Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru

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

750 ml...poured a orangish-brown w/ a fizzy tan head. Nose of sweet fruit, raisins, figs, dates, malts, caramel. Tastes very sweet...candied dark fruits, some caramel, some vinous fruits...Fizzy, dry and warm on the palate. Lasting sweet finish...

Sampled at Delirium Café: Aroma was really sweet, with figs and dates. Beer poured a dark brown with a large tan head that quickly dissipated. This beer was way too sweet to me it tasted like specialty malt soup, loaded with sugary dates. Mouth feel was syrupy. The most indigestible Belgian ale I’ve ever had. I couldn’t finish it and ended up giving it to my girlfriend. Really not my kind of thing.

750 ml bottle from Holiday Market in Royal Oak, pours a brown ruby with a full foamy off-white head and big clumps of floaties, the foamy head stays along for the duration, the pour would have been better if there were not so many clumps in the brew that took away points for how it looked, aromas of dark malt and sweetness, raisins and dark bread, dark candy fragrances, and a molasses cookie fragrance, flavors of dark malt, dark candy and dark candy sweetness, dark bread, faint flavors of cherry, blueberry, raspberry and chocolate, finish is pretty dry with a faint pepper taste, does finish pretty dry for such a sweet ale but there is a lingering sweetness at the finish, mouth feel is kind of fizzy on the palate, carbonation makes this ale light on the palate, could feel the alcohol warmth on the palate but it is pretty well hidden, why are all of the des Rocs beers so full of clumps? I find the clumps are a little disturbing otherwise this ale is easy to drink and nice as a sipper.

33cl bottle. Number one rating on my 21st birthday, and I absolutely loved the Brune by abbaye des rocs, so this was the call; from KNB in IV... Hazy brown with a beige head that laces; some sediment. Big sweet caramel and tart berry aroma. the flavor is intensely sweet with a citric tartness. Lots of caramel, berries, and some alcohol. Finishes bitter, and slightly reminiscent of sour patch kids. Full mouthfeel with soft carbonation. Leaned a little too much on the candy sweetness and tartness for me, and just lacked the superb balance that Iove about the brune.

BOTTLE: 11.2o. Hazy light brown with obvious sediment and beige head. Aroma is sweet and lemony with complex flavors not determined yet. Flavor is lemony with many hints of, well heck I can’t figure it out but it’s sweet, full body with long smooth finish. Kind of grew on me after the first few sips.

12oz bottle. Pours hazy copper with off-white head. Tons of sediment. Sort of threw me off. Taste is sweet, with hits of caremel and nuts.

Noteds from last year. 11.2oz bottle. Rich caramel brown color with aparent yeast sediment. Aromas of sweet dried fruits and chocolate, some burnt toast as well. A very chocolatey sweet flavor with notes of burnt toast, crushed pepper, and spice. Initially I found this beer too sweet but as it warmed and opened up a bit I really started to enjoy it.

From bottle : Pours a hazy dard copper rust color, well carbonated, with a finger and a half of white foamy head. Im getting a ton of sediment everywhere, even though it was stored right side up, and i gave it a very gingerly pour. Nose is fruity and spicey, with notes of alcohol. Medium to thick body, with a lively mouthfeel. Im getting a big wallop of yeast in the taste to begin with, with some malts and alcohol coming in and out of play. Lacing doesnt stick to the glass, but slowy slids down to the surface of the beer. I like it, but not as much as everyone else is i guess, maybe it was a bad bottle?