Struise Pannepot

Bottle (33 cl) at Kulminator, Antwerp, Belgium. Dark brown with a rich creamy beige head. Intense malt aroma, sugary and slightly roasted, with spices and molasses. Medium bodied, just a bit too much carbonation to get the highest palate score. Quite sweet, with a dry finish that dos not completely balance up the sweetness.

2006 bottle: pours dark brown with ruby around the bottle bulb of the glass. The head pours about 2 fingers high and rocky slowly going down to a thick film over most of the top. a beautiful beer. Aroma is vinous, with some roastiness, and yeastiness. It still maintains a fresh note on the tale end of the aroma, somewhat piney, and with some traces of alcohol. Flavor is rich, with a particular slightly oily taste. beer is roasty, but not stout like. the aftertaste is very rich, yet dry, and spicy. Flavor as you drink showcases different spices. ginger at times, and cardamom. It seems also that there is a touch of coriander that accentuates the spiciness of the hops. As the finish approaches the beer shows some caramel character, and what I think is a smokiness. I also detect some soy... actually the last sip was all soy and spice. mouth feel is very active, sometimes a couple too many bubbles to really get the flavor of the beer. This wasn’t really a beer I loved, I enjoyed the unconventionalness of it, but it didn’t strike me as great. I have one more bottle that I will sample later. Definitely enjoyed the oak aged better, and would like to try it again.

’06 Bottle: Courtesy of jsquire at the local tasting. Dark nut brown pour with a big, tan head. Spiced dark malts, toffee and pine are blended together perfectly to make what is easily one of the best smelling brews I’ve had. Very holiday-ish brew, I could imagine sitting by the christmas tree on a snowy night sipping on this. Wonderfully carbonated mouth feel. Dark roasted malts, cloves, cinnamon and some dark fruits come through in the taste. Has a perfectly balanced peppery finish to it. Damn near perfect.

Bottle of 2005 vintage, from Boutip - thank you! Pours a cloudy brown with a tan head with good retention. Good god - aroma overwhelming! Spicy sweet, gingerbread & fancy molasses, crystal malt & saltwater taffy. Taste does not disappoint - Jigs Dinner (for you non-Newfoundlanders, salted ham) masala, bbq, dark honey. Slightly thin on the finish, but warm and sweet. My notes punctuated with expressions of rapture. Nice creamy body with perfect carbonation. Wow, this is one of the most complex, most delicious beers I’ve ever had. Thank you again, Boutip!

Bottle. 11.2 oz 2006 vintage from yonkers65. Aroma of bitter chocolate, dark and dried fruits, brandy soaked lightly charred oak, spices and alcohol. Pours a thick opaque brown with a very dense and creamy light khaki head. Chocolate, amaretto, wet toasted oak, creme brulee, spiced maple syrup. Mmmm... quite tasty. The complexity only increases as the beer opens in the glass. Lush and creamy on the tongue. Slightly silky. A very pleasant alcohol warmth on the finish. Very nice stuff! Huge thanks to Bruce for this bonus beer!

Thanks to Holdwine for giving me a chance to sample this wonderful beer. The defining charcters of this beer for me was the incredibly soft palate for a beer of this abv, and the underlying zesty sourness that keeps the big, thick, beer in perfect balance.

Poured from an 11.2 oz bottle (2006) and served in a St. Sixtus trappist glass. This beer poured a deep, dark brown with a thin head of tan foam that lasted throughout the entire glass. A decent amount of slippery lacing was left behind. The aroma of the beer was made up of sugary sweet dark fruits, caramel, candi sugar, chocolate, and some light alcohol. The flavor consisted of baker’s chocolate, caramel, brown sugar, dried dark fruits, and a healthy dose of warming alcohol. Really, really tasty! The mouthfeel was lush and silky smooth with a light amount of soft carbonation. This beer deliveried an excellent aroma along with a huge, complex array of flavors. It doesn’t get much better than this. A fantastic beer!!!

A really dark red color. Not much head but smells super sweet. You can smell all kinds of fruits going on here. Rasions, grapes, etc.. Taste is prunes, raisons, grapes and all other kinds of sweet fruits. Great texture, thick but not like stout thick. So smooth, Now I know why people love belgium beer so much. I also like the 10 percent, that you can barely taste. Great beer another every day drinker. Smooooooooth is all I have to say