Struise Dirty Horse

Formerly brewed at De Struise Brouwers
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Oostvleteren, Belgium

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

1983/2005 blend, tasted 8/28/2011. Pours ruby red, hazy, a strawberry cream head. Nose of musty oak, leather and funk, vivid fresh sweet cherry pie. Taste of tart, sweet cherries, a little acidity, some balsamic vinegar and bleu cheese, oak on the breath, and a juicy cherry aftertaste that goes on and on. On the thin side, but the flavors are round, smooth, full, and very drinkable. A real treat.

Auction. I usually cringe when I’m about to drink a sour ale. (Not my favorite of styles) However, I had high expectations for this brew, and it did not dissapoint. Red/ brown with a thin reddish head. A nice oak, and cherry aroma. A nice sour fruit and oak taste. They really did good with this.

Funky barnyard cherry brown sugar so much barnyard but brightx w fruity sweetness and hay earth dust. Orange reddish pour thin head light lace. Tart barnyard funk poop cherry light sugar sweet. Nice age fresh balance kind of this g. Tart funky medium finish. Good shit hoes. Can taste the rare on this one plus more rare cunt!

750, capped, rubber banded, and waxed. Yes, rubber banded. Never seen anything like it. Pinkish burgundy and hazy. Big poopy nose, hits the nostrils with big barnyard funk. Raspberry, basement, barnyard, and lemon on the mid palate. Long puckery finish. Big, powerful, complex, and refreshing.

Vuul Peird, "Refreshing Garage Cherry Ale 100%." looks good, i’ll take that one... Only at Ebenezer’s. Basically, "you don’t want this." Was told that this is the 100% 83’. 5 oz pour. Color is a deep red with a brown hue, somewhat murky. not much head but some lacing sticks to the glass. smell is surprisingly full of cherry sourness with a touch of malt and funkiness. Cherries smell like sour cherry preserve with a bit of sweetness. taste is rich and flavorfull cherry sourness and rounding malt and potent funk but not overbearing. cherry flavor has a refreshing freshness to it. a touch of oxidation noble rot but mellow, adding complexity. mouthfeel is silky smooth. the acid doesn’t pucker and malt doesn’t over sweeten. medium body with low carbonation. great experience with this offering. best cherry beer ever. the flavor of the cherry is surprisingly preserved.

Thanks to Urban for unrivaled generosity as we trecked the continent… buying a grill so that we couple of Americans could cookout on July 4 while at Struise; finding a place for us to stay; sharing the two unblended versions of this beer… and the list goes on

’83 Unblended – Transparent red-amber, large bubbled cream head. Nose is cherry pie, brown sugar, nearing De Dolle in many ways, though a bit over-aged and muted. Flavor is jammy, very cherry with light citrus and rind, low carbonation, slightly sticky, and with a juicy finish. Lots of fruit and brown sugar throughout this, and while it’s showing some age, it’s hard to believe this is 30+ years old. 747415

’05 Unblended – Plum colored, fruitier than the ’83, also more sour with some nice lactic qualities, citrus all over the mouth, heavy cherry sourness much more like a kriek than the ’83, thin body and lower carbonation accent the dry skin qualities of captured fruit. This reminds me a lot of Blue Cheer, which is sweeter and more carbonated, but both capture their fruits completely with a body that accentuates their respective approaches. 848416

Versa bruno-rossastro con una schiuma beige rosato. Aroma di ciliegie, quercia e alcune note di cuoio. Sapore agrodolce,di querce, ciliegi e del malto. Di medio corpo. Finale caloroso.Beverina.

Bottle shared by Urbain, a very generous guy. A - It pours a brilliant color of red; red like fire engine, red like lipstick, red like grenadine, just intensely red. It looks like it’d stain if it was (unconscionably!) spilled on anything. There is a miniscule head, or more accurately, an encircling ring of bubbles, that persists for most of the glass; Lambic isn’t about head or retention though, obviously. S - The nose reveals a striking depth of fruit flavor as well as perfect funk. For the fruit, there is a seeming melange of berry flavors, including cherry, but extending to blackberry, blueberry, et al., and also revealing generally bushy notes suggesting foraged drupes. For the funk, it is equal parts medicine cabinet and band-aids, lactic cheesiness, horse-y barnyard, cobwebs and musty basement, and acetic rotten peaches; something that sounds so bad never smelled so good. T - The flavor is exquisitely complex, and is comprised of the same balance of delectable fruit melange, led by tart-sweet cherries but accompanied by impressions of bushy drupes, then coalesced with a medicinal-horse-cheese-cobweb-overripe funk. Tartness is moderate; it is not bracingly sour, it is exactly right to sharpen the funk while allowing the individual nuance of the fruit-flavor to shine. The cherry comes through intensely and delectably on the finish, whereas it is mostly sublimely stated during the quaff. This is the best Kriek I’ve had, hands down. M - Feels good man. Lighter than medium-bodied, intensely silky, and with enough soft carbonation to keep it lively. O - A masterpiece. Big thanks to Kristina from WLV, and Bryna and Alex, for the instrumental role they played in making this happen.