Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Whatever vintage the shipment that just hit the U.S. Bottle 3/6/05. Nothing like a brasserie des Rocs beer to break up a mid tasting slump. Pours a dark brown, deep magenta tinted body with lots of light tan head that is initially quite mountainous, but quickly recedes to just a slight covering. Aroma of strong yeast, dark fruits, dark candi sugar and rum-soaked raisins. Flavor begins with a fruity sweetness, with more residual candi-like sugar on the way. The texture is lightly fizzy at first, but giving it time to breath, as one should, it turns in to a much stronger body, with only soft carbonation. Light cloves, caramel, yeast and a bit of bitterness on the finish. While I can’t say I love this beer, taking it all in, it still comes off as a well-made brew. May be a bit young yet, time will tell. My first Imperial Trippel (kidding).
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottled (BBE 2006)
Hazy orange color, huge brownish head - very Orval-like. Floating yeast particles. Fruity (mango, pine-apple) and hoppy nose mixed with lemon. Peppery, chewy malty, medium to full-bodied. Dry, woody aftertaste - suprisingly lacking potential kick of alcohol, just slightly bitter aftertaste. Very good but less complex than expected.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Bottle: Poured a hazy blonde color ale with a huge head with great retention. Aroma is a mix of wheat with some sweetness also quite apparent. Taste is very sweet at first and wheat can also be noticed afterward. There seems to be some spices even though the label mentioned that no spices were used during brewing, Not the best tripel I had the chance of drinking but still a pretty good example of the style.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Dark red-ish amber colour, lots of yeast sediment. Rich head. A rich, warming, smooth beer with toffee ’n’ liquorice aroma and flavour. Bitter finish. This beer really Rocs!
fiulijn (28383) 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 (24322) 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.