t IJ Struis

bottle from brickskeller (02/02 brewed, 05/05 drank). pours a dark cloudy brown with slight head that barely laces. nose is malt, booze, bread, coffee? flavor is excellent: medium-bodied, malty, raisins, hops, with the presence of a 9% beer, but without the unpleasant alcohol flavors associated with that. a barleywine with a belgian twist, indeed. it has a brief note of harshness at the finish, which is the only thing that keeps this from being amazing. finish is dry in the mouth...the hops survived at least in bitterness. this beer is to barleywines as the de dolle export stout is to stouts. re-tasted on tap at brewery. dark amber. aroma of caramel, port, figs. heavy. lots of rich malty fruit up front. some evidence of the high abv, but well hidden. delicious.

Son of a bitch gusher. Dark hazy ruby brown color, fizzy brown head, disappeared in seconds. After this I was reluctant to try, just knowing it was going to be infected or off, but it wasn’t. Fruity and full malt aroma, prune, cherry, a touch yeasty. Brown sugar in the flavor along with notes of caramel, berry, and malt. Medium to full bodied, very active mouthfeel, no signs of the booze in this. Very good, too bad I lost some of it from gushing.

Dark ruby- brown color with a medium beige head. Aroma is fruity with yeast and an odd (prune?) scent. Flavor starts with red grape, prune, black cherry followed by some peppery spicyness and a tongue tingling, lightly dry and tart finish. 9% ABV not apparent.

this one was the second of the 2 bottle beers i had at the windmill brewery. had a deep burgundy brown pour with a tan shitoke head. now mind you this was the last beer at the brewery and my head was swimming with the windmill humm. huge nose of dark fuits raisins, apples, figs and plums... sweet notes of rock candy , brown sugar, honey and vanilla. yeasty texture with bread like freshness and that tin roof rusted thing l. nice mouth feel and not as much alcohol feel as the others. need to try it again to completely appreciate this beer. however, what i remember was very nice.

33 cL bottle, goblet. Average sized, creamy, khaki head is well lasting. Deep brown-red-purple body. Aroma is primarily yeast and dark fruits. Dough, candi sugar, plums, figs, prunes, raisins, blackberries. Heavily sweet, moderately acidic flavor becomes a moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter finish. Medium-full body, creamy texture, lively carbonation. Flavor introduces some chocolate which I didn’t find in the aroma. The bottom line is: a bit odd for a Belgian Strong...there’s just something that’s different...which, is fitting given that it’s Dutch, I suppose! Be careful at the end of the pour, this is a strong tasting yeast strain.

4/2004 bottle. Pour reveals a medium amber-caramel colored body, with light oranges, coppers and golds all noticeable. Large, well-retained head, per usual for the brewery, with plenty of sediment remaining in the bottle. Aroma has notes of strong belgian yeast, light candi sugar and plenty of caramel malt. Light raisins and berries. Flavor parallels the aroma quite well, with lightly sweet caramel and raisins, figs and dates on the finish. A low amount of residual sugar does not give it too sweet a flavor. Lately I’ve been turned off by high abv BSAs, due to the powerfully sweet and warming nature of them, but this one hid the 9% abv nicely and was more restrained in flavor. Giving the beer time to breath creates a soft mouthfeel. A bit of oxidation from the age loosens up the body, but it makes it surprisingly drinkable for a 9% BSA. So far, T’Ij is 2 for 2 in my book. Excited to try more.

I’ve had this beer plenty of times at the brewery but never rated it. I had it again the other night in a bottle at Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia, PA. It poured with a big sustained head. Color is brown with reddish tinge. Nose is complex... malty, yeasty, fruity, alcoholic. Huge body, almost coats the tongue. Yeasty and fruity with a bit of caramel. Well balanced. It’s hard for me to objectively rate this beer because my fondness for Brouwerij ’t IJ is too great. Can’t wait to get it on draught again....

This is a nice medium bodied strong ale, Nice carmel color and nose is toffee and yeasty. A little extra carbonated when I open it bubbled over. A litte expensive for what it is.