Southampton Grand Cru

Brewed by Southampton Publick House
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Southampton, New York USA

Gorgeously dulled in tone in a pure shade of coppery orange jelly with a active core that keeps a lava lamp of activity along the sides of the goblet. A perfect, nearly gelantinous, thick, tall, creamy substance of a head sits with a firm, steady, lathering of yellowish foam that insists on not moving until touched by the lips. Lacing is big and drippy in large sheetings across the glass. Nose is quite fair and round with a fine yeasty spice of white pepper and corriander. Perhaps a flinting of ginger. Moderately malty and kinda candyish with some soft pineapple and tangerine along with some bubblegum esters. Taste is wonderfully rounded in malty richness of thick, deep, and dulled, tropical-like candy chewyness smacked with the perfect touch of fun spicy notes that really balance well. Actually, this is quite superbly balanced! A totally perfect melange of tamed, but huge malty goodness that reflects all that is thick and candy, toffee rich. Much like a fresh, and softly, slow baked bread and some bubblegum. And the spices that are added in are terrifically interwoven into the composition with a craft and care that endures wonderment and tasty awe. It’s a bit hard to pin it down exactly; the spice is a tad peppery, yeasty of course, and a feathery tad citric as well. Especially as it trails off into the finish as there’s a small little oompf of pithy bittering lemony/orange bite. Exacting the finish with length that’s strong with malt and drying late with some yeast, citric hops, and a malty reign of candyied chewy leftovers. Awesomely Yummy! Huge, chewy, malt body that brings a large and in charge candied impression of bubblegum ascented with tropical fruits. At first it didn’t seem as full, but as it went along this got bigger and bigger, fuller and fuller. Is that even possible. Well, if not, than this just proved the impossible Cuz this just plain out was huge and chewy with a very favorable smoothness and a pleasingly dulled sense of commonality and balance that screamed "Drink me you fool, drink me!" ...And so I did, and then some. Wow, an amazing brew! Way better from what I remember from when I first had it a couple summers ago. Totally worth every penny and every sip you can get. Phenomenal stuff! And a pure gem by Southampton!

Hazy orange with a lasting off-white head. Intense aroma of Belgian yeast and sugar, plus some coriander and something that reminds me of seeds of paradise/cardemum. Very sweet and spicy flavour. On the one hand, the sweetness and spice is too much, on the other hand, it’s really well made.

Thin creamy off-white head of fine bubbles. Good carbonation. Sweet and fruity aroma with lots of caramel malts, white grape and plenty of spices. Color is a clear golden orange. Sweet and malty flavor with some honey, oranges, butterscotch and more spices. Lingering spices with a pretty strong alcohol presence and warming. Thick and full bodied. Finishes warm and spice with a lingering sticky sweetness. A very good belgian strong and one that would probably mellow nicely with some time.

2004 vintage 750ml bottle: This one pours a slightly hazy amber color. It has a fine effervescence rising in it. There was a small off-white head on it. The aroma is spicy and peppery. Some sweetness coming through also. The taste is quite good. You notice a slight slickness in the body, which is somewhere between medium and full. Slightly sweet taste, with notes of the coriander and some fruits. Hint of alcohol. Very nice.

Vanilla, spice, coriander. Sweet with light alcohol. Candy sugar and peper; musky and mainly sweet. Medium amber-copper hazy, with thin lacing off-white head. Medium-heavy body with medium silky carbonation. Starts sweet with vanilla, coriander, candy sugar and alcohol. Quite sweet from start to finish. Medicinal-herbal quality in the finish, with a chalky light bitterness. Sweet cloying after, chalky. It’s a decent Belgian strong, but not worth the price on the bottle.

bottle pours redish orange the white head quickly fades , but the carbonation remains even giving it a slight tingle in the clean crisp mouthfeel . Smells of sweet , fruity, belgiian yeast . along with wonderful spices fill the nose thru the tulip that I poured it in .I start out tasting the orange sweetness followed by the spices there is a small alcohol burn in the end . Truly an execptional Ale

Pours a slightly clouded gold with a sizeable white head that falls, but not too quickly. Nose is heavy with a yeast unfluence and a lemon edge. Flavor is tangy and sweet when it is colder. But when it is warmer, it presents a spiced strong ale. The spices peek out much more than the tang or the sugar when it is cold. Feel has a lot of bubble on the mouth, but a thicker liquid feel with a slightly slimy type of character. I know that is a weird word to use, but to me that is what it is. It is not syrupy, but it does have a different type of texture to the fluid. Overall, drinkability is high. It’s a bit too tangy in my opinion, but it’s still another good production from Southampton.

This is an outstanding and unique Belgian beer. I wish I liked it more. Aroma of funk and spices with hints of orange peel. Pour was a beautiful orange with a 2 finger puffy off white head. Taste was extremely spicy and sticky. Orange peel and coriander mostly. Anise makes an appearance in the aftertaste and after warming up almost a black licorice taste which will make me gag if it continues. Most notably is the peppery feel and taste. It almost burns the mouth (in a different way than the strong alcohol burn). The spiciness and pepper-ness were a little overdone, but this is better than the standard sugar water tasting Belgian strongs.