AleSmith Grand Cru

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
San Diego, California USA

Pours a nice brown color with a virtually no head.Sweet, fruit aroma witha hint of chocolate.Flavors are all over the place.This needed to be near room temp to really enjoy.Flavors of raisins and caramel.A nice full mouthfeel.As it warmed the alcohol made more of a presence.You feel the warming going down.Very good.

Brown and murky body with a small tan head with great lacing throughout. Lots going on in the nose, hazelnuts, raisins, brown sugar, vanilla, cocoa, allspice and a touch of bananas. Flavour becomes more complex with tastes of anise, nuts, and plums with some oakey woody elements shining through. Whiskey-like mouthfeel and a smooth warming alcohol finish. Big, bold and warming.

Rich, reddish amber color with almost no head. Alcohol is well masked at 10% but certainly apparent. Definitely let it warm up a bit - it mellows as it warms.

750 ml bottle 2003 vintage. Sampled at KP’s cellartasting. I forget who brought this? Pours a moslty clear with slight hazy deep amber with a nice head but fades slightly. Aroma is fruity with lots of esters, yeasty, more candied fruits- raisin and plum and lots of caramel malts. Flavor is mollasses, plum, raisin, mostly sweet, then finishes dry and highly carbonated, and slightly astringent. Pretty good overall.

750ml bottle poured in a tulip glass. The Grand Cru pours flat looking but suddenly a billion little bubbles rise and join into a frothy party of sensation. Such energetic little bubble burn their lives out quickly though leaving behind murky carmel colored sea of anticipation. The aroma is a gift of breath from a dough boy who ate pears. The first sip takes you by suprise: at first you think the beer is flat but a quick burst of carbonation sneaks down the middle of your tongue like a small child rushing between your feet unexpectedly. A solid taste foundation of fermented fruit occupies the middle of the wagon train of taste. Finally, bringing up the rear is a mouth-coating taste of acidic bile. The end of the beer blew this one for me.

750ml bottle poured a clear reddish amber with a LARGE lasting amber head. Aromas of plums, raisins, molasses, hint of chocolate and vinous. Palate was medium bodied and warming. Flavors of yeast, grapes, and some faint chocolate and vanilla notes with a waming lingering sweet finish.

Thanks to Harlequinn for trading. No year. Deep ruby. Dense, fizzy, light tan head settles quickly. Nose: rich, roasty, caramelly malt, dark fruits, vanilla, lively yeast with just a touch of funk to it, some dough, subtle alcohol. Flavor: toasted grains, rich malt, toffee, dark fruits, same yeast, candi sugar, alcohol, cashews, bittersweet anise, other subtle herbal or plant like notes, and some crisp hops towards the dry, yeasty, roasty, alcoholic finish. Full/medium, smooth body is very dry and airy in the center with roasty creaminess surrounding. Clean, dry aftertaste leaves you wanting more. My favorite style, AleSmith doesn’t disappoint.

Resampled 11/06. Hate to rerate it, because this is NOTHING like the draught I had earlier this year. But I have to call it like I find it, and it makes me really sad!<P> Original rating: 7/10, 4/5, 8/10, 5/5.<P> Sampled at the 4th Boulder Strong Ale Fest. Beer poured a clear, medium amber-brown color with a small, creamy/frothy, off-white, diminishing head. The aroma was moderately malty with notes of sweet toasted grain, cookie and caramel; hoppy with moderate notes of herbs; yeasty notes of moderate dough; miscellaneous scents included notes of light oak and vanilla and moderate amounts of sour green apple, spicy alcohol, honey. A hint of banana in the retros. The flavor was heavily sweet, moderately bitter with a light, sweet, mderately bitter, moderately tangy finish. Full and tasty. The body was medium, the texture was creamy, the carbonation was lively and the finish was lightly alcoholic. <P> 11/6 rerate: 750 bottle. Beer is clear, medium-to-dark brown with a tiny, nonexistent, white, disappearing head. The aroma is oxidized and dead. It’s malty with a light note of caramel, roasted grain; Hoppy with a light floral note, moderate resin; Yeasty with a moderate note of dough, basement; Heavy note of wet cardboardy oxidation, moderate raisin/date, light sherry. The flavor is moderately sweet, moderately bitter, with a long, dirty, lightly acidic, moderately sweet finish. Lots of nasty cardboard/boozy retros. The body is full, the texture is watery and the carbonation is flat.