 kp (6000), Woodstock, Georgia, USA
May 11, 2008 Updated: May 23, 2008
Date: 05/10/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Appearance: clear dark brown, wispy dirty white head,
Aroma: rich deep dark fruit aroma with a dark caramel and vanilla sweetness and a hint of oak,
Flavor: sweet dark fruit flavor touch of oak comes in to corral the fruit, dark caramel adds a touch of sweetness and bring out a ripeness in the fruit, light woody character adds a hint of tartness, light spicyness along with light peppery alcohol,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 05/20/2008
Mode: bottle
Source: trade
Aroma: sweet and fruity aroma with a nice peppery spicyness, rich dark fruit with vanilla sweetness and spicy oak,
Body: highly carbonated body stirs up a continous creamy head until it finally turns creamy,
Flavor: rich and fruity flavor, growing dark ripe fruits, rich chocolate, caramel and vanilla sweetness is tempered by light oak and spices, light bitter finish follows out of the spices,
Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***+/4
Mes_and_Sim (4052), London, Greater London, England
Aug 4, 2008 Beer No. 4000 and our third big milestone celebrated with a Struise beer.
A Sim rate: This is one of the most amazing aromas I’ve ever smelled. It’s sour apple jolly ranchers and pear jelly bellies. It’s the sweetest red wine vinegar...with truffle. Different every time. Grapes, strawberry. A fruit salad marinated in brandy, just how my dad makes it. And the cream whipped with vanilla essence just to finish it off. The first sip hits you like a rush of brandy. It’s tingling on the back of the tongue and hot going down. The flavours aren’t quite as light and fruity as the aroma. They’re darker, deeper: red wine and dark cherry chocolate liqeurs. Sneaky brazil nuts usurp the finish. I could drink this all night. Sadly, I only have half a bottle to myself. I’m sure that there will be a time and place where I can enjoy more ;) Absolutely delightful.
Mes’s notes:
I have had many bottles of this, mainly thanks to Urbain and Carlo but I also have to thank Brad and this one that my lovely Mrs and I are finally getting round to rating at home is thanks to Craig. This is a beautiful looking beer. It’s that sort of vampyr black / purple with glorious condition and a good beige head that is a clear trademark of my favourite brewer. When swilled you can see the head seeping into the darkness and it looks amazing, something that would not work quite so well if it were pitch black. Ok, there may be swearing ahead folks, I apologise. Fanfuckingtastic aroma. It’s close to a 10. The calvados and wood is clear as day but it dances back and forth like a flirty little tart with nail polish (a smell I love dearly), vintage perfume, cherries, plums and luscious thick alcohol. There is definite Coca Cola in there too. Bollocks to it, thats a 10. Yeah, that’s the aroma done I think. The flavour is not quite so good. Don’t get me wrong it’s still bloody excellent but it’s a little too sugary, the tartness of the Calvados shows a little too clearly and I just can never get into dried fruity notes too much. All that aside, the base of the Pannepot is still evident and that can never be a bad thing. The balance of the sourness against the thick and chewy sweet malt flavours is just excellent. The finish is huge and develops beautifully. There is a huge hit of alcohol too but the rest of the beer is so powerful it carries it really well. This is not my favourite from Struise but is still worthy of a huge score. Struise seriously rock.
Numbers: 10/5/8/4/17
Incidentally, we had a tasting at the Farm once and Urbain opened about 5 bottles of this, maybe more. As we were all going mad and drinking Mikkeller Black, Peche Mortel, Dirty Horse, Aardnon, etc. etc the 5 PGRs were left on the table (oh the decadence) Sim, good little sport that she is, bravely polished them all off and had nothing more than a sip of everything else. It made for a most entertaining ride home...
Taktik_MTL (1862), Montréal-Nord, Quebec, Canada
Jul 30, 2008 Bouteille de 330 ml obtenue via Importations Privées Bièropholie. Arôme: Odeur de raisins et de caramel avec une pointe chocolatée. Apparence: La couleur est noire avec une faible densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col beige mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de raisins et de caramel avec une pointe chocolatée. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est plein avec une texture vineuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Présence de raisins en arrière goût. (Rating #1858)
TheGrandMaster (1419), Auckland, New Zealand
Jul 30, 2008 Bottle with yalnikim (in NZ), poured brown with a large foamy brown head, with great lacing down the glass. Biscuity malt on the nose, with nutty and sugary notes. A refreshing sourness on the palate, balancing some sugary flavours. Maybe had too many on this night to appreciate it as much as others.
yalnikim (637), Wellington, New Zealand
Jul 29, 2008 Tasted 26/07/2008. 330ml bottle from Sune, shared with Sam and Steve in Invercargill. Murky brown, light lace. Sugary, caramel, fruity and a little sour, but it really lacks the finesse of a flemish ale. Maybe it’ll reach that point another 5 years.
NosirIwont (857), Aalborg Vestby, Denmark
Jul 28, 2008 Bottle. Pours a muddy brown colour with a big beige/light brown head. Aroma is dusty, sweet and slightly creamy in the vicinity of the glass. In the glass, it’s soft, sourish, and deep spicy. Fruit, horse blanket(?) and metallic notes. Plums as it warms. Flavour is sweet and alcoholic with fruity, metallic and spicy sourish notes. Finish is molasses with slight notes of banana and sharp, stingy alcohol notes. An okay beer, but I find a bit too metallic. 28-07-08.
|
