Max Gran Cru
Max Lager's Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery

 

An excerpt from the Max House beer menu:
"In Belgium Gran Cru is a designation given to a brewer's special beer of the year. My Gran Cru is no exception. This strong deep-amber beer was brewed with English and Belgian malt. Additions of dark candi sugar add a slight sweet finish that is furterh accented with Curacao orange peel and coriander."

The beer arrives as a snifter of rusty amber ale with medium haze. A dainty off-white head sits promply atop the beer with very fine bubbles that for a sheet of creme across the surface. Modest with lace, the beer sheds a stray pocket of lace here and there. An overall calm beer for Belgium standards and subtle with head retention and lace.

Sugary malt aromas sing the praises of sweetness from the very first whiff. Mild vinous tartness of berries, citrus, apples, and pears give a decidedly fruit demeanor to the aromas. Cotton candy, white pepper, orange peel, and soft spice give a roundness to the sweet aromas with a very charming and inviting scent.

Sweet and savory, the maltiness comes to live in dominating fashion. Caramel, sweet breads, and overall sugary taste fuels the flavor profile. Very fruity to taste with an embedded jam-like or bubble gum flavor that's most common in German Hefeweizens. With understated hop flavor or bitterness, the peppery additions and those from yeast offer only a slight rebuttal from the bitterness, but not enough to balance the beer- leaving the beer heavy on the sweeter side of Belgian beers.

The sugar shock continues in texture as well. A lot of residual sweetness leads to a long and succulent finish from a full and mouth-coating start. Very warm, spicy prickle, and semi-fullness lead to a malty-sweet finish that's on par with Gulden Draak and such.

The flavors that are represented in this beer are quite nice, albeit the balance tilts heavily toward the sweeter and more desert-like side. But the beer doesn't have the variety of flavors or the togetherness to compete with many authentic Belgian brewed Gran Cru.

Appearance: Served a hazed, medium copper-hued body (at least in the subtle afternoon lighting of the restaurant), with a ivory-colored head.

Smell: Fruity, floral, with a juicy bubblegum scent ale Juicy Fruit with a backing of perfumy orange peel.

Taste: A bit sugary initially, with those tropical juices giving a taste of Juicy Fruit chewing gum, though the bitter orange peel, light spice, and alcohol help to cut through those sugars in lieu of hops and bitterness. Still, it ends sweetish on the finish as well as a bit warming and with a lingering hint of orange.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Light carbonation.

Overall: I'm always left wanting one notch more body to these beers and two notches more carbonation. Every time, really.