Bottleworks Van den Vern Grand Cru

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Lochristi, Belgium

Bottle. Pours a dark copper with a fluffy off-white head. Aroma of bread, figs, spice and citrus. Medium body and light carbonation. Taste is much the same. A touch of metal on the exit.

FIRST TRIAL: Bottle from the Palm Tavern. Although it was hard to tell the exact color in the low light, the beer appeared to be a deep brown with a nice white head. It has an unusual aroma and flavor though. It almost reminded me of imitation grape flavoring (the kind that they make grape candy with that doesn’t taste anything like actual grapes). I mentioned this to a friend of mine who also tasted it and he agreed. The mouthfeel was fine, and the finish was slightly sour and maybe oaky. This beer was quite interesting, but it was a little tough getting over the fact that I tasted so much artificial-grape-like flavor, so I would be tentative to recommend it to others.

thanks to holdenn for this sample from 330 ml bottle a long time ago. pours a murky brown with a small white head. nose was yeasty, spicy and slightly sour. reamy body with a smooth texture and a nice amount of carbonation. flavor is mainly of ripe dark fruits, plums and apples, slightly sour and oaky. i’m really not impressed with this at all.

Poured from bottle labled 2004 batch. Dark amber color, with large tan head, visible yeast and some carbonation as well..Smell of sweet malts and yeast. Almost a tart smell. Taste was a bit sweet up front, citrus, caramel, definitely some apples in here and perhaps some raisin? Finish was a tart/sour taste which was kind of unique. I liked it. Alcohol was very well hidden.

[11..2z Bottle] A deep off white color with a nice head. This had a very nice fruity flavor with a slight yeast off flavor. A lot of time and care went into this brew it was very nice.

11.2 oz bottle

This was picked up at a recent stop at Friar Tuck’s in Bloomington, IL. I was not expecting to see it but at $1.99 it seemed to be worth a look. The vintage on my bottle claimed to be 2004. It is not a bad grand cru but it does not change my perceptions on the style. It still comes across as very drinkable, fun and interesting. I would pick up more of this if I came across it on the shelves in Madison.

Aroma / Apppearance - A huge two-finger head foams up out to fill almost the entire glass. A copper carbonated body sits underneath. This is very nice to look at though eventually I gave it a try.

Flavor / Palate - Caramel, sweet honey and a subtle sour bite form the initial impression. A chocolately background not unlike the inside of a midrange truffle forms a nice base for everything. Towards the end it takes on an oaky tart character before the dry finish erases all traces from the palate. This is very easy to drink. If I had more I would have been able to keep drinking them until the almost 10% ABV alcohol hit my system.

Bottle; 2004 Vintage. Dark brown color with a medium head. Very bready and malty aroma. Fruity malt taste. Thick feel. Just a little bitterness on the finish. Alcohol is non-existent. Nice.

Deep aroma of plummy dark fruit. Malt too. Dark amber with lots of stuff - this is live ale with the trimmings. Head didn’t last, but it was white at the start. Medium mouthfeel. Starts with lightly sweet light fruits. Then some plum and/or raisin crops up. Spice somewhere in the middle, a bit peppery, but the end seems to be a nice hop arrival to balance the sweet malt. Really very good stuff.