One of the fixed new Achel beers, a brand that was restyled when the Achelse Kluis monastery - literally on the border of Belgium with the Netherlands - ceased to be a trappist abbey and was sold to a private investor; nevertheless this 'Grand Cru' (a term derived from French wine culture but meaningless in Belgian beer culture other than simply meaning that a beer is intended to be of a higher class than its brethren) refers back to the trappist past of the site, as Marc Gallant, deceased eight years ago now, was the abbott there up till 2006, when he moved to Orval in retirement. I vividly recall the Achelse Zomer of 2004, a one-off commemorating his then 75th birthday, as one of the best Achel trappists of them all, so I was hoping to find at least a glimpse of that memory in this present-day equivalent. Snow white, frothy, cobweb-lacing, slowly breaking but generally stable head, peach-golden blonde robe with ochre-ish tinge, clear at first, misty further on. Aroma of dry straw, dried flowers (though not necessarily heather, which was actually added), cooked turnips, moist white pepper, halfripe peach, camomile, clove, bread crust, 'graanjenever', wet clay, juniper berry (probably just those heather flowers again), apricot, green pear. Fruity onset but relatively restrained in sweetness, unripe peach, very subtle pineapple and a dash green pear, minerally carbonation, smooth and full body; rounded white-bready, somewhat cereally maltiness superseded by a noticeable, yet not overly dominant florality of the heather flowers - adding something very vaguely honeyish in aroma, though not in flavour, and lengthened by the floral character of the hops, which provide a gently drying bitterness. The hops actually accentuate the general dryishness of the beer, but as usual with 'herbal' beers (in the literal sense of the word), part of the end bitterness probably comes from those heather flowers. 'Jenever'-like alcohol warms the tail - and in the end becomes a bit too intrusive for my personal liking. Decently brewed tripel with a subtle ornament in the form of those heather flowers, lending it a certain sense of 'terroir' but blending well into the whole, not as sweet as many other abbey style tripels and easy to drink - but alas, not resembling the Achelse Zomer of 2004 at least not from what I remember, lacking that bright, sweet, elegantly peachy juiciness and fruitiness I recall. I should not be too suprised about this, I guess.