Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru

Brewed by Brasserie de l’Abbaye des Rocs
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Montignies-sur-Roc, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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UPDATED: AUG 4, 2005 2002 bottleExtremely meaty, like going to a rain forest and having some papayas, guavas, oranges, passion fruit, malted barley (ok so thats not much of a rain forest item) and some roasted monkey meat with a really rich barbecue sauce. This beer had a dark, almost purple-orange appearance. Wonderful body on this beer as well.
On draught, 6/8/2005 at Redbones. Pretty fantastic to see this stuff on draught here. Man, my old reviews are bad. Roasted monkey meat??? What? Anyways, this was sweet, velvety and richly malted, with prunes, raisins, light chocolate and a hint of vinousness. Yeast is strong and chewy. Dry spicing on the end, seems to give some respite from the maltiness. Low carbonation. Aroma of nutmeg, caramelized sugar, earthy yeast, thick doughy malt and soft, cherries soaked in cointreau. Dry Belgian chocolate as well. Great stuff, perfect mouthfeel. My sample seemed a tad bit loose on the end.

On draught at Redbones, July 2005 Hazy brownish-raisin with some light tan notes and darker mahogany hues swirling about. The head is small, but well-retained and a light, tan-oatmeal color. Very fine bubbles rise in the glass, on the edges. Aroma has delectable brown sugar, raisins, caramel and a beautiful yeast, characteristic of this brewery (I think that’s the key to these guys’ success, their incredible trappist-like yeast). The flavor brings forth succulent notes of dates, figs, raisins, toffee and brown sugar, with lightly tart fruitiness on the finish and a dry, almost wood-like note. Alcohol is not present here and the body is big but fluffy. It’s decadent but it’s not, somehow. Like falling back in to a plush, silk and down bed. Yeast caresses the palate and sticks to the sides of the mouth, with light chocolate and more dry roastiness or woodiness. Hints of vanilla and creme brulee on the end. Tiny bubbles pack in the mouth and tickle the tongue. The carbonation is low but scintillating. Ah, what a wonderful beer. Score is for this rating (I didnt have a clue what I was talking about in my previous review).

I’m pretty sure this beer despite the high overall ratings is still under appreciated because it is so damned ugly. Appearance suffers from large bubbles, huge chunks of yeast floaties even with an extremely careful pour and leaving 1/2 of liquid gold in the bottle. Looks like pond water met a dying squirrel carcass. Red with floating masses and murky/ muddy looking. Now.... with that out of the way. This is an otherwise incredible beer. Aroma is prunes, raisins, caramel, toffee, figs, dates. Biblical if you catch my drift. Taste: Is pleasantly, surprisingly, bitter. All of the flavors of the aroma are still there but there is a wonderful tongue cleansing, refreshing, more please, firm bitterness. Palate is a perfect, just thick enough for the flavors and just thin enough to not become cloying. Overall, this is a great find. It seems to exist as proof positive that all of the "appearance is proof of a well made beer" yahoos are wrong. This is an amazing beer that is ugly as sin. Find it, buy it, put a blindfold on if you have to , and drink it.

Pours a dark murky brown with solid tan head from the bottle. Smell is of sweet fruits, toffee and caramel malts. Taste is complex, starts off sweet, then gets a nice bitter bite, before a clean alcoholic finish. Great beer!

Shared a bottle (thnks BelgBeerGeek) at Kulminator. Reddish brown with a small pale head. Aroma is raisins, brown sugar, date, anise, hint of banana. Slightly creamy on the palate and a nice sweetness. Taste is raisins, candi sugar, dates, bread. Very enjoyable.

Dark brown colored beer, murky, with a muddy head. Aromas of caramel, and cherries. Tastes of cloying brown sugar, some muted spices, toffee, and some sour cherry flavors. Finishes on a boozy, medicinal sweetness. Syrupy mouth feel, thick brew. I was expecting something a bit more impressive. Not a bad beer though.

Meh. Deep deep brown and malty. Got nothing from the scent and it ultimately ends up being an average brown ale. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Smooth, malty, syrupy, thick & sweet with loads of sediment. Notes of caramel, cola, cherry, carbonation is just right. One of our favorites.

Pours a caramel slight cola color. Aroma is of raisins with a hint of sweet caramel or molasses. Taste is of sweet alcohol, mixed with lots of raisins which gives it a good subtle taste. Towards the end the molasses and caramels really come through. A very nice belgian strong ale.

Clear brown with a beige head and loads of big floaties. Aroma is sweet, mlaty, caramel, dried fruit, yeasty and dark sugar. Flavor is quite sweet and moderate bitter. Sweet finish. Soft and very smooth. 230412

Bottle. Amber colour with floaters and a small off-white head. Aroma is sugar, alcohol, malt, yeast. flavour is sugar, dried fruits, alcohol, malt, cherry, peaches, caramel, yeast. Nice beer.

2*330 ml bottles bought in a mixpack and shared at tasting. Gusher! Pours hazy reddish brown with a huge creamy white head that slowly dissipates while leaving some trace on the glass. Smell is sweet with wet earth, mushrooms, cellar, orange peal, unripe pineapple, honey, dark grapes, red wine, wood and alcohol. Taste is sweet and spicy with wet earth, leather, black pepper, banana, brazil nuts, wet leaves, earl gray tea, funnel chanterelle, vanilla and hints of alcohol. Mouthfeel is tiny tart, slightly sticky sweet and full bodied. Finish is sweet and herbal with wet leaves, green herbs, nuts, dark sweet bread and alcohol. Interesting how a rather strange smell and taste combines into a really good beer.