Val-Dieu Grand Cru

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

Bottled. Dark brown color, medium head. Aroma is malty and fruity, some chocolat, hint of raisin. Malty taste, again some chocolat, yeast. Quite typical belgian strong ale, but with a decent balance.

Head is initially small, frothy, light brown, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy medium hazy orange-brown, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie), lightly hoppy (flowers), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), with light notes of brown sugar, clove, tangerine, banana. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, watery/velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. Like most Val-Dieu products, this is a mid-to-high 3’s level brew, nicely made and very pleasant, but not quite stellar. Sweet, but not cloying. VERY well-hidden alcohol for being around 10%.

Cork escapes quickly as the cage was tossed. Dark brown liquid with a moderate light tan head that settles to a thin dense lid. Aromas of dark bread dough, with currants, light grapes, mild orange and a hint of spice. Smooth palate that seems to get somewhat sticky at times. Sweet fruity flavors abound. Stewed prunes, dates, figs, bananas, pears, apples, raisins and light citrus and spice. This really does have a wassail quality. Should have cracked this one on Christmas. Nice brew, perhaps not a grand cru, but enjoyable. Does not stay sweet in the mouth and actually dries out a bit in the finish and linger is rather "skinny" with a touch of vanilla left swirling about. This is way to drinkable for 10.5%.

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.

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.

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.

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.