Struise Black Damnation V - Double Black

Brewed by De Struise Brouwers
Style: Imperial Stout
Oostvleteren, Belgium

Serve in Snifter

Pours clear golden with no head. Aroma is big foging stout, dark rich cocoa beany chocolate, dates, prunes, figs, bourbon, burnt caramel, dark roasted coffee, weak smoke, vanilla and soy. Taste is alcohol, bourbon, dark sweet fruits, burnt caramel, sugary sweetness, chocolate and soy. The Aroma is so good but the taste is too sweet and alcoholic for me.

At the time of this review, this is the #20 beer on the "Top Beers - American Double / Imperial Stout" list, served in a snifter. Beer is oily, thick, thin dark brown head of small bubbles forms, low retention, no lacing, low carbonation. Interesting. Aroma is sweet, coffee, strong, burning alcohol a little, intense. To say this beer is thick is not a good descriptor, it is very interesting on the palate though, it is chewy thick on the front 2/3 of the palate and finishes rather thin. It is like the alcohol of the beer can’t cut through the front so it waits for the finish. Moderate roast and bitterness on the finish. I personally can’t drink a lot of this but it is a nice sipping beer. Serving type: bottle

Bottle shared with friends in Athens. Pitch black with virtually no head. Aroma of roasted malt, chocolate, wood, sugar, ripe fruit and alcohool. Oily mouthfeel. Roasted malt aroma, very sweet, vanilla,chocolate. Doesn’t feel like 26% but it still is quite alcoholic.

This is just insane. Rarely do I come across a beer so rich, I have to say. Color: double black! Nose: intense raisin, prune, espresso combo. Taste: holy crap! Aftertaste: licorice bombs and coffee explosions going off. The mouthfeel and aftertaste are equally crazy - rich, creamy, coating & long and burning. No wonder there is a skeleton on the label, this beer needs that kind of warning.

Bottle. Pour is outrageous. Incredibly thick and totally black with a deep red/ brown lasting head. Just beautiful. Aroma is surprisingly subdued with hints of dark roasted malt, dried fruit, faint tobacco, and some alcohol notes as it warms. Flavor is awesome. Rich, deep, roasted malt with hints of dark fruits and very very little alcohol. Finish is long with notes of toffee and rich sweet malt. Palate is so wonderfully soft and luscious. Sticky and huge but quite drinkable for 26%. This is one of the best beers I have ever had. The only thing I can even consider deducting for is the somewhat subdued aroma with a touch of alcohol. So good.

Bottle, New Year’s Eve 2011. Pours thick, like a black hole. Tan head color of coffee crema, no lacing but actual legs of alcohol visible. Nose has rich milk chocolate, toffee, soft roast coffee, surprisingly gentle. Alcohol more apparent as the beer warms, bourbon notes. Taste is huge with bourbon, dark coffee, sweet chocolates, vanilla. Cuvée Delphine on steroids. ABV well hidden, hard to believe this is 26% until you’re already super buzzed. Mouthfeel on this is unreal- unbelievably thick, slick and creamy, like a silky syrup, liqueur-like in consistency. Overall, yes.

Rating no. 700, shared with the fucking bad boys of Oelkonsortiet. You know what they about small 15% imperial stouts "this pours like motor oil blah blah meh ..." - but this beer literally pours like soy sauce that been boiled for 7 hours and then used as fuel for a 1,000 mile drive. Insane. Aroma is like soy sauce, Kaluha, bourbon, some alcohol, burned wood, coffee, hard roast, a hint of vanilla and toasted cocoa beans. Be not fooled - there is a massive alcohol burn in the nostrils here. Taste is so very intense, soy sauce, a big load of alcohol burn, hard roast and coffee, toasted/burned wood, a good deal if residual sweetness, just all over da place with roast, alcohol, sweetness, umami and wood. Massive body and low carbonation. The drunkness vs. alcohol taste rate is pretty high in the favour of drunkness. Nuff said.

Black of color with a very small brown head. And aroma of liqurice, roasted, sweets and alcohol. A flavor of liqurice, sweets, roasted and a oily texture.