Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Totally hazy orange; little or no head. Sweetish nose like pancakes or waffles, at the same time spicey. Spicey, bitterish taste, unrefined. A little wheat. Pharmacy-like finish. Medium-bodied, not fully attenuated. Ho-hum. I prefer the Blanche des Honnelles.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
0.75 l bottle, one year old bottle - best before 2004, 9% ABV. Aroma of Raisins in rum, caramel, yeasty wood, port, a bit lemon. Dark chestnut brown coloring, impressive creamy tan head. Flawors are dark and wooden: A bit brown sugar, christmas spices, a bit citrus, cedar notes. The spicy aftertaste peters off nicely, but a little bit too quick. Body could be a little bit more powerfull. Very nice - this is really what a christmas beer should be like. Reading the other reviews it seems like lagering this beer for a year does it a lot of good.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
A cloudy amber beer with a fantastic light brown head. The aroma is sweet malty with notes of caramel, yeast and cloves. The flavor is great; sweet malty with notes of cloves. If I should come up with one negative point, it would be, that the beer is a little too sweet.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Dense creamy head, brownish; deep dark brown with reddish shine. Extremely powerful punch of fruit, alcoholS and esters (plums, grapes, blueberries,raisins, chocolate/mole, orange, pears...) in the nose. Gingerbread - or hot fruit punch. Sweet taste, with a mild-bitter edge; gingerbread, spicey. Citruszest finish, pepery, ginger. Very creamy mouthfeel, velvety. Loads of alcohol & fusels, alcoholburn, warming. Aftertaste of brown candi-sugar & orange brandy. Typical - liquid X-mas pudding and the rest. But definitely satisfying and complex enough.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Hearty yeasty amber appearance with a thick finger of foam. Aroma is deeply fruity, with lots of raisin, plum, peaches, pears and dark chocolate. The body is robust though spritzy. The flavour is sweet, with chocolate, raisin, caramel, and many of the same fruits mentioned above. Lots of esters and residual sugars. Very rich and warming with a splash of alcohol at the back.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Crystal clear dark golden colour. Thick white fluffy head. I thought 'blanche' meant 'white' in flemish, but I guess not. This one looks nothing like a traditional white. Strong aroma of coriander seed, spices and wheat. Light-bodied; Very strong carbonation; Light in flavour, only a bit of the spice showing up, and hardly and malt. The alcohol is definately more noticeable than other whites, and the flavours are more sharp and one-dimensioned. Aftertaste is fairly bittered from the spices and malt. Overall, this beer is pretty good, but completely different than any other White...so don't expect a normal beer for the style. I bought this twelve ounce bottle at Norm's in Vienna, Virginia and sampled it at cellar temperature.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Spices and peaches on the aroma. Milky orange-yellow, big creamy head. Sweet wheaty flavors dominate, some spices - peppery aftertaste. Light body.
Sloefmans (15519) reviewed Grand Cru from Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Huge light-brown head, very creamy; muddy light-brown beer with a lot of flunky UFO. Nose of hops, roasted malts and nutmix. Very bitter taste with an outspoken nutty flavour, like nut-butter (hazelnut, pecan, sweet walnut, very oily). Thick mouthfeel, nearly oily. Long roasted aftertaste. Nice, thick, filling, syrupy. But - is it really that exciting and complex? I wonder about some rates equalling this to Westvleteren...
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Brune-Bruin from Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
Pours a murky caramel brown, however, there are some drab brown tinges in there as well. Pretty dark stuff. Smells fairly stiff and pungent, but not overly aromatic (wow, i guess I am on my own here, though I did have a cold, I'll have to sniff some more of this soon!). Alcohol noticeable. Small fizzy brownish/yellow head. Bubbly and moderately clouded. Initially was quite carbonated and that added a harsh element to the palate. Beer begins with big hops flavors mixed in with lots of dry caramel and lush raisin. The caramel malt flavor continues to build up on the palette, growing sweeter with some chocolate covered cherry appeal towards the finish, maybe some raspberry in there too. Finish is soft and warm, some small hops flavors detectable, and a very unique roasted peanut flavor is faintly detectable. Moderately astringent flavor up front is my biggest problem, but as the beer warms and breathes, this dies off somewhat (though it never really loses its dry, loose initial flavor). More hops would help out up front, though the main body is medium full and perfectly malty. As I finished the bottle off over the next hour or so, it just got better. No cloyingness, great depth and still tastes great at almost room temperature. I definitely need to try terrible and then rerate the des Rocs Grand cru as well.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 10 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9.5
Pours with little head, but a nice lacing none-the-less, and an attractive amber color - extremely inviting aroma of flowers, perfume and fruits (cherries mostly) and candy - big time malt flavor, but not overly, sweet or cloying - fruit flavors of cherries and strawberries - chocolate, toffee, caramel and coffee - complex is an understatement - finishes with a touch of hops and a bready toastiness - deservedly in the top 50, but I'm not sure if it's any better than the Grand Cru.