Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru

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

I’ve had my share of Abbaye des Rocs so I remembered to pour SLOW to avoid chunks. Well, that said, their is still particles and I’m not half way into the bottle. The color looks reddish brown. Has a musty aged scent, like a good barely wine. The flavor is immense with complex ester notes. Dried plums, powdery chocolate, molasses, and nuts. Very difficult to describe with words. I like this one more then their brown. Bought an extra bottle to age and I’m glad I did.

9/18/2007: Brasserie des Rocs Grand Cru is an opaque ruby brown color with adaquate, lively carbonation. There are lots of suspended particles. It has a large, lasting dark beige head that is dense and foamy and leaves foamy lacing on the glass. The aroma is qjuite deep and complex. It is sweet and contains aged caramel malt, cherry, vanilla, apple, caramel, and aged/dried fruit (apricots!). The flavor is deep and also complex with lots of sweet fruity maltiness, cherry, caramel/carmelized sugar, and has a hint of oxidation. The finish is dry at the very end with some roasty chocolate and light molasses flavor. This beer is warming, but there isn’t any alcohol in the taste (except when the beer gets much warmer). The body is medium-full with an airy carbonation. This beer is very smooth on the palate until the bottom of the glass when it becomes chunky. Overall this beer very complex and flavorful. I really enjoyed it.

11.2 fl. oz. bottle (9.5% Al./Vol. ~ Best before end 2008) from ross. Thanks Ross. I appreciate it! Rating #648 for this beer...

Bottle, 2004 Vintage, at Kulminator, Antwerp. Pours a deep muddy brown with lots of small particulates. A big creamy yellowish head rises and leaves good lacework on the glass. Aroma has dried fruits, plums, raisins and caramel in a stunningly complex mixture. Extremely creamy mouthfeel. Quite sweet flavour based on caramel, but with plenty of fruityness to back it up. Lightly spicy with some tones of cookies, honey and a light sourness to the finish. Excellent stuff!

Bottle in from Secret Santa in July 06, MIBRomeo. THANKS! I guess the beer is 1½-2years old. The bottle had a 1½ finger deep layer at at the bottom of the bottle unfortunately it all came out with the otherwise clear beer. Pours a very murky brown with am off-white head. Smells of dried fruits. The beer is sweet with extremely rich aromas of dried fruits, like prunes, dades and abricots. Also some honey and mapel syrup. Full bodied. Medium carbonation. Long fruity finish with a slight dryness and a tiny hint of chalk. Good stuff.

750 ml bottle via trade with AxlLives - Oh shit! This one’s a gusher! Pours a cloudy light brown color with a good bit of floaties. Has a large light tan head that left some thick lacing behind as the head settled. Aroma is a wide variety of esters and light caramel malt. The flavor is also loaded with esters. Palate is smooth but this beer has a pretty good bitter bite to it. Medium to full body. Not quite as good as the Triple Imp., but a good beer none the less. Thanks Bryan.

Pours a murky brown with lots of sediment and a large off-white head. The aroma is simply wonderful, light caramel with some yeasty elements. The flavor is just amazing, though. I can’t do it justice, so I’m not even going to try explaining it, it must be tried to be believed. The palate is perfect, not to oily that it sticks to your mouth like cough syrup, but it lingers in the background for a long time, letting you savor it for that much longer. Not quite the absolute tour de force of Rochefort, but damn close.

Aroma is a rich sweet roasted scent. Color is a deep hazy amber with a lot yeast floaties. Carbonation is good with a thick tight head. Taste is rich and sweet. It starts with a full body that goes down with a rich feel. Finish comes in with a sweet caramel malt flavor that has a bit of a raisin tone in it, then a faint bitterness flows in. On the end is a creamy feel with a nice fruity flavor that seems to have a faint cheery taste to it

Poured from a 750ml bottle and served in a tulip. This ale poured a dark, cloudy amber color with a huge, tight, dark tan head. Excellent head retention along with some fair lacing. The aroma of the beer was made up of caramel, sweet cherries, brett yeast esthers, as well as a bit of roasted nuts. The flavor was almost like a caramel apple. Sweet, rich, somewhat dry, and very appealing!!! Other flavors noticed included light candy sugar, cherry, and more apple and dark fruits. The mouthfeel was medium to full-bodied with a nice amount of carbonation. A very well done beer with a very pleasing flavor. Give this one a try!!!