Struise Aardmonnik / Earthmonk

Formerly brewed at De Struise Brouwers
Style: Sour Ale
Oostvleteren, Belgium

Rating #600. Bottle courtesy Degarth. Pours dark brown with a one finger mostly lasting light tan head. Aroma of tart cherries, rotting citrus, dark candy sugar, spicy yeast, and some spices that I can’t pin down. Taste is tart cherries, caramel, dark candy sugar, spices, and rotten citrus. Medium mouthfeel with a moderate amount of acidity. Very good.

Bouteille de 330 ml dégustée chez Ebenezer Kezars (Lovell, ME). Arôme: Odeur de cerises avec une pointe de chocolat et de vinaigre balsamique. Apparence: La couleur est brune opaque. Saveur: Goût très pronconcé de caramel fruité avec une pointe de vinaigre balsamique. Longue durée de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est plein avec une texture vineuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Présence de caramel fruité en arrière goût. (Rating #1709)

Bottle enjoyed at Kulminator, Antwerp. I was really excited to have this one, as I’m a fan of sour beer. Due to high expectations, I was a little disappointed: it wasn’t a life-altering experience, and was merely a really good beer. Opaque black with a soapy, fizzy head. Smells sour and old-world, with vinous oaky tinges and earthy spices; complex and hard to pin down, except for the strong acidity. Full bodied in the mouth but not as sour as I expected until the finish. Oily texture of cherry skins is cut by a very balsamic sourness that intensifies later in the beer. Bright and fresh in the middle with an oaky background. On multiple sips, I swore I could taste scallops cooked in brown butter with lemon; it was such a remarkably specific taste, and was probably the product of the specific sour characteristics of the beer melding with the gouda we had as a palate-cleansing snack. Overall, the taste and texture was like a less sweet Duchesse with lots more oak qualities, like the oiliness and the darkness.

Bottle, Stockholm, Sweden. Very dark, almost appears black in the glass, but pours a rustic brown. Full, very light brown head. Vinous nose with a variety of dark sour fruits. Flavor is very sour and acidic, with hints of wild red grapes, blackberry and hints of dried chocolate on the finish. A rich, flavorful beer, with an authentic character, a clean sourness and nice balance. Clearly immensely high in quality.

[1139-20080229] 330mL. Oaked red wine and sweet malt aroma with a bit of candy. Dark dark brown body with a quick foamy light brown head. Sweet malt flavour is quite sour with hints of seaweed pods. Medium body with a non-puckerer sourness. Interesting.
(@ Kulminator; Antwerp, BE; w/ jerc)

Bottle shared by emacgee and aubreya. Thanks a lot, yall. Pours an almost still dark ruby with minimal bubbles and no head to speak of. As this is mentioned it the beers commercial description, I will not take off points here. Nose is very interesting--almost port-like at times--picked up on some cinnamon, chcocolate, black cherry skins, oak tannins, spices, balsamic vinegar and a little but of funk. Flavor had more balsamic, black cherry skins, rich tannins. This was a very complex beer. I felt like the flavor lacked a little bit of tartness that I like in my sours, and the palate was kind of boring considering what was going on in the nose and flavor departments. Still, a very interesting beer that I feel privileged to have tasted. Struise continues to impress.

woo hoo.. lucky to find this little gem in brugge. Dark ruby pour nearing brown w/ a small big bubbled soapy head and some light lacing. Aroma is very nice.. wine like, some deep currants hidden in there, notes of belgian yeast, lightly sour fruit, very earthy some warm alcohols. Palate is big and aggressively tart as well as well coated. Flavor is surprisingly sour, especially for the age, very fruity, front leaves a sweet tingle on the tongue after the swallow, some other berries in there I can’t place.. a touch of earthy leathers and a known alcohol, very complex flavor as there are several things I can’t pick out in the fruit and spice, very well blended though, I think some white peppers are in there as well as the oaky notes come through on the tongue. I really enjoyed this, too bad it’s retired.

Thanks _____ for getting me this one. This ended up being the most interesting beer we had that night, in my opinion. Pours a dark deep ruby brown with zero carbonation. Very still brew. The nose is very complex and layered, sweet, lots of spice, nutmeg, lightly sour, vinous, port, dark raisin and plum, balsamic vinegar (adjective courtesy of turdferguson). The flavor is very "portish", lightly tart, spicy, nutmeg, dark fruity, balsamic again (thanks turd for putting a finger on that). Very still in the mouth and lightly tart. The finish was very complex, maybe moreso than the flavor. Balsamic flavors, spices, gradually warming, nutmeg, portish. In the end a very very interesting beer that defies what I was expecting from a sour.