Struise Aardmonnik / Earthmonk

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

Simply out, this is my favotite beer of all time. Like Balsamic Vinegar in a bottle. I want to drink this for the rest of my life.

75cl bottle BBE 02/07. This beer for me, sums up Ratebeer. In November 2005 I had to go to Antwerp for work at short notice. Knowing that I would be staying close to The Kulminator, I put a post up on the Forum on this site asking that if I only had 2-3 drinks in the pub, what should I have. Almost without exception, people suggested Struise Pannepot. Getting that kind of advice is indispensible. Pannepot is only one of three 5/5 scores I’ve given. Since then I’ve followed Struise with interest and I’ve had the good fortune to meet the guys behind the beers on a couple of occasions and I’m pleased to say that they are tremendous people. I picked this bottle up at the Low Countries RB Meeting in Antwerp last Sept. as part of the Kook farewell to Europe tour with Maeib and Duff, a great weekend which I owe to the Ratebeer site and people I’ve met through it. So thanks. The beer is very, very dark brown/red with thin lasting beige tan head. Lovely sour fruit aroma. Bit of wood too. Sour dark fruits of dark plum, black cherry and damson in mouth. But it’s not overly sour, it’s balanced by some fruity sweetness too. That sour aroma with dark fruits and touch of bitter choc is tremendous. The fruit in the mouth is just so pleasant, sour and sweet at the same time. Finish has drying sourness and more black cherry and damson. Just so well balanced, the sourness never over runs it. The wood adds to the whole experience. Overall it’s a great Flemish dark sour beer. The fruit is both balanced and outrageous at the same time. 4.6/5 Re-rate, 75cl bottle at Kulminator. This keeps getting better, some yeast has woken up and given it a very soft carbonation. The flavour in the mouth is now sublime. One of the best sours, best beers full stop I’ve ever had. Every time I had another beer I wished it was this and it wasn’t. I was so jealous of another couple having this later in the evening. Now in my definite top 10 beers of all time due to this bottle. Exquisite and unlike any other beer I’ve had. It takes you to another place. Sometimes my palate tells me when I have drunk something of sheer quality and this is one of those times. Can’t wait for the new version or to have this again on the old version at the Kulminator.

In short: Intensely sour/tart beer. My favourite Flemish Sour Beer? Maybe…
How: Mtl-crew Halloween-tasting session. Bottle from Rastacouere my hero. This is from the first batch (and only one so far I believe)
The look: Cloudy purple body without much head
In long: From the nose you know you’re in for something intense. It’s a tight rope to walk to make such an intensely sour and tart beer and not fall in the vinegar side. But the earthmonk does not only walk the tight rope, it’s making backflips on it. Sour oak and tart dark cherries (or is it the other way around?) supported by a chocolate backbone and some spicy notes. Intensely sour/tart/acidic. I’m talking making-funny-faces sour/tart/acidic. A sipper. It might be sweet, I don’t know, my taste buds were too busy with other more intense aspects of the beer. The really soft carbonation would be considered dull in any other beer but is totally fitting here. I‘ve been smelling the empty bottle for a few days now. Drinking that unannounced masterpiece with my favourite beer-geek friends was one of those “beer-moment”. It’s remembering moments like that that fuels my passion for beer although unfortunately it is also because of beer that I don’t remember many moments like that.

Dark brown beer with a small but creamy beige foam. Nose is malty and fruity with hints of sour oxidized apples, cinnamon and madeira. Taste is complex and the mouthfeeling is smooth and oily. The taste of this beer is sweet and sour with interesting touches wood, dry fruits, nuts and even muchrooms. Thanks to Carlo for this exeptional beer. Retasted at Zythos 2007 from a Big bottle Beer showed a much beeter apperance and the taste is even more impressive than the first time I tasted this special sour Flemish beer. Well done guys.

The Musings:
As lush cherries in plush earth are deeply steeping,
And balsamic richness to the nose is leaping,
One can tell
The seed of luxury has been duly planted.

Dark chocolate is drifting, sifting through, and lifting
A gardenful of grapes around the tongue wafting,
So that one can tell
The germination of greatness has been granted.

Then,
Tartness sprouts its savvy snout, as a wooden drought
Flashes the filling fruit, and now there is no doubt
That I can tell
These roots are in my veins; I am nearly daunted.

Yes,
An illuminated assumption’s guaranteed
Through the consumption of this wise cultivation,
And I can tell
That if I drank
As much of it as my seduced soul would permit,
I can confirm it, I would be a fat hermit.

The Bottom Line:
Although some might complain that some effort is needed to produce a big-bubbled head, most will indulge in this authentic Flemish deity, and perhaps ponder its resemblance to a more drinkable Cuvée de Tomme. These De Struise Brouwers truly are as talented as they are generous.

Bottle; best before 07/2010.

Bottled. 33cl bottle courtesy of Carlo (Lachesis) at RBLCM last September. Huge thanks go to Carlo for the gift of this beer, but also for the fact that his company brew such a masterpiece. Pours dark brown with a purple hue, and very little beige head. The aroma is super sour. Gorgeous acidity but also a woody barky note and the merest hint of chocolate. More puckering sourness in the taste, together with all the flavours of Mother Nature: Earth and Wood abound. Tingly on the tongue but that’s the sourness rather than carbonation which is minimal. A beer I could honestly drink every day for always. I had the highest hopes but was prepared to be disappointed. My only disappointment is I cannot buy this anywhere close to home. Thanks again to Carlo, a true Gentleman.

This rating is dedicated to my second beautiful daughter Charlotte Megan Edwards born 5th October 2007.

Dirty dark brown with just a bit of head. Big sour aroma. Fruity at first with a big sour punch. Raspberry with caramel sweetness. Feels nice on the palate despite the low carbonation, it still has a bit of a soft fizz. Acetic acid/vinegar present finishing dry with the taste lingering. Has a really nice dried fruitiness. Feels as though it has some belgian strong ale influences in a very nice flemish sour.

Oh was I lucky today first May 2006. I visited the Deca brewery on my search to locate the Struise brouwers. Not only did I find Carlo tweaking Tsjeeses (newest christmas beer) in the laboratory, he let me taste a sample of their latest Sour ale, I was perplex! What a guy, that Carlo, they do not make them like that anymore. Anyway, back to reality : EARTHMONK, what a horrable name for a magnificant beer of this kind. Pours a brown red beer with a moderate beige head. This masterpiece is ‘triple-fermented.’ Primary fermentation is in open stainless steel tanks. The deep earthy, sour character results from 12 months of maturation in french oak and then followed by bottle conditioning. Earthmonk is not pasteurized or filtered. The aromas are endless with some wine elegance, so flavourful and interesting. Medium carbination, with a crisp, medium dry finish. Thanks to Carlo