Val-Dieu Grand Cru

Brewed by Brasserie de l’Abbaye du Val-Dieu
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Aubel, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

It’s so great unscrewing the cork top and opening up a Belgian like this that you never heard of to bring an unexpected aroma of sweet apple orchards. That flavor tames itself and the apple flavor comes in more subtle than the smell as it finishes on the palate. The flavor is a fresh strong ale just like you were in Belgium if you closed your eyes. Crisp and delicious!

Bottle aged roughly a year. Fruity/molasses aroma. Dark brown/amber body with medium head.. nice lacing around the glass...Flavor or cherry, molasses, plum with spiced yeast, hides the alcohol well as it is very complex and balanced

Very nice complexity. The beer has a nice sweet aroma of roasted malts, and spices. The beer tastes like it smell but with a bit of a chocolate flavor. The beet has a great alcohol content to go with the spices that would make it a good winter warmer

750ml. bottle poured into a snifter. Pours a deep ruby red when held up to the light. Had a fluffy off-white head that disapears after a few minutes. Moderate lacing down the glass. Had a sweet aroma along with some yeast in the background. Thick mouthfeel, got a strong sweet caramel in the taste. Finish had a slight alcohol taste. Very good, will get another bottle to age.

Sampled at the 2010 Crescent Moon Extreme Beer Festival. Pours clear brown with a thin white head. Caramel and acetone aroma. Lots of heat. This is big. Tongue-drying. Thick syrup. Huge caramel. Excellent long mouth-coating sweetness throughout. The sweet flavors are less candy and more honey and nectar.

An opaque ebony-amber. A sip, a flush of memories over my mind, as I remember what it was like in my beer aficionado days of two years ago. All those memories of travelling cities, tasting the malts... this beer did for me what fine food and drink is supposed to do -- complement new experiences, and remind you gregariously of the old.

UPDATED: JAN 2, 2012 Rated on 2010.06.20 - Pours ruby colored with a fully receding tan head. Notes of grape, bubble gum, plum, esters, wine, toffee, rum and spice. Full bodied and alcoholic with lively carbonation. Very nice.

Rated on 2011.12.30 - Pours ruby colored with a thin wispy tan head. Notes of dark fruity esters, caramelized overripe fruit, toffee, plums, hop bitterness. Full bodied and alcoholic with lush carbonation.

"Poured dark brown with red edges, light brown head solid lacing. Aroma was of spices (coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon). Flavor was was sweet caramel spices and dark fruits. Mouthfeel was smooth and creamy. Solid beer."