Great Divide Grand Cru
Grand Cru is our very special Belgian-style dark ale. Imported malts give it a round malty richness, and the fruity complexity and slightly spicy character come from brewing with a proprietary Belgian yeast strain. Don’t let the name fool you; while it may be a special occasion beer, this medium-bodied, elegant incarnation is anything but snobbish.
Suggested food pairings: Roasted chicken with thyme, braised short ribs, oven roasted vegetables, grilled sweet potatoes, roaring 40′s blue cheese, bread pudding.
Suggested food pairings: Roasted chicken with thyme, braised short ribs, oven roasted vegetables, grilled sweet potatoes, roaring 40′s blue cheese, bread pudding.
3.5
281 reviews
Denver, United States
Community reviews
650ml bottle. Minimally cloudy reddish dark amber colour with average, frothy, half-way lasting, moderately lacing, beige head. Caramel malty aroma with bready notes, hints of red berries, hints of yeasty spicyness. Taste is initially heavy, sweet caramel malty, notes of sweet bread, toffee, red berries, blue grapes, close to the finish lighter, more fruity, with a citrusy dash, subtle yeasty spicy note troughout. Slightly vinous character, too sweet.
opaque brown with a bit of head. Predominant malt cqaramel up front. Some estery, malty sweetness along with a touch of sourness on the taste, but the alcohol is a bit too prominent. Appropriate carbonation. Finish is a bit too sweet.
bottled pours cloudy golden brown. with a minimal small offwhite head. aromas of hay grass caramel and brown sugar. very sweet witha a touch of sourness. light bodied, almost creamy fairly flat. the finish is long slightly sour. overall a decent beer, but not my favorite.
dark amber with a tiny tan head. Malty with fruity tones. Malt, fruit, hops and sweetness. Full body with a nice bitter sweet finish.
Bottle @ Monk’s Porter House. Dark amber colour with a medium sized beige head. Aroma of malt, caramel, fruit. Flavour is malt caramel, dark fruits, some nuts.
Bottle shared by Tmoney99 (March 2011). Pours a mostly clear dark copper/brown color with a small off white head. The aroma was sweet caramel, ripe fruits, yeast and some alcohol. The flavor had caramel, brown sugar, some chocolate, fruity with a pretty soft finish. Just ok.
Dark amber coloured and hazy. Has an off-white head, medium duration. Aorma of sugars, dades, yeasty too. Sweet flavor, nice, but a bit mixed. Warming alcohol. Syrupy and creamy.
sweet bread aroma,brown/golden, clear, off white foam, light sweetness, lightly bitter, medium body, fizzy, soft carbonation, bread finish.
Bottle. Creamy off-whitre good mostly lasting head. Amber colour. Light sweet moderate bitter flavor. Average light bitter finish. Creamy palate.
Bottle, 11%. Dark amber/brown with medium beige head. Aroma is malt, yeast, dark fruits, little dusty and spices. Flavour is malt, yeast, dark fruits, plume, medium sweet, toasted, bread, hop and a little bitter.
Bottle. Nice head with good duration. Color is amber. Aroma and taste are rich caramel, fruits, malt, candy sugar, syrup and hops. Quite sweet.
Bottle @ Hansen/Zita tasting. Clear dark amber with a beige head. Aroma is sweet, malty, heavy caramel and alcohol. Flavor is quite sweet and moderate bitter. Sweet finish. 281212
From Jan 2011 bottle. Great dark ruby appearance. A bit cloudy. Belgian candi aroma and a sweet maltiness accompaniment. Great mouthfeel. For taste, the maltiness was great and the candi sugar was great, but the two just weren’t blending well with the yeast flavor like they had in this beer at 1.5 years old. I’m hoping this bottle is a fluke and others taste better, as I had high hopes based on previous tastes. The flavors do improve as it warms.
