 sneagrams3 (1448), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Jan 6, 2006
So before I have even opened the 750ml bottle, I looked around for the skinny on this brew, and how my curiosity has been piqued. Best before 2007, but I can get more! The head erupted out of the bottle. Hazy red-grapefruit hue. The two fingers of creamy white head hold an aroma of figts, cinnamon, sugary sweet breads and slight raisins. As the heads dies down, aromas of caramel and wood, tart apples and bananas. Sweet Caramel malts stand out on the first sip. Sugar and wood. Raisiny port and citrus. Fantastic velvety smooth body with a lingering head that adds a creamy texture to the beer. Ok, second glass. A little more musty than the first. And citrus. Nice alcohol warmth. Multiple layers of flavor. Sweet, then tart, dry, citrus. Third and final glass holds big sediment. Darker and thicker. Still musty but more bread and port. Full and heavy in the mouth. Starting to feel sugary and sticky, cloying. Cookie note, caramel, slight pine, lemon, oranges, esters, figs (after three glasses, sorry for possible redundancy). In closing, I realize that someday, I will find my perfect beer, and until then this will be the bar to which other beers are measured. Cheers!
jredmond (621), New Jersey, USA
Sep 28, 2008 Bottle. Pours a hazy brown with sediment. The aroma is apple, malt, and some caramel & dark fruit. The flavor is a bit stronger than I would have preferred. At first, you can taste the fruit (apple, dark fruits) in the mouth - but it ends with alcohol and malt.
MrChopin (204), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Sep 27, 2008 Somewhat of a gusher. Shimmering red-amber with a small white head. Similar to the grand cru in flavor and aroma, but whereas the gc gets bogged down in yeast and pepper, brune soars above on wings of fruit, both dark sweet and lighter citrus. More malt than gc also helps balance the aggressively spicy abbaye profile. Palate similarly avoids the fizzy overkill of gc; it’s a perfectly smooth example of full bodied carbonation. High quality stuff here.
davidpl (403), Santiago, Chile
Sep 26, 2008 Appearance: hazelnut color. Medium head, yellow, dense and lasting.
Aroma: dark malts, intensive smells hints of candy, honey, toffee, "manjar", butterscotch and vanilla. Very light spicy reminiscences of ginger and nutmeg. Fruity aromas like fig, plums, berries and raisins. Yeasty and cookies touch.
Flavor: sweet malty start, like in the nose, the toffee, butter, raisins, berries, plums, honey and vanilla. Also, the toast hazelnuts; spiciness like ginger, nutmeg and aniseed. Truffle reminiscences and liquoriness similar to "cherry liquor" and raisins in rum. Warming final.
Palate: medium to full body, oily texture and medium carbonation.
Remark: aromatic and flavor complexity, sweet but balanced, good body and not excessive yeasty.
thornecb (1132), Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA
Sep 19, 2008 Pours amber into a trappist glass. Off-white head recedes to nothing. Spicey pit fruit aromas. Sweet from front to back with pit fruit and a dry, lasting finish.
gam (576), brisbane, Australia
Sep 7, 2008 Good head on a dark murky red/brown pour,carbonation ample.Aroma caramel vegemite,soy sauce,plum,wine notes,raisins,malt strong.Flavour dry,plum,soy sauce port or cognac like,each mouthfull is fantastic,with aswetness on the tongue of the raisins plums figs caramel like velvet,brown sugar hint.Finish dry sweet fully flavoured ,lasting.
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