Val-Dieu Grand Cru

Brewed By: Brasserie de l’Abbaye du Val-Dieu in Aubel, Belgium 

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Belgian Dark Strong Ale, 10.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

I'm excited for tonight's beer...Dark Strongs/Quads are among my favorite styles of beer, and the bottle of tonight's beer states: "This authentic Abbey Ale is based on the recipe perfected centuries ago by the monks of Abbey du Val-Dieu." You can't argue with that. About Val-Dieu:

The Cistercian Abbey “Notre Dame du Val-Dieu” was founded in 1216 by monks from Hocht, near Maastricht (the capital city of the Dutch province of Limburg) and the county of Dalhem. The legend goes that the uninhabited valley into which they settled was so hostile the locals called it the "valley of the devil." The monks renamed it "Valley of God," or Val-Dieu in French. Val-Dieu was the only Belgian abbey to survive the French Revolution. Today, the abbey is still linked to the Cistercian Order, and the abbey of Lérins.  

According to Wikipedia, the abbey's original church was destroyed in 1287 during the War of Limburg Succession, and again in 1574 during the Eighty Years' War, and again in 1683 by the armies of Louis XIV. Under Abbot Jean Dubois, from 1711 to 1749, the abbey flourished, until the church was destroyed again in the French Revolution. 

The brewery (Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu) was established in 1997 at the abbey farm. Originally, the monks of Val-Dieu brewed beer to make the water drinkable and to avoid diseases like dysentery, cholera, and typhoid. The beers brewed at the abbey today are inspired by the original recipes of the monks. The abbey emphasizes basic ingredients, a rigorous brewing process, and straight up legit water from the regional Gileppe dam. For more info, check out the abbey's website, or the Val-Dieu website.

The Val-Dieu Grand Cru doesn't have a webpage, but this Dark Strong Ale punches in at 10.5%, and should be delicious.

Val-Dieu Grand Cru

The beer pours into a cola black/purple body, and kicks up one to two fingers of dense, creamy, Strong Ale-inspired head. The head is creamy and foamy, like beaten egg whites. When you shine a bright light through the beer, you can see that the body is a dark ruby red color. There's a storm of carbonation violently erupting upwards off the nucleation point on my glass, and the head is soaking up the red tones. It's a good looking beer, with all the stuff in the right places. 

As I popped the cork off this, I was greeted with lots of funky yeast aromas. I'm getting a lot of raw yeast. Underneath that is a ton of dark fruits and stone fruits. I'm getting grapes, apples, pears, and raisins. There's some wheat/raisin/straw, ala an aged wheat beer. Honestly, for better or worse, it smells a lot like the other Val-Dieu beers I've had.

At 10.5%, this beer is going to have body. And it does. I'm reminded of a lighter version of the Rochefort 10, with tons of malt density, boozy dark/stone fruits, powdery rum, sugar cookies, perfume, sweet candy sugar, and lots of dark fruits. I'm pulling out grape, prunes, plums, figs, and some wheat/apple. The whole thing has lots of must/dust and perfume, and you get some seductive boozy warming on the back, with some spicy/phenolic pepper and clove; rum, dark fruits.

This is a dense, full-bodied beer...but it's also quite creamy and smooth, and supported with lots of carbonation. Like most Belgian Strong Ales, despite the huge ABV, drinkability is very high. That's a problem, because you want to sip on something like this, preferably on a chilly Autumn/Winter evening. Fortunately, this beer has some nice complexity, and the palate depth is divine stuff for the style. You get powdery/perfumed dark fruits up front, with some nice spices; that rolls into dense sugars, spices, sugar cookies; the back end is boozy (in a good way), with more dark fruits, rum, pepper/clove...the whole thing is very nice. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. While the palate depth and mouthfeel are off the charts (rivaling the Rochefort 10), I feel like this isn't the most complex Dark Strong I've had. At this point, I'm pretty much nitpicking. Go ahead and buy this beer with confidence. In fact, this is probably the best offering from Val-Dieu, so if you are going to try their beers make sure to pick this one up. This beer will pair well with strong/dry cheeses, meats, grilled meat, hearty starches with fat (Poutine? mmm), glazed ham, duck, turkey, savory potatoes, or a nice hearty bread pudding. I enjoy this style more in the Winter months. 10.5% will get you drunk and warm you up.

Random Thought: I've decided that home brewers and guys who go fishing on the weekend have a strong overlap. Maybe I've made this observation before, but in case you missed it: both fishing and home brewing are an excuse to isolate yourself away from your family and go drink beer all day. It's not a bad thing at all, but it explains why most home brewers are middle-aged dads who play shitty, nostalgic music in their garage and hammer beers while their wives do whatever. Not a bad gig.