Val-Dieu Grand Cru

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

Bottled. 75cl. Aroma has caramel malts, dried fruits, some nuts. Hazy, dark brown coloured with an off-white, lasting head. Taste is sweet, caramel malty with dried fruits, some toffee and nuts. Good beer.

A bitter woody nose, ripe red plums and chocolate, deep garnet, pours a tiny firm toffee head. Faint pit fruit flavour, almonds also, quite nutty too, bitter and dry. Very good.

In short: A big belgian beer with a ton of dark fruits, toffee & such that surprisingly doesn’t feel too “heavy”. Good stuff.
How: Bottle 750ml. Consumed when about 1 year of age (recommended aging according to the brewmaster)
The look: Mahogany body topped by a long-lasting large beige head. A beautiful beer.
In long: A big round full body with plenty of toffee, tar and caramel. Unexpected fruity flavours of apples (?) make quite a contrast. A ton of dark fruits but this time no raisins. I got prunes, figs, and such but no raisins. The body is as full as it can get. The carbonation surprisingly doesn’t have that typical Belgium lively feeling. Just a medium carbonation like I expect from an American Strong Ale. The beer is obviously very hoppy because I had a nice sensation of a balanced beer. However the hops seem to just dry out the beer and do not contribute much to the flavour spectrum except for a timid mild bitterness. Alcohol is a bit apparent. Overall this was more easily drinkable than I would have expected. A good big Belgian beer with a body fuller than a tablespoon of skyscraper.

Corked and bailed 0.75L bottle. The cork took a cork screw to remove and it has 02/10 printed on it. Not sure what that means. Poured deep brown with amber hues and fairly off white head leaving nice lacing behind in the glass. The mild aroma has notes of mildly musty dark fruitiness, some lemon sweet/tart candy and hints of yeast. A longer draw brings up Belgian candi sugar and some alcohol heat. The taste has bold and rich dark fruitiness from figs, dates, ripe plums, raisins and a murmuring of black pepper. About midway a dose of allspice, coriander and clove break through the dark fruit dominated flavor and then proceed to fade away into the finish. The dark fruitiness and pepper really don’t let up until deep into the after taste (or next morning).

Mmm, Big and rich, but subtle on the alcohol. Lots of complex fruitiness, with some yeasty spice, big malt backbone, but very dry and dusty. Finishes like candu and lingers on the palate for a very long time, making you lick your lips.

Drunken 750ml uncorking at The Penguin with Dirtman. Mahogany with red edges beneath woolly, climbing beige. That nutty sourish hazelnut yoghurt, parsley and chocolate Westy thing aroma. Cherry liqueur chocolates, lingering fleshy cherry in fact, marzipan, prunes, yeast, mown grass hop and a slim beige collar 2 HOURS after the pour. Incendiary, (only just) sub-Trappist Belgian heavyweight provoking some unusually robust early morning debate.

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.

The aroma has yeast, dark fruit, basement aromas, brown sugar and cookies. The appearance is amber brown with a nice sized head. The taste has bubble gum, caramel, and dark fruit with a strong alcohol presents. The palate is thin but smooth. Overall it’s good.