AleSmith Grand Cru

Bottle. Aroma of sweet malt, caramel and dried fruits. Tastes of caramel, dried fruit, vanilla and sherry. Finishes slightly dry. Reminds me of an aged barley wine. Would buy again.

Pours brown with a tan head. Nice sweet aroma. The beer packs quite a punch at 10.6%, but it isn’t syrupy or anything. Nice sweet caramel flavor, good Belgian yeast, and just a little bit of bitterness as it finishes. AleSmith puts out some good stuff.

Pours a cloudy amber brown with a thin filmy off white head. Aroma is very sweet with caramel, almonds, toffee, maple syrup and a lot of dark fruit. The flavor is much more nutty and less sweet. The caramel and fruit still shine through and are balanced by a nice amount of bitterness. Finishes long nutty sweet and a bit hot. Medium to full bodied, creamy texture.

Reddish hued brown color but barely any head stands up even with a vigorous pour, though plenty of bubbling rises to the surface. The aroma is strikingly fruity, warm and caramely, with a distinct alcohol note noticeable underneath everything. Much like an aged barleywine in the sweet caramel and fruit notes while laking much hoppiness. The flavor is pleasant, not too syrupy, and lays down a nice layer of biscuity caramel and brown sugar, while a light bitterness develops. A touch of maple can be seen toward the finish as well. I expected more of a dominating sweetness to match the nose, but it seems very well balanced. The body is medium to light, again, not what I expected, and much more palatable especially with the dry finish. Very enjoyable.

Very strong brown sugar / carmel flavor. Very tight champagne like bubbles. The worst thing about this beer was that I only had one bottle. This beer made me want more. Very smooth and enjoyable to drink.