beer might be pretty menacing.  Come to find out the only thing that was beastly about this beer was the abv clocking in at 9.5%.  The flavor was a little one dimensional in and the complexities found in other quads was lacking.  The color was right on with the familiar Fall leave hues of burnt orange and maroon.

The biggest factor in for me giving it an average grade was that it was too syrupy and candied in both aroma and flavor.  I understand that most quads have the addition of Belgian candi sugar in them, but this beer seems to rest on that.  Even as it warmed and more of the prune, dark fruit, caramel malts came forward I was still left with a sense of, “this was only brewed for the resulting abv.”

I would recommend not serving this beer right out of your fridge.  Doing so will diminish the head development, contribute some chill haze, and lessen the overall aroma.  Putting my nose to the rim it did smell like your typical quad at first – bready, deeper grains, a little pepper spice, and complex.  After taking some time to try and pinpoint some other aromas I began to notice that it was just sweet, sugary, and syrupy for the most part.

Sipping on this beer was not the worst thing in the world don’t get me wrong, but Mercy seems to fall short in this style.  I plan on giving this another try in the future however until that times comes…I’m sticking with the Trappists.