Grimbergen Optimo Bruno

Brewed by Brasserie Union (Alken-Maes / Heineken)
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Jumet, Belgium

Bottle. Aroma is sweet fruity and malty. Sweet, malty, fruity, bit spicy and alcoholic flavor. Hoppy sweet finish.

Frothy head. Beautiful dark red color. Raisin, porto and malt in the aroma. Sweet, thick and malty flavor with figs, raisin and licorice. Surprisingly hoppy. Lasting hopbitter and licorice finish. Excellent!

Bottle. Brown colour with a baige head. Sweet malty fruity aroma and a sweet fruity taste. Medium body and a sweet finish.

A Mes rate: 33cl bottle from Ramsgate Harbour Bar.
Mid amber brown with a good off white head. Brown sugar, some soy, light balsamic note and tangy brown sauce. Bitter sweet finish. Not amazing. Too much brown sauce for me.

Dark mahogany with little film head. Lightly sour with plums and berries in the aroma. Quite sweet and quite vinious with toffee flavours with tones of berries.

(Bottle, BB 20-01-07) Pours a mahogany body with an average beige head. Aroma of raisins, dates, and caramel. Flavor of raisins, grape juice, and malt.

Mostly clear ruby brown body with full effervescence, growing a thick, compact and mountainous beige head in the Fin du Monde tulip. Rather fruity nose, not so expressive as could be with gentle esters of maraschino cherries. Rather earthy, almost rooty nature paired with the present, yet natural and clean alcohol makes it reminiscent to a distilled alcohol, I would venture into the scotch department, though the peat character is absent. Lighter in body than I would have thought, though the expansive carbonation helps the alcohol to come through. Well well, I don’t expect much from that brewery, but this works well. The grainy, almost toasty malts befit the candied fruits, raisins, figs and sweet apple notes. Growing vinous, but with an extra spicy, airy, sweetish back profile that screams Belgium. The yeast may be its largest weakness, where it renders considerable metallic gazy notes. A bit brash old breadiness, slightly tannic and with off almost roasted nutty notes that remove the emphasis from the fleshy fruits. A sweet and good common strong belgian. Not mindblowing, but typical of the relatively high standards that pretty large breweries are seldom able to maintain.

I have to say i was expecting something of a quad here. Sweet malt aroma. A different to usual taste, cant quite figure out what though, a bit syrupy.