Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru

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

Bottle at Beer Brothers’ Festival 2007, Mechelen, Belgium
Hazy amber-brown-reddish body with a creamy off-white head. Quite sweet, malty (caramel) aroma with a hint of hops. Well balanced flavour which is moderately bitter, lightly sweet. A lot of caramel in the flavour which even becomes quite sticky. Nice complexity for this very nice triple beer.

Bottled. A deep red beer with a long lasting brown head. The aroma is powerful with a strong spicy note, cloves and cinnamon amonst others, but also with strong notes of brown sugar, fruit both fresh and over ripe, oranges, peaches, as well as notes of cherries and raisins. The flavor is also very powerful with strong notes of brown sugar, caramel, a complex spice combination, including coriander, cloves, and cinnamon, and strong notes of fruits; fresh peaches and oranges, and dried apricot, prunes, and raisins. And the mouthfeel is very filling. The alcohol is only felt until You swallow, where it leaves a slight burn in the throat.

Abbaye des Rocs Grand Caramel. Lots of caramel flavors here. Not a bad thing. The smell is a bit muted, though. You can smell the caramel, but it feels held back. Thick and syrupy. Overall a decent brew. I used a bit of it for some chicken wing sauce, heh. Works well there.

33 cl bottle. Deep brown-amber beer with a rocky tan head. Nasty looking gelatinous protein/yeast chunks that completely fill the glass, remaining suspended throughout the beer. This is in spite of the fact that this beer has been upright in the fridge for the better part of three months. Aroma is amazing though, plums, prunes, orange and a heavy yeasty spiciness. Peach/apricot, apple, and red grapes over a deep caramelized maltiness. Loads of spicy rye/wheat behind a heady yeasty spice as well. Floral/herbal mintiness with tropical notes of pineapple and ginger. Warming intensifies the spice and herbal character, bringing out more mint, flowers and tropical fruit. The aroma and flavour are really incredible. The only drawback to this beer is the gelatinous chunks that are not only ugly but can actually be felt in the mouth, reminding me of those tapioca balls in bubble tea. It kind of mucks up the otherwise incredible palate. Otherwise though, I’ve got no complaints about this… a world-class brew.

750 mL bottle. Pours an exceptionally dark red with nice carbonation and that unmistakable Abbaye des Rocs sediment. The aroma is sweet with slight notes of fruit. The sweet fruit notes dominate the taste, but it becomes slightly sourish and spicy at the end. This is an incredibly smooth and wonderful beer, one of the best I’ve ever had.

Vaery dark red almost brown color with slightly carbonated head. Nice fruity aroma that was’t too sweet. Very smooth enjoyable beer that balances out the sweet fruit flavor with a spicy malt character.

330 mL bottle. Brownish golden amber with fizzy white head. An amazingly wonderful mixed fruit aroma. Smooth caramel like palate. Taste of fruit, caramel, and chocolate with a clean finish. Damn Good!!!

Poured a very dark amber-red color with a thin tan head of very tiny bubbles. A substantial amount of yeast chunks floating around. Huge fruity aroma with hints of licorice, spices, candi sugar, and malt. Had very sweet and sugary malt flavors with a lot of spiciness. Some licorice and a certain medicinal character. Mouthfeel was very soft and sugary with a good amount of carbonation, but had a slightly bitter/hoppy and overall astringent finish. Pretty interesting and serious stuff. Definitely one I’ll drink again.