Préaris Grand Cru Grand Marnier BA
Vliegende Paard Brouwers

 

2015 vintage, synthetic cork, there cant be too many of these around anymore despite the fact that their stuff never sells all that well when it comes through. this is done in grand marnier barrels, pretty cool treatment for what i thought was a belgian dark strong ale, but it ends up so weird, without much belgian yeast character at all, almost beyond classification. its dead still, some bubbles on the pour but none on the mouthfeel, deep shiny mahogany to brown color, thin as can be, thinner than water, did not expect that, its old as heck, and its obvious the green glass and the time has degraded this some, would have loved to try this fresh. in any event, its almost vacuous, unexciting, underflavored, decayed. compost meets sweet orange meets booze and oxidation, cardboard left out in the rain, a wetness about it, some of the orange liqueur and oak still in tact, light black pepper and licorice, paper, anise, its so thin that its gone on the swallow, way less sweet and rich than anticipated, almost disappointingly invisible, nothing belgian or fermentation forward about it, its not even malty, molasses or treacle but little else, and just vanishing, a true disappearing act. totally strange, especially for the style, but also kind of impressive. light raisin maybe with the orange, but overall this seems super fatigued and past its moment, which is a shame. its almost unfair to judge this sort of thing this old, this far from home, and having been on a warm shelf for god knows how long, still cool to try though, beer archaeology at its finest. didnt love this by any stretch, but half tempted to pick up some of the other variants just to compare. vintage belgian oddities are my absolute jam...

Bottled on 1/2/17 (2016 Vintage)

Pours a thin dirty brown hue with a minor head of mostly off-white bubbles; recedes quickly to a bubbly collar and spotty cap; some thinner layers of webby lacing come through as well; looks a bit like prune juice, but has enough body and head to differentiate it from its BBA counterpart.

Aromas of boozy orange peel and burnt sugar to start, with toffee, caramel, fig, prune, and a hint of booze in tow.

Taste brings thin notes of raisin, fig, slight toffee and oak, holding steadily throughout the profile; mild orange zest adds some character on the finish, while dusty chocolate lingers on the swallow.

Mouthfeel presents a slick, almost oily light-medium body and a light, slightly prickly/gritty carbonation that fades unspectacularly to a watery-thin finish; amazing 10% can be this minor on the palate. Mild booziness.

A slight improvement on the bourbon barrel-aged variant, but not by much; a fair if not disjointed profile is completely derailed by an overarching thinness. This one just never finds its footing with what it’s trying to be.

Appearance - darak mahogany body with tan head

Smell - orange, grape, fig, red wine

Taste - red wine, fig, grape, orange peel, tobacco

Mouthfeel - lighter end of medium bodied, light carbonation, red wine upfront, boozy on the back end, flavors seem unrefined

Overall - disappointing, considering how much I enjoyed the Cognac BA version of this. The body was thin and the flavors didn't harmonize on this one

Price Point - $4.99/12.7 oz bottle

Where the darker and stronger ale of Belgium end is where the Grand Marnier barrels begin. Landing a few of these pristine barrels pulls the ale from the spicy balance and places it firmly on the fruity side of even keel.

Pouring a dull and tawny rust appearance, Prearis Grand Cru, the Grand Marnier Barrel Aged version prefers a lumbered visual weight with no sign of carbonation or foam formation. Rich and decadent aromas of raisin, prune, orange and spice fill the nose with the evocation of fruitcake close in mind. Sweet on the palate, the weight of malt brings a medley of caramel, toffee, brown sugar and coffee cake to the precipice of taste.

As the malt sweetness spreads across the middle palate, the fruit soon follows with a complex array of stone fruit, apricot, cherry, date, fig, dark berries and red grape. Not to be completely overshadowed, a spicy counterpart of allspice, vinous red wine and a toasted earthiness of slight coffee and cocoa starts to beg for attention. A late palate of woodsy hops and orange liquor keeps the session spicy and toasty late on the palate.

Full bodied and with a lush and silky texture, the beer sits on the tongue labored like barleywine with a mildly cloying mouthfeel. Without the expression of bubbles, the richly woven ale lacks the pop, effervescence and brightness that would have brought out the spices more and give the beer a malty dry lift. A long aftertaste of Grand Marnier spice and woods outlast any other malt, fruit or spice complements for a winey aftertaste and a peppery orange aura throughout.

 

From the bottle into correct glassware at 't Brugs Beertje.

Pours a dark reddish brown, with thick, lacy foam.

The smell is fruity with strong hints of chocolate, plums and some citrus.

Taste is deep, with a big dose of orange chocolate up front, flanked by a bit pf pear. A lot crisper and more refreshing than expected, and ends with a nice balanced bitterness.

Mouthfeel is medium, maybe slightly under carbonated.

Overall, a nice, complex beer that really shows off the Grand Marnier barrel.

 

Pours dirty water brown. Little head. Strong Carmel, molasses, nose. Smooth for an 10 abv. Raisen and citrus notes. Very nice Christmas present for me.

 

375ml, caged and corked bottle. Here's to you, Mom, and your Christmas Day Grand Marnier-augmented OJ!

This beer pours a hazy, dark dishwater brown colour, with three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly tan head, which leaves some stellar pitted limestone cliff face lace around the glass as it evenly recedes.

It smells of semi-sweet, grainy caramel malt, further musty toffee, some reduced apple and pear fruitiness, sort of orange-tinted brandy notes, a slight earthy nuttiness, sodden plump raisins, and more almost cherry-forward vinous booziness. The taste is bready and pastry-like caramel malt, still old-seeming toffee candies, more of that under the basement stairs sort of thing, a muddled dark orchard fruitiness, subtle orange liqueur notes, some still besotted raisins, and a bit of nascent herbal, leafy, and wet grassy noble hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite hard to really take notice of, what with its generally placid frothiness, the body a solid medium weight, and actually fairly smooth, nothing really poking its head up to be the class clown here. It finishes sweet, sure, but moderated from every direction except, um, down, and they're looking into that at the moment.

Overall, a very nicely wrought and even-handed version of the style, with the guest barrel aging adding only a refined touch to the already (one presumes) heady old-world and inherent fruitiness. Definitely one of the better non-Trappist Quads that I've recently had the good fortune to come across, with the Grand Marnier just adding to the gravitas - it's not like I'll ever be experiencing it my former way again.