Van den Vern Grand Cru
Bottleworks in Seattle, Washington, United States 🇺🇸
Brewed at/by: De ProefbrouwerijBelgian Style - Strong Ale Regular Out of Production
|
Score
6.80
|
|
Sign up to add a tick or review
4.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 3
Texture 6
Overall 4.5
22oz caged/corked Bottle Clear redish brown. No head. Lost most of its carbonation over the last 16 years or so. Some woody soft maltiness and a litel wet brown paper character. but lacking almost all of the sour I assume it started with. Past its prime for sure....likely past its drink ability even.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Mar 2018
at 17:35
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Deep rich brown coloured body with a lot of movement and some finer sediment floating around with a thin off-white head. Aroma of sour grapes, tons of earth, nuts, caramel, yeast and a noticeable bit of chocolate. Medium-bodied; Assertive earthy malt bite at first with a lot of chocolate, peanuts, yeast, alcohol, prunes and even more figs. Aftertaste is complex but on the earthy and nutty side with a lot of sugars, some of them caramelised and a good dose of alcohol noticeable to finish. Overall, a good, but not amazing beer - definitely nice to try, but I was expecting a bit more complexity and/or interesting flavours - this was just an abbey dubbel with more of a focus on malt, definitely belongs in that category. Still nice to sample, this a day before heading back out to Bottleworks to see what rarer beers I can find. I sampled this 33 cL bottle (NOT stubby as shown in picture, slender like most belgies) purchased from Bottleworks in Seattle, Washington on 25-April-2009 sampled at home in Washington (the real Washington) on 10-January-2013.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jan 2013
at 22:39
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle 2004 vintage Pours out a nice copper/red untill I dumped all the yeast in and then the glass got pretty cloudy. Aroma of sweet pit fruit and belg yeast. Tast was still sweet along with some fruit. No way you could pick out the 9.8% ABV.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Mar 2009
at 22:23
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Grabbed this 2004 vintage from bottleworks. Pours clear amber with off white head. The aroma is full with bold cherry, plum, sugar stewed raisins, some sweet and roasty malts. The notes are smooth and blended. The taste begins malty sweet. Yum. Much like the nose the flavor is smooth and blended with pure goodness bringing up notes of cherries, plums, prunes, sugar coated and then stewed raisins. This is very smooth, as noted above, and tasty with plenty of yum.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Oct 2008
at 23:12
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
2004 bottle - Yeast flakes swirl in this light amber brew with a big white head. It has a very fruity aroma. The flavor is sweet malt and dark fruits with a little alcohol coming through, especially in the finish. This medium bodied beer is very good and IMO is underrated here. There seem to be a few bad bottles floating around, but mine was fine.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Apr 2008
at 13:13
3.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 4
Flavor 3
Texture 4
Overall 2.5
12 oz brown bottle, bottled in 2004. Wet horse rope aroma. Dark brown and cloudy. Not what I expected, way too much alky in the flavors. For some reason I was expecting a flemish sour ale. Yes, there are hints of sour in there but this is way over the top in the alky arena. Alky content is certainly present. This taste somewhat like an imperial sour ale. The sour flemish is supressed for the most part tho it keeps sticking it’s little head out from around the corner. $4 for a 12 0z bottle and I heard that is cheap. . Finish is alky in yer face mixed with hay. Rude and crude, will not buy again.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Nov 2007
at 15:38
7.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
A hazy mahogany brown with floaties and a thick light moka head. Pleasant aroma of maple, apple pie, vinous notes, and alcohol. In mouth, a rich brown sugar malt taste, orange peels, light hops, dark fruits and warming alcohol. Oily mouthfeel. Rich and pleasant. Bottled in 2004. BOTW.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Jun 2007
at 20:34
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Bottle. Rich dark amber beer with a nice off-white head. Dusty, caramel aroma with yeast, green apples, lemon, and spice. Rich fruity (plum/cherry/lemon) flavor with malt, spice, and eyast. medium bodied. Well balanced - lingering fruity spice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Nov 2006
at 14:56
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Pour is a very hazy dark red with a small tan head that stays around for awhile. Aroma is very cherry and caramel. Flavor is thick malts with tons of brown sugar and molasses. About the same thickness as a dopplebock. Very tasty and suprising as this only cost $1.29 and i have had worse that cost way more.
Tried
on 16 Jun 2006
at 19:52
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6
2004 bottle from Sams in Chicago, consumed on 5/13/06. Foamy, bottle conditioned/low-filtration head is well-retained and sandy-golden. Deep, light-raspberry-burgundy body has a high level of settled clarity. The nose is clean, Belgian yeast esters and light phenols, pretty standard, really. Some nutty, old hops show a longlost glory, while prunes, light vinousness and boiled chocolate combine. What is produced is surprisingly cohesive and still has vigour. Grapey (or is that DMS masked with phenols?), with strong oxidative notes in both aroma and flavor, but importantly, the body was not harmed. Probably as attenuated as it needs to be, with cola and light black pepper phenols bursting all over the palate. Some light creamy sweetness trails off, leaving the palate comforted, while no alcohol is apparent in aroma or flavor.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 May 2006
at 01:31