St. Stefanus Grand Cru - Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.

UCLABrewN84

California

3.73/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Bottle I brought to share during the Churchill's weekend festivities.

Cellar release 4-2012.

Pours a hazy yellow with a foamy bone colored head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Foamy streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, grain, fruit, grape juice, spices, and yeast. Taste is much the same with a fruity flavor on the finish. There is a mild amount of spice bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with some solid aromas and flavors.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2013 02:07:16 | More by UCLABrewN84

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

3.71/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

St. Stefanus Grand Cru
Van Steenberge

LOOK: Corked and caged, etched and hand signed 22oz bomber. Pours a clear light gold with a soapy white froth. Leaves behind a bit of lace on the glass.

SMELL: Banana and candi sugar leads to a sweet smelling nose. Pale malts and noble hop aromas are also evident.

TASTE: More candy sugar and banana flavored yeast notes. Mild grassy hops do a fair job at balancing, but the brew finishes lightly dry with a saccharine like sweetness. Hides the alcohol well. Some flavor of fresh red apple emerges. Honey like malt flavor, and no doubt alot of malt was used in the making of this beer.

FEEL: Medium to full bodied, well carbonated, and there is a small dryness.

OVERALL: Straight forward Belgian strong golden ale, could fit the bill as a triple or abbey blonde. A bit sweet, but its tasty, fun and easy to drink. I would recommend putting a bottle or two in the cellar for a good few years.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2013 22:58:30 | More by Stinkypuss

Gavage

New Jersey

3.68/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Bottled on 10 2012 - stamped on label.

Appearance: pours a crystal clear golden yellow color with a one inch head that lasts a long time. Thick lace paints the glass.

Smell: Belgian yeast, light lemon,and a bit of fruit sweetness comes through to the nose.

Taste: moderate malt profile with grass, yeast, pepper, pear, and a bit of earthiness. Bitterness is moderate and alcohol is slightly noticeable.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer. Lightly crisp throughout. Short lived aftertaste.

Overall: easy drinking beer here. Nice flavors but a bit of a milder grand cru compared to others in the style. Worthy of a try.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2013 21:29:34 | More by Gavage

puboflyons

New Hampshire

3.93/5  rDev +12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

From the 750 ml caged and corked bottle dated 10-2012 and signed in pen by the brewmaster. Sampled on December 21, 2012

How can I in little New Hampshire be one of the first people to review this beer from far away Belgium? But I don't really care because it pours a cloudy straw yellow with a goodly amount of carbonation leading up to a tremendous soft, puffy white head that sits on top the entire time.

In the nose there are Belgian pale malts and sugars, yeast, a hint of grapefruit citrus, a dash of pepper, and bread.

The body falls into the medium range with a slight astringency.

The taste is much like the aroma with Belgian malts, yeast, and sugar at first followed promptly by grapefruit and a short-lasting low bitterness on the tail end. More like a zingy Belgian pale than a Strong Ale but delightful all the same.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2012 23:09:43 | More by puboflyons

jtierney89

New Jersey

3.65/5  rDev +4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Clear light orange glow with a billowing bright white head that raises high above the glass. Shows no signs of dieing. Smells of fruity pebbles, very grassy and hay like, a bit of barnyard. a little funky

Very crisp clean flavor, tastes better than it smells but it is a little bland for such a big beer. Lively carbonation medium body, bright apple tart sweetness with very good balance on the back end. Pretty good and extremely clean for the style.

Serving type: bottle

12-18-2012 06:26:20 | More by jtierney89

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

3.65/5  rDev +4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a lightly hazy deep yellow color with a white head. In the aroma, candy sugar, floral, and yeasty notes. In the taste, dryer candy sugar, and quite floral. A small carbonation like bite, and a lighter bodied mouthfeel, with a dry candy sugar presence and floral notes in the aftertaste. Nice, although the candy sugar starts to be too much.

Serving type: bottle

11-23-2012 18:10:43 | More by OWSLEY069