Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru

Brewed by Brasserie de l’Abbaye des Rocs
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Montignies-sur-Roc, Belgium

750ml. Cloudy brown with miniscule head. Pleasant aroma. Surprisingly sweet initially - honey, toffee, fruit. Finish loses the sweetness a bit but is a smooth full body. Alcohol is totally hidden. Decent.

Brown with faint tan scum despite vigorous pour. Brown sugar, caramel, light dried pit fruits like apricots and peaches, some spice in the nose. Distinctive taste: honey and molasses, sweet venturing toward cloying, but with slightly acidic back-palate. Very fruity in again peaches and apricots set off against a sweet malty backbone of toffee and aforementioned sugars. Yeast and slight spice in the finish, stale hops and slight bitterness in the aftertaste. Relatively high carbonation remains despite nice creaminess, moderately thick.

Very tasty, rusty-colored brew with monumental eggshell head. Brown sugar, biscuit, belgian yeast, and dark fruit on the nose. Flavor is caramel, toffee, honey, and raisin. Thick enough but not too much so. A very tasty specimen!!!

Cloudy brown pour with tan head, decent lace. Lots of yeast proteins floating throughout the beer. Caramel malts, and fruits on the nose. bready flavor with subtle hints of figs and raisons. well balanced.

What a great beer this is...top notch. Cloudy brown with a light tan head. Aromas f stone fruit, malts and caramel. Flavor is slightly sweet, yeasty, and just damn good!

Glass: Large Tulip Purchased at: Circle Liquors Super Saver, Pennington, NJ Price: $8.99 Size: 25.4 fl oz ABV: 9.5% IBU: n/a Estimated Calories: 400 C RateBeer Rating: 99 Aural: opening is explosive, but contained over a few minutes of caution. carbonation is very active and audible, pour after calming is beautiful and quiet. Aroma 8 out of 10 Intensity: medium Balance: sweet Impression: inviting Malt Aroma: grain bread sweet toast nut Hops Aroma: earth floral herbal Other Aroma: fruit cherry, peach, Notes: inviting, nice, fruity, mild Appearance 4 out of 5 Color: dark Clarity: quite cloudy Head Retention: poor Notes: head dissipates almost instantly to absolutely nothing. The body is quite beautiful though - murky, cloudy, and reminds you of what it might be like to swim in the dirty seas of countries that have no concern for pollution. Scary, in a way. Flavor 9 out of 10 Intensity: strong Balance: between sweet and bitter. Interesting. Impression: nice Malt Flavor: rice, Italian bread, whole wheat toast, walnut Hops Flavor: soil, dying flowers, tea Other: cherry, celery, peas Notes: A very interesting, dark taste. Full bodied, deeply flavorful, and not easily drank. Alcohol is expertly hidden. Palate 5 out of 5 Mouthfeel Sensation: sticky, warming Body: full Carbonation: highly carbonated, like seltzer Finish Length: long Intensity: medium Balance: more bitter Notes: A bit of ash, yeast, and tea in the finish. Again, quite interesting mix of fruit, texture, and color. General Impression: 17 out of 20 Craftmanship: excellent Freshness: fresh Personal Taste: liked quite a bit Notes: A once in a while treat - not one of my favorites, but glad to have tried it as a specialty. Address : <http://beercritic.wordpress.com/>

33cl bottle. Pours a hazy brown and amber colour with medium sediment. Medium off-white head that settles into a ring. Soft aroma of apricot, malt and alcohol. Really pleasant flavour that just sweet enough but still balanced well. Just a great BSA.

bottle, and a bit of a gusher. pours with a thick fizzy tan head that quickly fades to a moderately thick foamy tan head. pretty clear amber, except for the giant chunks of floaties just zooming around in the glass. brilliant vinous smell, with all sorts of crazy spicy fruit esters coming out: apples, pears, cherries, tangerines?, apricots?, raisins, maybe a bit of grapefruit. i swear every time i smell it, i pick out a different note, and i don’t have to hold it anywhere near my nose to get a good whiff. all this is piloted by a solid brown sugar/caramel malt scent. the same caramel malt dominates, and gains a bit of a nutty flavor as well, and is backed up by another bucket of spicy fruit esters, with raisins taking the lead, backed up by a nice cherry note, with dozens of others mingling in the background. fairly sweet finish, with a very subtle tartness, and a barely perceptible bitter tingle. relatively full-bodied, with a sort of thick, creamy mouthfeel that doesn’t seem like carbonation has much part in (it does, but the bubbles are so small they go almost unnoticed). this is some seriously good shit. incredibly complex smell, great flavor, one of my favorites. chewing on chunks of yeast might turn off some people, though.