Val-Dieu Grand Cru

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

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.

Thanks to Redlight for the taste. Lots of dark fruits and biscuit flavors, almost like a Fig Newton. A slight bit of vanilla in there, too. Brown with a white head, and light on the alcohol.

On tap @ Hamiltons. Nice looking dark brown ale. Aroma of malt, brown sugar and spice. Flavor is fairly nice, but it seemed to be a little thin to me. I’d like to try this from the bottle to see how it compares.

Draught at Birreria Paradiso. Maroon, very sweet aroma. Tastes of honey, malt, wood and pine. Nice finish.

An opaque ebony-amber. A sip, a flush of memories over my mind, as I remember what it was like in my beer aficionado days of two years ago. All those memories of travelling cities, tasting the malts... this beer did for me what fine food and drink is supposed to do -- complement new experiences, and remind you gregariously of the old.

Aroma is spicy belgian and sweet caramel. Taste is sugary sweet fruity and spicy, somewhat dull. Unremarkable. 636313 ---re-rate- is very similar to my initial perspective. Much sweeter and yeastier than I remember, but in a very good way. Taste is much more "classic" and full in the Belgian tradition as opposed to what I remember. 737314

hazy brown appearance with a solid white head. flavor is of sweet plums, very complex, very good belgian strong ale. top class