fiulijn (28382) reviewed Grand Cru from Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
Magnum bottle, 4 years old
Amber color. Wonderful beer, perfect maltiness and balance, a lovely Strong Ale, with harmony, no need to say more (caramel, spices, malt…).
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle Clear, blond body. Off-white, creamy head. Fair lace. Lots of quite large particles. Nose of hops (citrus, orange peals). Lightly bitter initial flavour. Moderately bitter, lightly sweet finish.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
Bottled. Cloudy golden with rich, firm head. There some grassy hops up front, along with a little fruity esters. Firm and solidly malty - with pleasant, soft mouthfeel. Lingering salty finish. A beautifully balanced beer.
Dogbrick (24210) reviewed Grand Cru from Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Sampled at From The Vine beer tasting Jan 14th, 2005: Hazy amber with a thick and foamy beige head. Decent lacing. The aroma is sweet with malt, yeast and melon. Full-bodied, creamy and satisfying with a complex array of flavors from ginger, caramel and malt to fruit and even chocolate. I was blown away by how flavorful even a small glass of this was. The finish is sweet and lingering with roasted malt and spices (cinnamon, figs). Outstanding Belgian!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Chunky opaque brown,large lasting beige head.Sweet malt nose with plum and light yeast. Sweet malt and cherry/plum taste with light alcohol heat.There is a hint of another ingredient I cannot pick out.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
(330 ml capped bottle, bought at Borough Market, London.) Pours with a collossal head, beer is clear reddish brown but with an enormous amount of lumpy yeast floaties which are not dissolved in the beer when pouring, thus making the beer in the glass look rather unappetizing - you may actually feel the lumps when drinking. I normally prefer to pour the yeast in with most bottle conditioned beers (enhances the flavour IMO), even when the brewers tell me not to - but in this case it is definitely not to be recommended! Aroma is initially surprisingly mild and one-dimensional malty sweet, improves as the beer warms up - vinous notes with some toffee and oak appear. Flavour is caramelly, oaky and spicy, with a nice alcoholic warmth. Decent enough, if disregarding the lumps.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle Pours a slightly hazy pale yellow "Blonde" with a Huge white head and lots of clumpy/sticky lacing. The yeasty bits are churning around taking a ride on all the carbonation. Looks like some knd of beer snow-globe. Now there’s an idea. Sweet fruity spicey aroma. Yes, flavor is largely apricots, some carmel and butterscotch and a slight alcohol flavor. Carbonation is lively and the finish is celan and quick.A slight lingering bitterness.
Oakes (33493) reviewed Spéciale Noël from Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Sedimented chestnut appearance. Cobwebby yeast aroma with plum, cherry, peach and sweet dark malts. Spritzy carbonation and a full body. Peachy, slightly perfumey, cherryish and plummy palate with rich malty depths and a hint of chocolate. A little alcohol in the finish. Warming, rich, fruity. Joyeaux Noel, Brasserie des Rocs!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle Pours a deep carmel brown with a small light tan head and sparce but silky lacing. Lots of floaters and sinkers. Fruity and spicy notes. Plums, raisons and molassas. flavors are the belgian spice, slight smokey notes and mostly dark pitted fruits. Flavors are quite subdued earthy and blended. Much more so than the other highly rated Belgians I’ve had. Feel is soft and a bit lively and the finish is smooth with a slight woody malty flavor.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Murky muddy brown coloured body with a super-dense tan head. Aroma of pit fruit, caramel, toffee, coriander seed and some light hops. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong fruit flavour up front with pleasant malt. Musty flavours running through pretty well. Showing some hops and alcohol in the finish...pretty good! Overall, a nice beer-definitely not a tripel, but a great beer to find! I sampled this 75 cL bottle with jon[r888710] , purchased by me a day ealier from Whole Foods in Vienna, Virginia.