’t IJ Struis

Brewed by Brouwerij ’t IJ
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

11.2 oz bottle poured into a Duvel tulip produced a good one finger white head on top of a deep reddish brown liquid with the tiniest of little partials floating around the nose on this one is hard to describe musty, fruit, earthy, and yes something I can’t describe. Medium slick mouth feel with an oily finish .Flavors on this beer is incredibly complex as well, dark fruits, spices and some funk? Truly a unique beer enough so I have to try another one to nail the description down

Bottle @ the brewery. Murky brown colour, little grains of yeast depot in the bottom of the glass. Tanned head, good lacing. Aroma of cheese, kandi sugar, malts and fruity hops. Some alcohol detected, a bit of wine is also noticeable. Really soft mouthfeel. This has lifted my IJ experience to another level. Awesome dark taste of dark ripe fruits like plums. Really balanced sweet taste, with some cardamon dryness to it. Great!

Bottle. Pours a thick orange/brown hazy liquid with a thick foamy yellowish beige head, some sediment at the bottom of the glass. Aroma: great fruitiness with some spices, not very yeasty. Taste: fruit, dried fruit, malt, citrus, some yeast, brown sugar, still not too sweet. Thick, medium fizzy mouthfeel. Really good, well balanced and very drinkable, the 9% ABV is hardly noticeable.

UPDATED: FEB 12, 2008 Bottle@Home, Feb 08, 4.0: Re-rate and by now I have more experience and I’m also more critical. But still, this is a very good beer and underrated here. Maybe just a bit on the sweet side and I think it has lost it’s milky sourness over the years. Bottle@Home, Feb 02, 4.7: Dutch pride and underated at this site in my opinion! Light acid, light perfume, light spices and date aroma. Clear, red-brown, creamy light brown head, good lacing, sticky. Sweet, hopbitter, very full, prune flavours. Long bittersweet finish and a lasting alcohol burn.

Terrific! Quite syrupy and sweet, yet also sourish at the same time. Almost doppelbockish. The label depicts a sinister ostrich standing in front of an ominous black watch tower that looks like the conning tower on the USS Midway. The alcohol is very well concealed and in a stealthlike manner it will get you if you drink enough. Bravo!

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.

Hazy orange to fresh polished copper brew, thin but clinging head. Smells like a massive U-pick berry farm on a cooler overcast day, not burned off or dusty, just clean berry essence, Somewhat tart, strawberry pop flavors, very thin and somewhat refreshing even for such a strong ale.

UPDATED: JAN 29, 2005 This beer has a brown/red body - hue apperance and a coarse light brown scum collar. I have drunk the beer from the bottle and it had a lot of carbonic acid. The initial flavor taste is fruity with a little bit sweet afther tast.