Grottenbier Flemish Ale

Brewed by St. Bernard Brouwerij
Style: Belgian Ale
Watou, Belgium

100th Belgian rating. Pours a thick golden with no clarity and a small head. Aroma is strong on fruity yeastiness with citrus and apple sweetness, strong, sweet and very earthy. Taste is a bit herbal and grassy, which surrounds the creamy yeasty flavor, no fruit. A very drinkable beer with a real substantial feel on the cheeks. A nice beer but such a difference between aroma an taste which becomes way too herbal.
750mL, label has some yellow in it, St. Paul cross between snifter/tulip glass.

750 ml bottle from Holiday Wine cellar. Honey golden with champagne bubbles and a big foamy head. Aroma of barn yard funk, fruit, and yeast. Bright tangy palate. Banana, honey, and slightly bready taste with some hay notes and a semi-dry finish. Decent overall.

WBF. Pours yellow with a white head. The aroma is sweet and sour, not too complex. The flavor is similar.

Nice full-bodied beer that is good for pairing with food. Has the ubiquitous thick fluffy head that is common from this region. Flavors of fruit ranging from apricot and citrus to banana.

Bottle sampled. Pours a deep orange/amber with a lot of carbonation and a white head. Aroma of citrus, yeast, and belgian spices. Flavor is mildly sweet with citrus, barley malt and a hint of some fruit with a bitter finish.

Purchased in a 750 ml bottle from Holiday Wine cellar. Created a huge thick head on immediate pour but was a beautiful golden ale to gaze upon. The aroma is subdued with little amount of yeast and the lightest touch of spice. The drink was a shocking blend of flavors that touched all ends of my taste buds and confused them for a second. Some of the flavors I found are a big spicy yeast that had hints of coriander, pepper and metallic like finish. Very strong in its spicy and sour characteristics.

Sampled on tap at the First Annual Stone Sour Fest, July 2007
This is topped by a creamy, persistent, though small, light colored head that sits on top of a hazy, gold colored beer. This beer has a very grainy aroma to it; this is made up of notes of fresh crushed grain and a sort of malt room aromatic quality. This has a very subtle sour character to it; it is almost note even there. Hints of orange zest are also noticeable in the aroma.

The taste has notes of lemon zest and a very subtle sourness. The malt is still pronounced, even in the flavor, though it is not quite as much as it is in the aroma. Notes of toasty grain, a distinct biscuit-like note, touches of soda crackers and a light, sweet, maltiness. The beer has a nice, light, creamy mouthfeel to it. The clean malt character is quite interesting (especially in this flight of sour beers), but this only has a hint of funkiness a perhaps a drop of acidity. I’ll definitely have to try this again, as it almost seemed out of place at a sour beer festival.

Date: 06/02/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

hazy dark yellow, fine white head, streaks of lace, sweet citrus orange malt aroma with lots of spicy character, creamy body, sweet orange flavor, lots of yeasty spicyness, like an imperial wit

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4