Struise Black Albert

2008-03-03. Black body with a good sized mocha brown head and lacing. (4+) Roast malt aroma smells "bitter". Toasty mocha-cocoa-coffee melange. Hints of dry dusty grains - or at least thats what comes to mind. Rich variations on the bitter roast and mocha themes throughout. Brief notes of licorice. (9+) Flavour echoes the aroma, moderately bitter roast balanced by sweet dark malt, notes of chocolate and cocoa, dark fruits. Alcohol is omnipresent but unobtrusive, restrained. (9+) Smooth medium to full bodied palate has the delicate small bubbled carbonation of Belgium that smooths it across the tongue. (4+) I feared disappointed with high expectations going in, but the really is superlatively good, and eminently drinkable. +1 or 2 overall just for the excitement of finding it on tap on our Belgium trip. Not sure if it would retain the high scores on a second tasting, but... oh f**k it - 5.0!
On tap at Erasmus, Brugge

On tap at Erasmus, Bruges. Black colour with lasting tan head. Lots of tarry bitter. Black chocolate. Intense smoothness in mouth. Velvety. With Green & Blacks choc flavour. Good lasting dry graininess on finish. Lovely finish in fact, a mix of lime hop and choc. There are hops on the aroma, but they are balanced. They have to be strong to blend with the intensity of the choc/coffee aroma, but they are not too strong. Just perfect. The mouthfeel is sensational, the best I’ve had. I simply cannot find a fault anywhere in the appearance, aroma, mouthfeel, flavour or finish. Doesn’t taste anywhere near 13%. I can’t find any reason not to give this 5.0/5.0 for only the 4th time and my second for a Struise beer. They truly are the best brewers in the world.

Thanks Barak! Love the label. A cold pour reveals a black-ish liquid and a very tall head that lingers like a stubborn koon hound. Aromas of roasted chocolate. Full nectar with creamy carbonation and an oily texture. Up front and center is a massive charcoal meltdown that shape shifts into liquid copper and other heavy metals. A strong bitter cocoa character balances the heavy metallic essence precisely. This beer is rich and very complex pushing up chocolate, dark fruit, cakebread, roasted coffee bean, leather. The finish is long and lingers like a memory that consists of a car crash at 100mph, flipping the car as a result, and living to talk about it like it was a ride at some crazy amusement park in Tijuana the you just can’t miss. The hops show moderately on the end and bitter it up profusely. Extreme, strong flavored, and very generous with high ABV that I can’t seem to spot. Overall I’ll have to Trump it to 100 because the aromas was a little weak. I’m a lucky guy and yes I did flip a car, safely =)

(Rerate changes wording, no content updated or removed.) Huge thanks to Chris for this amazing treat on tap at Ebenezer’s. Wow. Perfect! Lovely wispy head more reminiscent of a lambic than a stout. Aroma of sweet, relaxed espresso, stout roastiness, tantilizing but not at all overwhelming hop presence, then chocolate, vanilla, dark fruits. Flavor leaned more towards the vanilla and dark fruits with the coffee and chocolate showing their face from time to time, and all the while, what a downright lovely hop balance to such a massive brew. On the note of balance, all the other flavors are not only in perfect balance, but they blend together so harmoniously, so notably harmoniously if that isn’t a paradox, one into the next, into the next, no rough edges, no question marks. Finally, at the end of the day perhaps most importantly, what an unbelievably silky smooth mouthfeel for such a big beer, what an unbelievably silky mouthfeel even regardless of how big it is. Rich, complex, yet oh so quaffable. I woke up today wishing I could have more, and that sentiment has not faded, nor do I want it to fade because as long as I crave it, I know I can still remember it. Unbelievable.

I was up in New England for vacation over the Holidays and made a point of going to my favorite “beer bar”…Ebenezer’s…in Lovell, Maine. While there, I had the honor of trying one of the best beers I have ever tasted. For the past 14 years I have sampled over 3000 beers. Because I had developed my own rating system long before I even knew about RateBeer.com or BeerAdvocate.com, I do not post my ratings on either site (it would be like keeping 2 sets of books). But “Black Albert” impressed me so very much that I felt that I had to let everyone know how truly amazing it is! With over 3000 beers tasted & rated, I have only ever tasted 3 to which I would give a perfect score…and this is without question, the best of those 3! By coincidence, I had just held a Stout tasting event the night before. Among the beers we sampled were some of the best: Bell’s “Expedition”, Bell’s “Double Cream”, Bell’s “Java”, and Moylan’s “Ryan O’Sullivan’s Imperial Stout”. As great as these beers are, “Black Albert” was even better. It is the most complex stout that I have ever tried. The color is black with a light-brown, lacy head (about 1 finger). The initial smell is malty, with notes of coffee & fruits. The taste is smooth & rich (but not too creamy)…there is an initial taste of coffee, which dissipates, and later returns. The taste lingers…and changes…for a long while. While sharing this amazing beer with a few others, I heard the comment “I died and went to heaven”. I could not agree more with this. “Black Albert” was as religious of an experience, as you could ever hope (or pray) to have!