Grimbergen Optimo Bruno

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

330 ml bottle. Average white head. Coarse bubbles. Dark brown color with a red hue. Sugary caramel aroma. Surprisingly little aroma. Flavour is very sweet with notes of raisins, candy sugar and figs. Alcohol is dominating the palate. Complex flavours, but a tad too sweet.

(330ml bottle) Bieropholie Order. Pours a beige, frothy head with a brown body. Nose of lots of fresh figs, warm whiskey and roasted malts. Flavour echos the alcoholic front and deep fig nose, the texture is nicely viscous with a somewhat brown sugar and bready base. I liked this one a lot!

Light, generic malt aroma. Red with a small head. Malt and fruit flavors; the flavor is much better than the aroma. Medium body. Alcohol hidden well. Bottle was 2 years old.

Pours a deep, but clear, copper hue with a large, foamy, off-white head. Initial aroma is redolent of pecan pie, with walnut-like sourness. Further inspection reveals a touch of tannic sharpness that seems just out of place. Raisins, dates and red grapes follow behind the more powerful aromas. Some grassy to dank floral elements appear as the beer warms. I like most of the aroma, but there’s something disturbingly sharp and artificial that shouldn’t be present as well as a waxy cheese-rind aroma in the background. There’s also a bit of alcohol in the nose, but not too much. The flavour begins very sweet with a touch of acidity for balance. Lots of caramel type flavours are present along with darker, dried fruits. The finish is also very sweet, again with some acidity, and just a little bit of bitterness. Medium bodied (quite surprisingly) with an oily texture and lively, fine carbonation. This one just misses Kasteelbier Donker dessert beer territory, which wouldn’t have been a bad achievement in my opinion. 33cl bottle, Duvel tulip, bbe 09/05/08.

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.

Dark deep brown with retaining white head, a tad of the same lace. Malty yeasty aroma. A real foamer on opening. Above average mouthfeel. Mostly sweet malt taste, and yeast thickening it up. Drinkable, sweet though not cloying.

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 10%. Copper coloured beer with a big and lasting beige head. Nice aroma of malts, caramel, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. The flavour is malty sweet with some unwanted metallic sidenotes, also notes of caramel and brown sugar, hints of spices, moderate hops in the finish. Alcohol is noticeable throughout. Not in the league of the trappists this one.

Pretty red amber colour. Aroma with caramel and interesting fruits (grapes and strawberry?). Very sweet flavour with an alcoholic bitter finish. Quite interesting, but simply too sweet for me!