Val-Dieu Grand Cru

Brewed by Brasserie de l’Abbaye du Val-Dieu
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Aubel, Belgium

Dark brown color with creamy off-white head with aroma of dark fruit, brown sugar, some caramel, and alcohol, Complex flavor of dark fruit, spice, yeast and light alcohol. Excellent lacing. Nice beer.

750 ml. Fizzy tan head that reduces to pools floating atop a hazy brown body with orange highlights. Sweet aroma of brown sugar, cookie, overripe dark fruit, week-old banana, slight band-aid and mustiness. Hint of flowers and clove. The flavor is heavily sweet and lightly bitter and finishes moderately sweet and moderately bitter — enough bitterness to take the edge off the sweetness and keep it from becoming cloying. Medium to full body with a texture that starts watery but turns smooth and somewhat sticky. Tasty and enjoyable.

It’s so great unscrewing the cork top and opening up a Belgian like this that you never heard of to bring an unexpected aroma of sweet apple orchards. That flavor tames itself and the apple flavor comes in more subtle than the smell as it finishes on the palate. The flavor is a fresh strong ale just like you were in Belgium if you closed your eyes. Crisp and delicious!

My Bottom Line:
Doughy yeast, toasted malts and berry-infused caramel coalesce in this pillowy Belgian Strong Ale, leading to a leafy, wet earth-like hop bitterness.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of white foam laces atop the burgundy-laced dark brown.
-Alcohol is amazingly well hidden.
-Bubbles are plentiful yet soft on the palate.
-The mouthfeel is not too heavy for a beer this size; dextrins are levelled and dried out just enough in the finish.

Bottle.

bottled sample at Rich O’s in New Albany. Strong ales are not my type of beer, but this one tasted great for its style.

750ml Bottle (Rating #1900): Aroma of yeast, light dark ripe fruits, slight caramel, slight fruit, light prune, and cola. Poured brow with a hint of amber in color and large, dense, creamy, tan/light brown head that lasted throughout. Cloudy. Sparkling. Full of medium, large, and huge particles throughout. Good to very good lacing. Flavor is light to medium sweet. Tastes of malts, raisin, light yeast, light caramel, slight wood, slight cocoa, light dried ripe fruit, light raisin, slight fig, and a hint of tobacco. Medium body. Coating, slightly chalky texture. Average carbonation. Sweet, yeasty, dark ripe fruit and caramel finish is lightly dry.

Toffee and caramel join the plums and cherries in the nose. Dark mahogany brown body with ruby highlights topped by a generous and lasting creamy tan head that coats the sides of the glass with lacing. Very sweet and fruity flavour features raisins, plums, cherries and brown sugar. Light bitterness keeps it from becoming cloying. Medium body with strong but very soft bubbled carbonation. Snifter. Cellar temperature. Bottle (BB 02/2010) purchased at Bottleworks in Aug-08.

A deep clear brown ale with mahoganny hues, and a super thick frothy light moka head. A nice aroma of sweet malt with catnip and Brett notes. In mouth, a sweet candy sugar with light licorice, woody notes, and Brett. A bit too sweet but overall good. Rich and oily. Tasted January 2009. Bieropholie import.