t IJ Struis

33cl. bottle dated 9/05. Pours a hazy light brown color with a large beige head. Really nice malty aroma with lots of brown sugar, caramel and dried fruits. Flavor was a bit of a disappointment after the aroma, but by no means was it not good. Bready, sweet flavor with some caramel and dark fruits. Aggressive carbonation on one hands keeps the beer from being cloying, but also makes it feel a bit thin. Overall a very good beer.

Full, silken head of light tan; beer is burnt orange in color. Aroma is wonderful; hop aroma mingling with caramel, citrus, plum, and toffee. Sweet beginning flavor, with notable candy sugar, fig, and toffee flavors, is well balanced with a pleasant hop bite. I made the poor choice of pairing this with ahi tuna. Still, the beer was a joy to drink. Worth noting that the beer foamed out of the bottle immediately after I un-capped it.

Plummy brown and darkly toned with a medium cap of light tan firmly smoothed froth on top. Settles to a thin collar and the lace is strewn about in minimal glaring dots and a few straggly strings. Aroma is quite nice with a pleasant bouquet of berries and dark fruity things. Dates and raisins with twists of lemon skins make up a good portion as it gains a alcoholic soaked berry and date mixing with some black licorice and root beer. Taste is mostly dark and fruity, steady and even in the front and middle with a dark fruity maltyness thats a scad yeasty and spiced. Tends to finish better with a quick, and the gradual brigade of hefty complexity in the dark fruits, adding some pits, skins, and baked raisin, dates, and spicy breadyness. Also hits a wonderful drying sense of dried dark fruits of the raisin and dates, perhaps a bit of fig too. Quite nice and much, much better as it warms. It really gains some nice subtle complexity as it goes. Feel is about medium, with a lighter side to its body then you’d think with all of its dark-sided malt and fruityness. Not a bad thing really, it actually suits the character quite well; especially as it warms. This one grows on you. The pleasing finish with its long wondering dried dark fruity draw is a fine treat to the palate as it leans into some soft breadyness. A damn fine brew. Drinkable as all get out with its moderate carbonation and long drawn out finish. ’Struis’ is a nice brew to share; or to hoard, take your pick. Good stuff.

16 June 2005 (Maastricht-Fallstaff) - Sweet malt aroma, but lacks some hops. Suds lacing, dark brown cloudy colour with good head. Vinuos celery hop and dark malt flavours.

This beer puts forth a large amount of fragrances in the aroma: citrus fruit, dates, wheat, and even the hint of cherry can be detected in the background. It is the color of wet brown suede with a thick creamy cocoa colored head. This beer enters the mouth smooth and heavy producing a bitter-sweet taste as it mildly numbs the tongue. The flavor of nuts with the hints of apples and cherries in the background.

Bottle. Damn! this one strange beer! The first thing you notice is the awesome aroma, that tickles your nose right after you open the bottle: raisins, brown sugar, old port wine - which is naturally intensified when you pour it into the glass.

When poured it sports a big bubbled tan head (which quickly fades) on top of a muddy brown body full of big yellow yeast lumps. Flavor is not as intense as the aroma (I would guess it to be overconditioned), but nonetheless quite tasty with pumpernickel bread, dried fruit, licorice and a nice dry malt flavor, Unfortunately there is also just a hint of metal and bakers yeast giving it a home brewed signature... but not enough to really detract from the overall picture. The alcohol is amazingly well hidden for a beer this ABV - I would have guessed it to be in the 6-7% range.
The finish is watery and with no signs of hop bitterness - the carbonation is quite powerful.

I’m starting to develop a soft spot for this brewery, as they seem to produce beers that you may not find entirely like, or fin are well made, but with personality and character - which I deem more important. Thanks Rpattinson for bringing this one (as well as a load of other stuff to Copenhagen to share)

Pours with a frothy, 1 finger thick, light brown head that sits atop a hazy, deeply amber colored brew. The aroma is malty and rich with notes of concentrated, sweet malt extract, a sweet dough like breadiness, along with notes of prunes and figs. To balance the sweet notes there is a baking spice type spiciness here with notes of clove, a hint of nutmeg, perhaps a touch of cinnamon, and even a note of spicy cardamom. The aroma is concentrated and sweet, like a dark holiday sweet bread or even a cake. It is quite the way to end the evening.

The taste has an upfront fruity sweetness that is not too heavy and reminds me of figs, and raisins. There is also a nice backdrop of maltiness here that has notes of caramel, brown sugar, a hint of molasses and a certain fresh, bready quality that reminds me of a sweet spice cake. This beer really has a rich quality to it that is quite satisfying and satiating, though it certainly is not sticky at all, or even too full on the palate. It has just the heft to it to remain drinkable, in fact it is the flavors of this beer, not the thick body, that make this such a savory experience.

<font size=-4>Purchased at: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/illinois/chicago/sam’s-wine-&-spirits/18.htm>Sam’s Wine & Spirits, Chicago IL<font size=-1>

Bottle (330ml). Poured hazy deep orange-brown with a thin creamy off-white head, plenty of floaties. Slightly bitter aroma of plantation sugar/carmel malt, yeast, spices, sultanas and hints of table cream and wood - nice and blended. Taste is similar, but a little muted, some grapeseed and alcohol bitterness. Mouthfeel average body and carbonation - nice, but nothing special.