Val-Dieu Grand Cru

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

This reportedly is the Grand Cru. It pours a muddy brown with little head. It is about three years old. Overall pleasant, and a drying rich taste. Definite dark fruit, pepper, and cocoa, well balanced.

2008-03-01. Dark brown body with a medium tan head. (3+). Sweet, alcoholic aroma with sweet sugary notes, dry alcohol. Similar flavours with dark fruity accents, sugary sweet malt notes. (7+) Smooth average to medium palate. Nice.
Bottle at Zythos Festival, St. Niklaas

Bottle 75 cl. Wow this was a bit surprise, and reminded me more of a Trappist Quardruppel then anything else. Large almost creamy like beige head that mostly lasted. Very thick as you pure it in the glass. Good display of lacework. Muddy like body with a very dark mahogany like color. Aroma was explosive with notes of overripe fruit (prune, date, fig, and raisin), caramel and grain, light roasted malty notes, almost vinous over the palate. Full bodied with an average carbonation and light sticky and alcoholic texture. Moderated sweet flavor with light notes of bitterness. Extremely nice and lingering finish. Reminds me of the Kasteel Donkel without the heavy underlying alcohol. Very nice beer!

(Bottled, 0.75l, re-rate, same score) Very dark brown color, medium, tight and tanned, lacy head. Slightly alcoholic, very malty aroma with dates and apricot, and a hint of toffee. Sweet, rye-pudding-malty, fruity flavor with raisins, toffee, spices (anise, licorice, orange-peel etc.), and a slight touch of alcohol. Not much hops present, and the flavor is a bit straightforward, too. Very velvety-smooth, slicky mouthfeel. Quite full-bodied palate with soft carbonation. Alcohol feels warming, but is very well hidden in the flavor. A very tasty, very smooth, very drinkable and warming brew. Sure, it’s sweet, but still it definitely gets my silky-smooth-full-yet-easy award. Offer this to someone new to Belgian beers, and he/she sure is sold!

75cl bottle @ Delices de caprices. Pours a dark brown with a reddish hew and a creamy head and lacings. Nose is yeast, bubblegum, port, dried fruits, and caramel. Full bodied. Smooth and sticky. Taste is liquorice, yeast, plum and citric notes. Warmth from alcohol. A true sipper. Nice.

Cork: 06/06... Poured a very dark brown / red color with a medium sized, light tan, creamy head that left really nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of citrus, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, and caramel. Taste of sweet caramel, vanilla, dried fruits, spicy cinnamon, light warming alcohol, and a silky smooth mouthfeel.

Draught chalice at Redbones on 2/17/07
Purple-maroon-mahogany body has overtones of cola and is quite bubbly. Medium-beige head is small, precariously retained at cover and creates only minimal lacing at best. Clarity is medium-high.
Expressive, yeasty nose is full of smoothed out esters and phenols, with plenty of medium/dark malt complexities. Light clove, anise, allspice, light bananas, touches of citrus and prunes. Sticky, nice and caramelized thickness to the aroma, but still properly attenuated, it seems, from the nose. Light notes of cola and chocolate, with a touch of slick alcohol, redolent of Godiva raspberry liqueur. Really nice, the alcohol, for its size, dosent harry the nose too much and the key here....it’s not too bready/acidic or hard/crusty in the nose unlike St Berny Abt 12 on draught.
Much as expected, a competent, if somewhat predictable Belgian Dark Strong/ABT. Not as soft, chocolatey-sweet and malty as Westy 12. But darker, softer and more vinously fruited than Rochefort 10. Similar, but not as lacking in soothing texture as St. Berny 12. There’s a nice chewy/stickiness, though, importantly, it’s not syrupy/cloying or underattenuated. In fact, it might even be a touch loose on the end (though you can never be sure if that’s the beer or the draught nature. Most likely just the draught nature). Vanilla, cola, anise, prunes, and light clove dryness on the finish. A pleasant citrus-raspberry note plunges through the medium-dry chocolate and vanilla creaminess, strengthened by some insidious alcohol. It’s well-concealed for its strength, but it still has some effect, drying the beer out on the end and cutting some of the maltiness. Soft bananas and vanilla linger on. Very, very drinkable for its size. Excited to try it from the bottle.

Called "Grand Cru" at ZBF. Thanks to madsberg for finding this out. Draft. Murky nearly opaque brown bosy. Small tan head. Nose is cocoa, sweet malts, dark fruit but seems a bit too weak for what I was expecting. Taste is much better! Sweet, creamy malts, caramel, alcohol-soaked ripe fruits, light roasty notes, and a decent spice profile. Body is medium with light alcoholic warmth. Finishes the same but is seemingly much sweeter. Light spice, caramel, dark fruits, and a noticeable alcohol flavor.