Val-Dieu Grand Cru

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

Dark chestnut reddish brow with a huge head that shows no signs of fading. Softly spiced candi sugar aroma with a bit of bubble gum. Very intricate spectrum of flavors, ranging from those in the aroma to the dark fruits, and light roasty components. Finishes with soft candi sugar and only briefly hot alcohol. Otherwise etoh is well hidden. $9/750ml

Alla spina al Manneken Pis di Napoli, una discreta abt belga dalle caratteristiche un poco stereotipate, ma non malvagia, di colore scuro con forte sentore etilico ma non fastidioso.

Wheaty aroma with dark fruit, toffee, rum. Slightly alcoholic flavors but not a sharp burn. Nice complexity here and a good abbey style ale. Nothing that sets it apart from others in this style, but I could drink this all night and be happy.

Absolutely lovely. A fantastically smooth quadrupel. Very dark - even darker than a Belgian stout - with a very thin head. Almost no traces of yeast or maltiness, but instead very full fruity flavors of raisins; almost dates. Very long finish which shows off the very rare ’dark yet clean’ quality.

Draft from Paradise Beer Weekend. Great looking beer! Deep ruby in colour with large off white head. Hoppy nose with raisin and rum to compliment. Thin body, deeeeeeeep flavour - sweet berries and spice; an odd contrast that works wonders. Nutty finish that ends all too abrubtly. Apparently this beer is better appreciated from the bottle, so will try to seek one out for a second rate.

Pours a deep amber brownish color with a large head. the aroma is nutty with some molasses, some raisin, and some alcohol. The flavor is nutty with some brown sugar, plum, fruity notes including cherry and some light apple, fairly dry for what it is but very well balanced.

On tap @ Chez Moeder Lambic. We sat outside, where it was dark and chilly. I wanted a winter warmer, and this did the trick. Unfortunately it may have been served a bit too cold, as happens so often on draft... A dark brown, nearly black beer with a thick, creamy head that lasted all... the... way. Some sweetish, malty aroma that took a while to show through (too cold!). The flavor was lightly sweet with a nice backdrop of roasted malt, some very faint dark-fruit notes that were nearly missing from my glass. The dominant characteristic here was that thick, creamy mouthfeel... very full body made it nice to sip and roll over the tongue. Lightly bitter, just enough to balance shift the alcohol from boozy to a cozy level of warming. Fun to drink, and it did the trick, but it may be missing some complexity. I’ll look for it in the bottle for a re-rate.

07 bottle. POurs brown with large white head. Nose is fruits, cherry, toasted malts, booze and candy. Flavor is sweet sugar, spices, flowers, sweet fruits.