Alex Puchner

If you frequent BJ’s Restaurant &amp; Brewhouse around the holiday season, you’re probably already familiar with BJ’s Annual Grand Cru and likely looking forward to its return this season. While you wait, here’s the story behind this sensational Belgian-style Pale Strong Ale that we have all come to crave, savor and love.
Back in 1999, we decided to create a very special brew to celebrate the new millennium. In the Belgian tradition of brewing, the term “grand cru” is reserved for a very special brew—often the strongest ale a brewer produces. To celebrate moving from the 20th century and into the 21st, it just made sense that we produce our best strong ale worthy of such a milestone. BJ’s Grand Cru was born.
Setting out to brew a best-in-class golden ale, we used a special Belgian ale yeast strain in the brewing process. Belgian ale yeasts generally produce a lot of flavors during fermentation—fruity flavor compounds called esters or spicy flavor compounds called phenols. The Belgian yeast we used produces a good amount of both esters and phenols. In addition to this special Belgian yeast strain, we also spice the beer with bitter orange peel and coriander to add even more fruit and spice notes. All these factors make for a layered beer, full of complexity and flavor.
For the first 10 years after Grand Cru’s creation, we would tweak the recipe every year. Twelve years ago, however, we decided not to mess with perfection. We went back to producing the original recipe for all of our restaurants. It was this recipe that went on to win medals at both the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival, and it is this recipe that has come to be beloved by our guests.
Although BJ’s Grand Cru was originally created to celebrate the New Year, it is the perfect complement to any holiday celebration. That’s why we have moved its release date up to early November, in advance of Thanksgiving. It’s an innocent-looking beer, but it packs a punch at 10.0% ABV. It pairs perfectly with pretty much all the sweet and savory, hearty foods that we love to indulge in. We can hardly wait until our first sip of this year’s batch of BJ’s Grand Cru! It tapped on November 9 at all BJ’s Restaurants &amp; Brewhouse locations. You can also try Grand Cru at our Holiday Prime Rib Beer Dinners, which will be on December 4. To register, visit <a href="https://www.bjsrestaurants.com/marketing-pages/beer-dinner" target="_self" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.bjsrestaurants.com/marketing-pages/beer-dinner</a>
We hope to see you soon to start our celebration of this most wonderful time of the year!

24th Annual Grand Cru 

BJ's originally designed this strong pale ale to celebrate the new millennium and since then, our Grand Cru™ Belgian-style ale has been the ideal beverage to toast the new year with. We start with imported Belgian malts for that all-important sweetness, then swirl in tasty fruit and spice flavors as well as some secret spices that enhance the malty character. Only available in January and February, BJ's Annual Grand Cru™ is made to enjoy with any of our amazing entreés, or on its own. Stop by BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse and ring in the new year with our award-winning Grand Cru™ Belgian ale.