Day 71 (10/3/2011): Black Albert by De Struise Brouwers

I'm still not sure what to think about this one. It's a huge beer in a little bottle that happens to be on the RateBeer Top 100 and cost me $10 for an itty-bitty 11.2oz bottle. Between the last two characteristics, this beer had a lot to live up to from the word 'go'.

The smell is largely dark fruit (mostly raisins, figs, and black cherries), almost Quad-like, some chocolate, roasted malts, and brown sugar/molasses. It smells a lot like a big stout mixed with a big quadrupel, which makes sense considering it's brewed by a Belgian brewery. The taste is kind of the the smell flipped on its head. The roast and chocolate are out in front here, with the fruit bringing up the rear. It's still there, of course, but just not as dominating as in the smell. The roast imparts an almost smoky essence to the beer, which is odd, but actually not a negative here. At 13%, there is pretty much no hiding the booze, but it isn't too overwhelming, just a tad hot. The body is medium, which is a little lighter than I would like in a big stout like this, but the carbonation is just about right.

Verdict? Good, but not $10 a bottle good or Top 100 good. The two Belgian-style stouts I've tried  (this and Allagash Black), I haven't been super impressed with. It seems like the dark fruit and yeast flavors, in my opinion, overwhelm most of the rest of the taste. If I wanted a beer that tasted like this, I'd buy a lot cheaper quad. Despite, this, it is a unique beer and one you should at least try once if you have the chance. You'll just have to decide for yourself if you like it more than I do. I give Black Albert by De Struise Brouwers a B+.

Style: Russian imperial stout
Beer Advocate: A-
Ratebeer: 100/97

Day 26 (8/19/2011): Pannepot by De Struise Brouwers

Pannepot has been a beer I have wanted to try for quite some time now. I've never actually seen it at the store, though, and never traded for it, so it's been sort of out of sight, out of mind. Being the #30 beer on the Ratebeer Top 100 of 2011, I definitely knew I had to try it.

In a stroke of luck, I found it and a few bottlers of Bell's Oracle at a bottle shop out in the 'burbs after a round of furniture shopping (fun, right?). I popped it open to enjoy that same night.

The 11.2oz bottle pours a inch of light brown head over a dark, dark brown body. The smell is everything you could ever want from a dark Belgian beer: a complex mix of raisins and figs, vanilla, and an almost spicy cider taste. You can smell the booze, which isn't surprising considering how young the beer is and the 10% ABV.

This is a powerful tasting beer. There is so much going on, all of it perfectly melded together. The dark fruits are the most obvious taste, with a molasses or brown sugar sweetness. You can also taste a mild bit of spices; maybe cinnamon and/or anise. There is a good bit of alcohol in the taste, as well.

This is both medium bodied and carbonated and has a bit of burn from the 10%.

This is an absolutely tremendous Belgian beer. I think it might be tied for my favorite dark Belgian ale with Rochefort 10, another which blew me away. I would love to try a bottle with a few more years of age on it to see if the booze mellowed out a bit. That would make it pretty much perfect.

I give Pannepot by De Struise Brouwers an A. Two thumbs up!

Style: Quadrupel
ABV: 10%
IBU: ?
Beer Advocate: A
Ratebeer: 100/100