Beer Review, Bottleworks Van den Vern Grand Cru

While watching, what should have been the last 3 innings of the All-Star Game last night, I opened a bottle of Bottleworks Van den Vern Grand Cru.

This one poured a deep dark amber almost brown with a huge head, that was almost pinkish. The head was impressive, very full. There was some sediment/chunks in the bottle, that weren't initially noticed. The flocculation left some discoloration in the head from the pour.

It smelled tart and biscuitty, like a sour malty beverage. It was surprisingly thick feeling. It wasn't very palate clearing, I had expected it to be "fizzy" feeling, based on the amount of head, but it didn't have the "ripping" feeling, that I expected from something that smelled so tart.

It tasted biscuitty and not very sour. Well, it was a little sour. There was some tartness, but mostly it was just an odd flavor. This was a one time beer for me, I don't think I'd seek it out again. Beer Advocate and Ratebeer seem to like/love this beer, but it's not for me.

The yeast chunks and other floaters gave me a slightly upset stomach. It gave me Chipper Dave's infamous "Burp Test", and the results weren't good. The burp was oily, almost a deep fried taste; like I'd eaten at Long John Silvers, or KFC.

I picked up this bottle on Friday at Friar Tucks.

(a day later, the upset stomach has turned into bad gas... I bet you all wanted to know that; I can't guarantee that THIS beer was the one that did it... but I'm pretty sure it was)