by Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs
The name is quite a lengthy one. Fortunately the beer is worthy of the verbose introduction! Beers named ‘Grand Cru’ are usually held out as the top end of the breweries range.
This is an all malt beer, made up of 7 different malts, and 3 different hops (one each from Belgium, Germany, Czech). It is a lovely ruby red colour, with a sweet malt aroma.
The flavour is a rich mix of sweet and bitter. Over-ripe dark fruits, a characterful spicy yeast, hints of wood smoke and caramel sweetness (though no candi sugar is used). The beer dries out nicely as it evolves, leaving a pleasant lingering bitterness and depth of aftertaste.
About Abbaye de Rocs: the brewery is located in a small village and began production in 1979 brewing 50 litres every two weeks. Of course things have increased since then, with the brewing currently producing around 1000 hectolitres (100,000 litres) annually.