22oz bottle $8. Dark ruby red, almost amber, clear. Smells fruity and yeasty. Taste is very strong and spicy, almost reminds me of boulevard sixth glass. Tasty but a little strong as far as the alcohol but it’s decent. I probably wouldn’t buy this again but that’s due to the price and the fact that boulevard sixth glass is better for the same money.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 02-28-2011 07:02:08
Bomber courtesy of larsniclas. Pours hazy copper with a frothy beige head that leaves a small trace on the glass while dissipating. Smell is sweet and phenolic with cereal,mandarin oranges, dark grapes, sheet metal, candi sugar, sweet bread and hints of orange zest. Taste is sweet and malty with bread, cereal, plums, dark grapes, candi sugar, mandarin oranges and slightly dry grass. Mouthfeel is round, soft, tiny tart and medium bodied. Finish is tiny sweet, tiny tart and slightly fruity with sweet bread, cereal, pears, red apples, candi sugar and mandarin oranges.
Sampled at UCTS testing. Pours dark amber with a small light brown head. Smells nutty caramel malty. Tastes abit nutty, caramel malty and alcohol.
Sampled at USSkovde
Deep amber. Fizzy tan head.
Metallic aroma.
Sweet caramelle-flavour. Warming alcohol.
Peppery yeastiness.
Bottle at USA comes to Skövde. Clear amber beer with a small offwhite head. Malty aroma, yeasty, hay, caramel, rubber, bready, roasted, metallic notes. Mslty flavor, hay, roasted, caramel, yeast, bread, fruity, brown sugar, toffee notes.
pours a clear brown with a red tint, a medium size tan head, and some lacing.
smell is of cocoa, caramel, malt, and some nuts.
taste is sweet, roasted malt, some caramel, and peanut butter. ends a little oily.
22oz bottle from Belmont Station. Excited about this, and a little let down. Pours dark cherry in color, clear, small off-white head. No lacing. I go for the aroma waiting for some sourness, but nothing. Smells more like a quad than any other Grand Cru I’ve had. Aroma is dark fruity, some chocolate, sugary. Flavor is sweet, boozy, a little spicy on the end. Where is that zip that I got from Ale Smith last week and Rodenbach time and time again at Max’s? Maybe that isn’t what Grand Cru’s are all about, but this is the only one that hasn’t been like that. It is a complex beer with an exquisitely nice mouthfeel and finish, but not what I expect from a Grand Cru.
Bomber poured into tulip. Exquisite looking beer, dark ruby red, plum-like in color with an ample frothy light brown head. Wonderful belgian dark aroma of spice, dark fruits, yeast, licorice, and alcohol. Taste is more of the same with a nice warming booze effect going down. Very soft on the palate. Cloying sweetness dominates the taste though. Tasty for sure but a little more bitter complexity in the flavor would take this to the next level.
April 18th, 2011 - Many of my first exceptional beers (way, way back in 2007) were Grand Cru’s. The individual who introduced me to Lady Craft Brew is a refined European with a taste for excellence, and a distinctly French distaste for the plebeian. He worked his beer budget in order to afford the top shelf Belgian beers, focusing his scant currency on Grand Cru style beers. He had good reason. Drinking New Belgium’s Abbey Ale and then moving to a true grand cru makes you question New Belgian’s, well, Belgian credentials. These days a lot more American brewers are on board, and for good results. While they may not be based in Belgium, expert producers like Great Divide have no trouble concocting these Belgian treats for American audiences. Great Divide’s riff on the style pours and produces a deep, pomegranate red color, topped with a mahogany colored head - a clue that suggests heavy and deep flavors ahead. Strawberry, crisp and fresh from the CSA box dominates the nose. It’s a lovely smell to find with a bright aroma, and reminds me of my first visits to a farmers market where the vendor let me cram my face into a wooden pallet of the things and inhale like a drug addict with a fetish for fruit. The taste returns to what the color augured: dark, sticky fruits and spices and a swing dance with my palate. The flavor isn’t as dark or deep as raisins, but closer to light fig, and plenty sweet. Apple and red grapes round out the higher side of the sweet spectrum, lifted by a medium body and an electric carbonation. Now, I want to return to the beginning of my review where I applauded American efforts to brew Grand Cru’s or BSA’s on American shores. There IS a difference, at least here. Somewhere between the mouthfeel and the flavor this leans a little closer to a stout, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Great Divide’s Grand Cru isn’t a shameless copy of any number of the Belgian Strong’s I’ve had in the past. It’s a cover, and a fine one too, which everything that makes this style good, but a twist and contribution that serves this brew, and its drinker, very, very well.
