Southampton Grand Cru
Our award-winning Belgian-style strong ale. Spiced with sweet and bitter orange peel, coriander and star anise. Gold medal winner at the 2001 Real Ale Festival.
3.8
492 reviews
Southampton, United States
Community reviews
750ml bottle thanks to blutt59. The smell is fruits, spices, marshmellow, nice. The look is clear, no head, and golden in color. The taste is fruits, banana, spiced, and sweet.
Sweet and peppery with nice candied orange flavors and slight bubblegum, banana, and spice that are typical of Belgian yeast. Over all quite good and complex.
I can’t smell this beer too well because of my allergies but damn it tastes good. Great body. I pick up a lot of breach notes. Pretty sweet with a mild bitterness on the end. Delicious brew.
75 cl bottle.
Originally rated on 20110415.
Pours copper color with a medium sized head. Aroma of yeast, spices, toffee, ripe fruits and caramel malts. Flavor of toffee, spicy notes, caramel malts and ripe fruits. Quite nice.
Pours hazy orangish color with off white head. Aromas of bread dough, caramel, oranges and coriander. Similar flavors. Medium to full body with moderate carbonation.
750 ml corked and caged bottle shared by arminjewell (thanks Armin!) poured a hazy golden amber with a small lingering amber head. Aromas of carmel, anise, pear, yeast, orange zest and coriander. Palate was light bodied and crisp with a dry finish. Flavors of carmel, coriander, anise and orange zest with a crisp dry lingering spiced finish.
Bottle @ Ratman’s house. Thanks Armin! Pours a quite hazy, dark appearance with a small white head. Spicy yeasty, citrus peel, somewhat bready, zesty citrusy, anise aroma. Slightly sweet bready, chewy malty, tangerine citrusy, fairly spicy flavor.
Pour out of 750 mL bottle, hazy orange-red pour with foamy white head, doesn’t last long. Aroma has notes of metallic, some coriander, orange, hints of anise, slight earth, touch of bitter hops, slight grain, hints of toffee. Taste is a mix of anise, orange peel, grain, toffee, slight orange, hints of vanilla, caramel, finishing fairly sweet, slightly dry.
Bottle shared on New Years Eve... Poured cloudy amber/orange with a foamy off-white head. This was great. A nice Belgian character with lots of fruit, esters, and spice. Coriander was nice with orange peel adding some bitter-rind tones. Anise was definitely present. I hate anise but always seems to work well in beers for me. Some malt sweetness before the Belgian yeast esters shined in the finish. Solid beer.
Bottle, though an updated one from the picture here. Pours a hazy golden yellow, minimal head. I bought this a few months ago. Lots of lemon and some flower in the scent. Taste is similar, lots of peppercorn, coriander. Good.
Initial straw golden pour with nice billowy head. Aroma was up front huge anise and malty hay, cereal. Taste was a bit heavy handed with the spices. Mellowed as it opened up which made it much better but still not fantastic.
This is almost a dp for me, way too much star anise, the coriander is ok, base is plain, I just dont like anise
22 oz bottle. Pours a hazy amber with fluffy off-white head. Nose is butter, caramel, toffee, hints of citrus. Has a big time toffee finish, like a Werther’s Original, a little citrus up front, slight nuttiness. Really solid
A: Cloudy, orange hue with a fair head that fades somewhat quickly, leaving small traces of lace
S: Belgian yeast, sweet fruit, citrus, especially orange, coriander, other spices I’m not cool enough to identify on my own
T: This tastes like an Imperial Witbier. Wow. Very cool. The Belgian yeast plays a large role, followed by a butterscotch taste that I’m on the fence about. This beer is seriously complex. The myriad of flavors present are each distinguishable on their own, yet meld together beautifully, making this beer unique and a joy to drink for any beer lover.
M: Decent mouthfeel. Slight alcohol finish.
D: I’d definitely have this again. I’m not sure I’d drink this all night, but I certainly wouldn’t turn it down.
Bottle, 04/20/2012, thanks to metalgdog. Pours cloudy golden amber, with a lively frothy head, large-bubbled lacing. Aroma of sweet malts with slightly creamy aspect, floral notes with coriander, orange peel is subtle, with underlying spices. Taste moderately sweet, caramel malt, mild hop bitterness offsets before leading into floral finish with spices. Medium palate is smooth, carbonation makes the spices pop at the end. Not too shabby, this is pretty easy to enjoy.
