Abbaye dAulne Alleluia

250ml 12-05-99. Brown beer with no head, little carbonation. Served in a Kronenbourg 0.25L stem glass. Poured carefully to avoid the chunky sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Sweet and thick with dark fruits and brandy. Spice and a little bitterness. A little boozy. An interesting beer which is still good though well past its time. What is really amazing is that this beer showed up here in Freakville (Jacksonville Florida) in a local beer/liqour store. I would love to know the story behind this one. Thanks to BeerBlockaid for hooking me up.

Lot 12 - 05 - 99 :: Whoa. Gosh damn avalanche of yeast. Looks like the Stari Most lying in the river of Mostar after the Croats blew it up, in the bottom of my glass. Aroma is very seet and spicey with carmel, clove, cinnamon. Taste is the same add some dark fruits. Roast/Coffee after taste. No real big head, but a small one that last. Palate is chewy and soft. I think a few years ago this would have been excellent. I am amazed no ones rated this in so long.

(250ml, 1999) Medium beige head atop floatie-filled chestnut brown body -- lots of dead yeast. Aroma is medium sweet, spiced, caramel, cinnamon, brandy. Taste is sweet, spiced (milled-ish), cinnamon, raisin, brandy. medium-full body, lightly carbonated. Past its prime, but still a decent beer.

dark brown, very little head, lots of sediment; sweet malt smell; rich, smooth, thick feel; sweetness and alcohol are the prominent tastes

Dec. '99 vintage. Malty, heavily sweet aroma, some sherry notes, banana/bubblegum esters, apple butter and plummy fruit spiciness, some alcoholic fumes as well. Reddish brown color, very still and no head, with a massive amount of sludgy sediment and particulates. I had noticed this the night before, and let it sit for a day before pouring gently and leaving the last bit in the bottle, and what made it into the glass is still what I would deem excessive. Malty, fruity, vinous and sweet flavors abound, some dark candi sugar, yeast and fiery alcohol are quite apparent. A bit on the cloying side, unfortunately, suffering from a lack of balance and perhaps too long of a rest. This would have likely been better 2 years ago.

lot#-21 12 99 brownish-caramel color. no head. full of sediment. lots of strong prune, raisin and toffee in the aroma, with some alcohol..hard to hide at 9%. sweet flavor, lots of toffee and caramel...not overly fruity...maybe just a little apricot.

Batch 12-5-99. Sampled 9-26-03. Keep your kids away from the monk on the side of the label! He looks like a young George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke. Been away from wimmin too long. Bran-like alcohol aroma. Fairly sweet, alcoholic, brownbread character. Finish is a little too cough-syrupy and astringent. I'm curious about the sediment though, it looks a little too much like pigeon poo. Somewhat disconcerting. A little vinegar in the finish too. Pretty good, but I couldn't take more than the 9 oz that the dinky bottle supplied.

Whatever you do, do not look at the bottom of your glass after pouring this - the sediment floating at the bottom looks like the bottom of the whale pool at Sea World - green and sticky. But everything else is redeeming about this Belgian. Sweet, cherry like aroma, tea-like appearance. Nice malty flavor - alcohol hidden very well. Lot of complex flavors going on here - slightly piney, a bit astringent - overall a sweet nutty taste to wrap it all up. Overall a good drinkable Belgian.