Bos Grand Cru

Formerly brewed at Bos Brewery and Bistro
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Pontiac, Michigan USA

Name: Grand Cru
Date: 04/27/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Brewpub
Vintage: 2001

clear golden, sweet aroma with wonderful spices and great honey, nice body, sweet honey flavor, nice spices, inspired by and surpasses Midas Touch

Aroma: 10/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Beautiful shining burnt orange-amber body wears a nice lasting beige head. Extremely sweet nose of dried apricots, lemon juice, a large spice array (anise? coriander?). Extremely juicy nature thanks to a syrupy and almost flat palate. Worty palate follows a rather complex peachy, woody and floral nose. Burning aftertastes is a mere shadow of the fruit juice complexities. Overall candyish and sweet. So Strong..

2001 bottle shared by the brewmaster at the brewpub on 4/27/06: Still viscous golden bronze pour has a thin ring of bubble atop. Sweet candy floral honey, lightly spiced, complex, rich malty aroma. Starts with a sweet floral candy-like honey flavor with saffron spice and well-dissolved carbonation that gives more body. A very unique brew that’s like drinking molten honey complexity.

Sampled draught at the Michigan Brewers Fest. Reddish-amber with a lasting touch of white head...nose a fascinating mix of herbs with a touch of underlying caramel sweetness, rosemary and thyme amidst roiling doughy yeast...very very sweet body, honey-maple character at first, herbs coming in though covered in sugar, towards the end dryness, peppery alcohol and lots of bready yeast implode on the sated tongue...worked for me, fascinating.

(2003 Vintage) Floral, honey and alcohol aromas meld well in the nose. Opaque tan body with low, cream coloured head that recedes to leave a thick ring around the sides of the glass. Floral, doughy honey flavour with a moderate bitterness that keeps it from becoming cloying. Mustiness lingers on the tongue. Alcohol is very apparent but not unpleasant. Very hot but it seems to work well. Medium-full body and creamy texture with low carbonation. Complex and interesting without being over the top. Sampled at the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival 2005.

MiBG Fest 2005:

Hazy amber hue with a creamy head and very good lace. The aroma has a big sweet nose of candi sugar, banana, watermelon, caramel, and noticeable alcoholic vapors. The taste is well, AWFUL! Taste like a cough drop followed by a cup of heavy sugar water. I get no hops and even the fruity character is slammed to the background. Any Belgian yeast nature is equally masked. Unlike the Imperial Stout, I detect the alcohol in this a lot more. The feel is sticky and lush, warming but on this day that isn’t needed. One of my two drain pours of the day. Just like the Vintage Ale, too much sweetness and too in-your-face

2001 Vintage: The brewer pulled this bottle out of his secret stash for us during our stop. Clear gold with nice legs. Very nice aroma. Sweet with candy, clove and other spices. Big honey nose as well. The flavor was sweet with honey and malt. The finish was spiced. After the malt stops the honey keeps going. It isn’t over powering though which to me makes it good since I am not a huge honey fan. Yet this was great. The mouthfeel was still lively with a medium to full body. Nicely warming with hints of alcohol pepper at the end. The brewer, Mr. Burns, said he uses honey, cardamom and saffron. Anyway I loved it. It aged great.

Draught. At 2006 Michigan Brewers’ Guild Festival. Clear orange with a small white head. Slightly woody, nutty sweet caramel malt aroma, juicy and spicy, there’s oak and alcohol in there too. Tastes just like it smells, plenty of citrus, wood character, spicy yeast and very strong in alcohol, very ear-warming. Thick body, syrupy and boozy, there’s plenty going on here - more like a fruity-sweet barleywine, no harshness at all, I liked it a lot.