Grottenbier Bruin

Fantastic. Fizzy and effervescent pour with thin white head. Fruity, spicy and oaky aroma...herbal notes are dominant. Crisp mouth feel with a substantial malt character; herbal and oaky in flavor.

clear brown beer with a small head. aromas of caramel, fruit and spices. tastes that way too, coriander and citrus zest dominate. nice bittersweet and dry finish. nice, very nice.

True to its label the beers aroma was dark and damp, wood and some sweetness to it as well. The brew looked a touch cloudy with a nice redish brown and the head was a off white that lasted the duration of the glass. The flavor was rich with hops and fruit. Very smooth and lasting with every sip feeling full and complete. Thought it had a nice range of taste to the mouth . Could taste some fruit like plum and pear as well as some spice. The Grotten is a very good beer and will get a return visit for sure.

Bottle. Brown pour - slightly orange and hazy. Malty fruity - pears for me - and a tad sour. There was also some nice yeaty notes, and pleasant spices. Balanced fairly well. I enjoyed it.

A nice thickness. The taste enhances as the beer gets warmer. Not that brown in volour, but with a white-brownish head that disappears quickly. A nice taste at first that is slightly old, quite fruity... the aftertaste somewhat hoppier and dry.

Smells a bit like a sour man-cave. vegetable, sugar, coriander stew. A nice reddish browing with right beige head. On the sour-dry side and heavily flavored with coriander and not much sugar. Acidic and not all that pleasant in flavor or palate. Rotten veggies. Excessively spiced with coriander and peels.

Mid brown and hazy with a large white head. The aroma was cidery and spicy, the initial taste musty, dusty, mildewy and papery like an old attic. There followed malts and sweetness with a curious dryness and a distant hint of something sour. Thought-provoking. Unusual. Very wonderful.

’Beer from the grotto’, this is Pierre Celis’ legendary cave-beer which is predominantly made from Vienna malts, uses spices from distant tropical islands and is cellared for a few years before sale. Quite a unique beer and this is evident when it came to tasting. Poured into a stumpy chalice glass, cool and not cold. Dense, creamy tannish head formed off the pour to sit an inch thick atop a murky, tawny chestnut body with a lovely tinge of red coming through in the lights. Head lasted for the length to frost over the entire glass. Mmmm, malty and wine-like could best describe the rather dry, spicy and almost savoury nose. Hints of ginger root, plum-wine and well-made chocolate pudding emanated from the glass with something else in there I couldn’t quite pin-point (almost like cardamom pods?). Quite vinous in the mouth, even more so than the aroma, and predominantly woody like it was aged in oak. Medium bodied and softly, prickly in carbonation upfront before smoothing out towards the tonsils. Underneath the woody, wine-like malts lie flavours of bitter/sweet chocolate, roasted cashews, nutmeg and ginger root, and a hint of sherry that all melds together beautifully and keeps the palate reasonably dry right through to the malty and earthy, slightly nutty swallow. For 6.5% it makes for an unusually long sipper suited more to an Abt/Quadrupel than a beer of this strength. I liked it, I’ll definitely have to track a few more bottles down. Lovely!!! (33cL, 09/05/08, Int’l Beer Shop, W. Leederville)