Struise Pannepot

Brewed by De Struise Brouwers
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Oostvleteren, Belgium

bottle 2007. pours a dark liquid with yeast particles and small creamy head. very complex with dark chocolate roasted coffee bean aroma. tastes sweet bitter. All of this well balanced and still very drinkable. excellent

33cl bottle, ’07, PNP4 pours dark brown, light caramel head with nice golden lacing. Aroma candy sugar, bready, coffee, some hints of possible vanilla sweetness, malty and dry fruits. Taste, sweet dark malts, profile has some nice touch of candy sugar, some spices, bready, hints of coffee. Some dry fruits; raisins and figs. Candy sugar leaves a thin sticky moutheel, as the beer warms up the palate becomes more caramel and spicy with what could be some cinnamon.

Pours extremely dark brown (in bad lighting) with a 1 1/2 finger beige fizzy head that has quite a bit of lasting power. Poured straight from the cooler, there’s a lot of alcohol, plum, and raisin. Some sticky brown sugar sweetness comes out as it warms. Fruit lightens to strawberries as it warms. The flavor is extremely complex. A strong bitterness with raisin and strawberry fruitiness. Tons of warming alcohol. There is a very roasty character to it as well, despite the fruit. A really nice rich body that is enhanced by the tight carbonation. Very dry finish. Excellent.

Bottle into snifter. 2007 vintage. Muddy brown with fast fading head, no lace. Doesn;t look to special. Smells really nice: fruity, oaky, vanilla, belgian candi sugar, malty, spicy, good. Flavor is... a bit muddled upfront. Lots going on (maybe too much for me). Dark sweet fruit upfont (dates, dark grapes, prunes), whcih is complimented immediately by Balgian candi sugar. Then comes the chocolatey, almost stoutish flavor with a warm and spicy burning alcohol finish. Warming on the stomach. Lots of good flavors, but a bit too aggressive and a bit too much going on IMO. Typical of the style, this is very highly carbonated, which detracts from flavor profile for me - really fizzy carbonation is just too distracting for me. Overall: a fine beer, good even, but NOT a top 50 IMO.

THOUGHTS: I was looking for this for months. It was great. A little Mikeller Santa’s Little Helper 2007 and Rochefort 10, but more intense than either. There was so much going on, it is very hard to describe. It hid the alcohol fairly well. If it would have laced a little better I would have given it a perfect rating. TECHNICAL: 2007 Bottle. Poured a dark brown that was almost black in the glass with reddish orange highlights when held to the light and a small to average, fizzy, tan head that kept a nice sheet for a very long time and left just barely fair lacing. The aroma was roasted, molasses, caramel, and milk chocolate malts, light to moderate yeast, along with raisin, plum, prune, cherry, port, toffee, brown sugar, maple syrup, licorice, vanilla extract, almond extract and spices. The initial flavor was sour, lightly sweet and acidic; while the finish was sweet, lightly sour, spice and lightly bitter with an average to long duration. There was apices, coke syrup, Kahlua, yeast, molasses, maple syrup, chocolate, dark fruit, prune, plum, raisin, more yeast and licorice. The medium body was foamy, then very dry with tingly carbonation and a lightly alcoholic and dry finish.

Bottle. Pours a nice dark brown with a good lasting head. Has an aroma of sulatanas, caramel and sweet spices. Tastes of calvados apples, raisins, bitter chocolate with slightly bitter finish.

Bottle. Pours with a big off-white head and a dark brown-red body. Big aroma and taste. But I found the aroma and taste were like rotten fermenting mandarines and dried fruits with a the presence of an alcoholic warmth. I didn’t find the aroma or taste that pleasant.

2007 bottle on my 2 yr ratebeer anniversary. pours a very dark brown with a nice big tan head which hangs around throughout as a solid quarter inch. delicious sour cherry notes as well as some yeast, dark fruits and some sweet malts. big smooth body which feels extremely well rounded throughout the mouth. the 10% shows up in the beginning up front but mellows out. nicely carbonated. excellent tart and big finish. superb.