Bottle (2011) and served in my St. Bernardus chalice: Pours a ruby purple brown with a small but lasting head, oily legs and some lace. The aroma has notes of Special B and roast, moderate 2-row and aromatics, hint of chocolate and smoke too. Quite fruity with plum, prune and blueberry overtones. Earthy, floral and bubble-gummy Belgian yeast notes too. The taste is utterly shocking, rich dark fruits, massive dark candi sugars, twangy acidity for some semblance of balance and a ton of earthy overtones like mineral water, wood, flowers, and even a faint smokey note. Damn, really is this one of those moment in time when the stars align? Because this is simply one of the best Abbey Quadruples I have ever had. Even the lush mouth feel has just enough carbonation to keep it fresh and enjoyable. No really, did I get a bottle at the apex of what it could be or are my fellow Ratebeerians that jaded? Well fuck me running, I have been aging one of these over a year and alas it is no more.
22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled 1/12/2011. Pours very hazy dark red color with a nice 2 finger fairly dense khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a good cap that lingers. Good soapy lacing clings to the glass. Aromas of big raisin, prune, caramel, toffee, biscuit, molasses, toast, nuttiness, tobacco, earth, clove, and yeast spiciness. Very nice aromas with very good balance and complexity. Taste of raisin, prune, molasses, caramel, toffee, toast, biscuit, nuttiness, clove, tobacco, earth, and light yeast spiciness. Lingering notes of dark fruits, molasses, caramel, toffee, toast, biscuit, nuttiness, and light yeast spices on the finish for a good bit. Great flavor balance and complexity; pretty much zero cloying sweetness. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel that is very nice. Alcohol is extremely well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a highly excellent Belgian strong dark ale! A ton of nice balance and complexity; very smooth to sip on. Highly enjoyed this one, very impressive.
One of the better Grand Cru's I've had. Great presentation. I've enjoyed the Blue Moon Grand Cru more.
On draft, but keg from 2010. Amber pour with a decent head. Plenty of caramel malts..also some dark fruits and sweetness, Taste adds in some toffee and some Belgian yeast in there. Tasty, tasty, tasty.
Pour on tap at Town Hall, dark brownish black pour with thin to no white head, aroma brought notes of dark caramel, toffee, some molasses, some nice dark cherry, belgian dark fruits with some raisin and plum, some slight hints of dark balsamic as well which seems a bit out of place. Taste is some slight dark cherry, chocolate, some dark raisin, fig and plum, balsamic and acetic notes come through, some dark toffee comes in finishing fairly sweet.
A - Pours a cloudy brown color with a finger of frothy khaki colored head. THe head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some lacing.
S - Aroma is a mix of sweet dark caramel malts, raisin, prune, and other dark fruits, some Belgian yeast and spices, candi sugars, and some booze.
T - Starts off with a mix of sweet dark caramel malts with raisin, prune, date, and other dark fruit sweetness. Through the middle, the sweet candi sugars start to come through with some Belgian yeast flavors including some spices and esters. The finish is a mix of sweet dark fruits with some dark caramelized and candi sugars, some spice, and some booze.
M - Full bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a sweet and warming finish.
D - Very drinkable. Really nice BSDA. Good malt flavors with the sweet sugars and yeast character balancing nicely with the body.
(Bottle) Reddish brown colour with frothy, beige head. Malty, fruity nose with red berries (raspberries, red-currant), caramel, dried fruit, treacle toffee and a touch of cinnamon. Fruity, malty taste with dried fruit (apricots, raisins, dates), caramel, raspberries, blackberries, treacle, hints of rye bread and a touch of chocolate. Almost full body, with a smooth, velvety mouthfeel. Fairly sweet, not very bitter (but there is a slightly spicy bitterness lurking in the finish). Quite heavy and complex, but still fairly well balanced and doesn’t taste its 11%. Very nice!
Süßes abgerundetes Bier mit deutlichen Malznoten. Wenig herb, rund, süßlich, angenehme Noten der Fasslagerung. Sanfter Ausklang. 10/11/11/11/8/11