Green Flash Brewing — Grand Cru
Brewed By: Green Flash Brewing Company
Brewed In: San Diego, CA
ABV: 9.1%
Type: Belgian (style) Strong Dark Ale
What They Say: Mysterious dark ale brewed with rich malts and fermented with Belgian and American yeasts.
Website: I originally drafted this post a while back and my comment on the website was “Yikes” and that was it. They’ve since updated it to a generic, bland design but that is quite a bit better than “yikes”.
Why I Picked It: For the first time at Whole Foods, I just closed my eyes and grabbed the first thing on the shelf. This is what I came up with.
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Presentation (5): Relatively boring, actually. The bomber is a simple 22 oz bottle with a square label. Grand Cru is written across the top in cursive, the “what they say” is after, and that’s about it. There’s picture of the ocean and the logo at the bottom. We get it, San Diego… the weather’s nice. 2
Originality (5): What I’m gathering here, though it isn’t explained very well by the company itself, is a blending of Belgian yeasts with California style hoppiness. This could work. 3
Body (10): Pours blackish to the naked eye but is more crimson in the light. No serving suggestions on the bottle and this beer was nowhere to be found on the website on this writing. I went with a pint glass. The carbonation is heavy but it’s a needed addition with the big flavors being brought in this beer. 6
Taste (10): The beer claims Belgian yeasts. I definitely get those. It also claims “American” yeasts but I don’t know that flavor enough to recognize it. The ale, as claimed, is dark and it eschews the normal light color and citrus notes associated with Belgians and replaces them with hops. On the plus side, the hops are kept to a level below nuclear destruction of the tastebud. I’d say there’s almost too much going on here. The beer finishes tremendously dry and they don’t manage to mask the burning ABV at all. So, it tastes a bit like yeasty burning with a dry finish. Not a huge fan. 3
Efficiency (10): While the high alcohol content and the reasonable price is good for the efficiency rating, the taste is rough. It’s not so bad that I had to dump the bottle (that would be unprecedented in the TBS Local Offices) but with all the choices out there, I can do better for the price. 6
Versatility (10): Super intense (and kinda bad) flavor and a high alcohol content isn’t going to get it done for a large audience. There’s too much going on here for most of the world and, potentially, too much for some snobs. 3
The Snob Sez: Pass.
Final Score: 23 of 50 — OK beer.
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