Deep golden color with a foamy white head. Belgian yeast, spice, sour fruit, and malt. Strong, crisp, and a little bit dark.
3/6/12. 750mL bottle thanks to Larry! Clear light amber pour with a small khaki head that fades. Light, estery aroma with touches of yeast, citrus, and plenty more fruitiness. Fruity, yeasty flavor, plenty of sweet esters, touches of brown sugar, and more lingering citrus. Not bad!
Bomber that was about 4+ years old. Amber with no head. malt nose with noticeable alcohol. Alcohol hugely apparent in flavor. Some malt but this is very alcoholic. Could just be too old. A bit of a dubble in the profile.
750 ml bottle. Pours golden with a large white head. The aroma is citrus with perfumy coriander, malty, hint of the start anise. The malts are stronger in the flavor, but the spicing is strong enough to keep the sweetness in balance. A nice beer, makes me think of spring.
Open a bottle from ’09 in Jan. 2012. A: caramel, herbs, coriander, clove, toast. A: dark golden color, things floating about. T: rich caramelized sugars, countered by hops, and a hint of toast brioche. Texture is thick. I like to enjoy this beer very slowly because of it’s complex characters. I was amazing by this beer and will by it again as soon as I see it.
Starker Gewürzantrunk, der unausgeglichen und recht süß daherkommt. Süß bleibend, disharmonisch, nicht sonderlich. Holzig, dann süße Gewürze, langer malzig angehauchter Holzabgang. 7/6/8/7/6/6
750 ML Bottle f/Secret Santa-Hazy golden pour w/a moderate white foamy head. Sweet, spiced aroma. Flavors of wheat, grain, spice, citrus, colander, this is a Hefe on steroids! Had quite a bit of kick to it, a definate after dinner sipper! Alcohol was quite evedent, was a good brew on a cold winter night...Christmas Eve to be exact! Thanks Santa!!
on tap-pours yellow with a white head. Aroma is sweet light malt, spice/floral. Taste is sweet light malt, spice/floral hops.
Draft at Iron Abbey with Ann and Bobby. Pours a hazy orange with some lasting head. Nice spicy Belgian nose. Star anise is a little overpowering. Taste is pretty good, but again the star anise sticks out, and i’m not sure licorice taste goes well with a light beer like this. At least for my tastes.
Tap: Cloudy gold with white head. Rubbery aroma with rich spices and some fruit. Good clean, crisp taste with typical Belgian qualities, but not overdone. Nice finish as well. Not a fan of Belgians, but this one is tasty!
Nice looking dark orange brew. It is as refreshing as it looks. Pleasant orange aftertaste.
Tap at the Stags Head pours dark orange with nice sized and great aromas. Taste is rock candy, fruit, bread and toffee. Boozy finish but for me far too much anise flavor. I am quite sensitive to that flavor and can only handle so much.
Draught at The Ginger man, NYC.
Pours slightly haxy with a offwhite head.
Sweet taste of marsmallow bananas and red apples.
Pale to almost clear copper pour thin white head light lacing ... aroma of orange and candi sugar mostly with a slight fruity yeast ..... tastes mostly of orange peel, sweet caramel malts some fruity yeast with candi sugar and just a touch of star anise .... little spicy on the mouthfeel the abv is hidden well and it has a good combo of flavors ..... not a bad beer to sip on
On tap at Pony with Paul and Erica 11.03.2011. Pours a dark amber color. Aroma is intriguing with notes of caramel, spice and malt. Taste is shocking and to me, kind of repugnant. Deep and spicy, but also very funky to the point of being offensive. It took me awhile to figure out, but this really reminds me of a really barnyardy cheese that is difficult to enjoy for someone who isn’t ready for it. Gorgonzola also comes to mind. I also get some butterscotch or toffee. Too much funk and spice, but a good mouthfeel and a complex palate make that alright. At first I did not think I could get through the 7 or 8oz pour, but this one was interesting enough to keep me going, even if I’m not (yet) a fan of the taste.