AleSmith Grand Cru

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
San Diego, California USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Winter 2005 bottle. Pours a bright, clear ruby red into a trappist glass. No head from a vigorous pour. Dark roasted sticky sweet caramel and chocolate. Alcohol very well hidden.

Picked up this bottle at the brewey 3/06 - Pours a clear deep amber color with a small off white head which faded pretty quick. Very light spotty lacing. Aroma is full of esters with some caramel malt. Flavor is very fruity. Medium body. Alcohol is slightly noticeable. The beer got better as it warmed. One of the better Belgium style beers I’ve had. Very nice.

Thanks to KenB for this gem of a beer. Pours brownish orange with an off-white head. A small amount of yeast visible on the botton of the bottle. Aroma is yeast, brown sugar, tofee, honey, plums, prunes, raisins, tart/astringent wood, pepper and spice. The taste is tart, at first, and tasting of alcohol, caramel, toffee, raisins, vanilla, and spice as well as dark chocolate to a much lesser extent. Huge mouthfeel. Just a beautiful beer, well done AleSmith!

UPDATED: OCT 13, 2007 Bottle number two of the elusive AleSmith to come from Kepano’s bountiful box of benison bliss is the Grand Cru. Undeterred by the YuleSmith, which for disliking I am forever one of the “fallen”, I enthusiastically grabbed my glass and made for a dramatic pour. There are few things in life that can’t be tastefully improved with a bit of bravado. This was actually a much more important drink than a simple AleSmith tasting. There is no confusion about AleSmith’s quality here – a session with AleSmith is a special session indeed. But this was something of a practice round for the GABF. It was training to make sure I could recognize quality where it was widely accepted to exist. And I think, to that end, it was a success. That, and it was a fine beer too. The head was thick. It may have been large or lumpy or bubbly, but at that moment I could only recognize it as thick, in the same way someone might name their new powerful piece of machinery “Thick”. It was a foam that could flex muscle. It was DENSE. Colored like custard, it sat and grimaced like a retired bouncer, keeping guard above the pomegranate red beer below. It was such a weighty top that it actually crushed itself, crackling like a bowl of Rice Krispies fresh with milk. Though I was wholly entertained by the visual spectacle of the Grand Cru I was gently reminded there were other elements to be reviewed. The smell, to which I may be unfairly harsh after being torn away from that glorious foamy toy, inspired a vicious hunger. My gut wrenched and moaned as I took in the aromas of beef briscuit, salt, corn flour, Coca-cola, brown sugar, molasses and teriyaki. It told the story of a dark, heavy meal of meat and sugar which, after my collegiate lunches of white rice and dinners of pasta seemed worlds away. I took a taste, delving further into the liquidous feast, and found it to be low, slow and droopy like an old cowboy’s moustache. Salty and dark, it tasted like a Strong Belgian Ale without any of the sugar or esters, relying on a soothing roasted coffee and stewed vegetable blend, leaving a lingering aftertaste of delicious malts. It’s a plainer beer while cold but warms up to the drinker with time. If it is missing that sweet flavor profile, and if that seems like a travesty, I can find two reasons why it’s not. First, it makes for a very mature beer that would go great with hearty meals in a way that beers with sweeter tones may not. Second, it helps to single out the meatier parts of other Strong Belgian Ales by taking out an obfuscating element. In other words, it trains a drinker to evaluate Belgians with more clarity to exercise better judgment in the future when really deep, complex and mind bending beers come to the tongue. And since I was, in a way, prepping for the GABF the Grand Cru succeeded independently as a beer and as a means to improve my own tasting abilities. January 14th Grand Cru Tasting w/ Denver Logan – ’06 Vintage Cobweb string head, mahogany red-brown color. Smell has honey, pine, flowers, humid. Mouthfeel was bubbly but then flat and sewery, sort of soda-esque. Taste was watery with honey, pine, medium burnt wood. Poor palate, more bitter. ’04 Vintage Darker color, not as flat, heavier with more maple, brown sugar, soy sauce and steak sauce in flavor. Also more cough medicine like.

Tap, Papago Brewing. Medium brown color with a dense, lingering head. Subtle caramel aroma, hard to distinguish much going on there. Tasty toffee taste at first that melds into a lingering plummy flavor, notes of chocolate and sugar. Good finish, no bitterness or astringency. Even though you can’t taste the alcohol you’ll know it’s there pretty quickly.

Tap, Liars Club. Dark amber on the pour. Sweet aroma of dark roasted malt. Flavor is rather spicy with quite a bit of dark fruitiness. Very tasty. Left me wanting alot more.

Bottled - LCRBM2 - A mid brown coloured beer. The aroma is malty, hoppy and yeasty with a touch of caramel sweetness. The taste is just delicious. I’ve struggled with most American Belgians but this is lovely. Good malts, nice long spicy finish and great alcohol levels. A very very tasty beer that my words aren’t doing justice to, but the overall 19/20 hopefully does.

LCRBM2. Hazy chestnut colour with no head. Subtle sour aroma. Good toffee and good hops. Good raisin fruit. Citrus stops it being flabby. Hops are excellent. This took me a bit by surprise and I very much liked it. Went back for more.

750ml bottle. Aroma: Belgian yeast, caramel and light chocolate, a bit of woodiness with some vanilla. Nice strong malty aroma. Appearance: Light brownish in color (similar to an iced tea) and somewhat murky. Light tan head was full and rocky, but dissipated rapidly. Almost no lacing. Flavor: Strong bread note with a touch of toastiness. Lots of caramel flavor. Candi sugar and some dark fruits. A touch of vanilla. Very light sourness right before the finish. Strong alcohol presence that is a little hot. Palate: Medium-full bodied. Carbonation seemed a bit high to me. Semi-dry finish. Lots of alcohol warming in the back of my mouth. Overall: A very enjoyable beer, but alcohol seemed a bit high and mouthfeel a little low. Quite nice, nonetheless.

LCRBM2: Vinous aroma with grapes and raisin. Sweet, vinous flavor. Raisinny hoppy finish. Very good.