Grottenbier Bruin

Brewed by St. Bernard Brouwerij
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Watou, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass

Deep brown color with a medium head. Very sugary aroma, mostly like brown sugar. Slightly nutty taste with a little malt in the base. Had a Lysol-like finish.

Bottled. Dark brown colour, foamy big head. Sweet fruity aroma with hints of yeast and alcohol. Very spiced flavour, with hints of soap and some alcohol. Weird flavour, aroma more promising than flavour... It’s a quite hard one to "understand", and didn’t.

From a 750 mL bottle listed a Grotten Belgian Cave Aged Ale and poured into a Grottenbier glass. Pours a medium brown color with a thin yet constantly bubbling head. I had a hard time getting past the breadiness of the aroma but after quite a bit of sniffing I picked up some light hints of dark fruit. Flavor is yeasty with a bit of a sour tang. Some citrus and apple as well. This beer isn’t really lacking in complexity but I’m not a big fan. Mouthfeel was entirely too rocky as the beer was overcarbonated. Probably won’t try again.

Hazy amber-orangeish hue, with a tan-colored head, leaving good laces, with a fruity, spicy notes, bready dough, caramelized malt, chocolate malt, and dark dried fruits aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a fruity, spicy, brown sugar, sweet malty character, with some roasted malt, caramelized malt, even a chocolatey accent, ripe apples note, leading towards a smooth malty fruity and low bittering hop finish.

Looks great - fiery red-brown with an excellent head. Initial impression was that it smelled like a witbier - loads of cloves, with pepper, vanilla, Grand Marnier and perhaps kiwi fruit. However something’s a bit NQR, there’s a reasonable sweaty presence that I didn’t like. Quite a light and dry mouthfeel, with lots of woody flavour and quite an assertive bitterness, but there’s not much malt at any juncture. The dry-bitter thing makes it unusually different, but this is yet another beer that was lots better in Belgium.

A hearty wheat aroma. A deep brown color that is somewhere between amber and chocolate. Pours a good head and leaves decent lacing on the side of the glass. A tad bitter with a gentle sour taste in the background.

Vintage 1996. Lots of dust sherry aromas in the nose. Deep copper colored body with no head at all. Very flat flavor, with some dark fruits and lots of sherry. I think its over the top because of the aging.

smooth and refreshing. a little weak on the rich velvet side, more carbonated and fizzy. I was not very impressed, still its not bad. redish amber color with a foamy white head.