Struise Black Albert

Brewed by De Struise Brouwers
Style: Imperial Stout
Oostvleteren, Belgium

Snifter served at Bavarian Lodge- De Struise Night, Lisle, Il. Black/brown color with a diminishing to a small ring, bubbly, tan head and decent lacing that streaked, and spotted the glass. Roasted notes, wine, and dark fruits are present in the aroma. Dark cocoa and coffee are lightly present when cooler but seem to discipate when warmer, and are dominated by the stronger esters, pleasant bitterness, and touch of malt sweetness in the flavor. The warming alcohol commingles nicely with the complex flavors.... and my senses! Subtle differences from a bottle sampling noted a few weeks ago and even more enjoyable on tap!

Color : Pours dark, thin head laces to the side Aroma: bitter chocolate and coffee Taste: Very complex flavors, layers upon layers. Overall -- amazing beer, great cold weather sipper. Seek it out.

Crushed with Jakebra. Thank you Honkeybra. Nose has lots of dark fruits, licorice and like sharpie marker... Flavor follows through with bitter awesomeness, dark fruits and like burnt licorice. Wicked bizzah but awesome too. Really a redefiner brew. Really cool.

Sampled at Skyview’s tavern. Dusty dark pour with a thin light brown head. Some caramel, roast, bakers chocolate, smoke, and light hops greet the nose. Certainly high in ABV and quite complex. Not overly sweet which is a good thing. A nice dessert type sipper which goes well here in the cold MN winter.

Dark pour with a finger thick creamy tan head that quickly dissipates. Sweet woody aroma with a touch of mocha. Roasted malt and some dark fruit also on the nose. Smooth medium mouth feel. It sweetens as it warms. Dark roasted malt on the tongue. Hints of dark fruit in the taste as well as a touch of alcohol. Dry mildly bitter finish.

Bottled. Pours out in a opaque black colour with a with a low creamy off-white foam. Rich aroma of prunes, ainuse, black chocolate, yeast, ash, apricts and alcohol. Full-bodied with notes of ash, tar, ibj, pepper, raisins, prunes and black chocolate. Dense and chewy body. Long full aftertaste of tar, yeast, anise and chocolate. Tasty but still a bit young and raw.

12oz bottle. While Dark Hozions was the favorite of the night, this was probably the most praised for its unique taste. Pours deep black with a gorgeous tan head. Oily on the glass, Nose is completely unlike any other imp stout, some things come through such as coffee and smoke but there are other odd flavors, raisin, banana, spiced cake and chocolate. As good as the nose is, and it is quite amazing the taste is remarkable. A perfect blend between an imperial stout and a beer such as Rochefort 10 (which we had later in the night) opens up with some coffee bitterness and chocolate and after that it kicks into a very belgian like middle with notes of cherry, banana, candi sugar, complex spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom perhaps) and finishes with a big chocolate dose and a bit of hops. Brilliant. I think on tap this would be a 5. Though smooth for 1 13% beer the transitions between the different tastes are a bit rough. There is definitely no other imperial stout out there like this, absolutely a MUST try.

Bouteille 330ml, batch 14. (Importations Privées Bièropholie). De couleur noire et opaque. Nez de levures fruitées (raisins sucrés et vineux, cerises noires, léger de prunes, notes de figues), malté de malt rôti doux, de chocolat noir, moyen-léger de café avec des notes de caramel et de sucre brun, légèrement épicé (anis, notes de cannelle), de fumée de tabac et de houblon herbeux avec des notes dalcool, de vanille et boisées. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen et une texture riche, moyennement crémeuse et légèrement liquoreuse. Goût de levures fruitées sucrés (raisins vineux, cerises noires, léger de prunes sucrées, notes de figues) accompagné dun léger goût de fumée de tabac ainsi que de notes épicées (anis, cannelle) et de vanille lors de lentrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût moyennement amer de malt rôti, un goût de chocolat noir ainsi qu un léger goût de sucre brun, des notes de mélasse sucrée, de caramel toffee et de pain grillé. Parallèlement, lon retrouve un une moyenne amertume dalcool liquoreux doux et légèrement réchauffant ainsi qu un moyen goût de houblon herbeux (herbes mouillées) jusqu en finale avec un goût de café qui augmente à mesure que lon approche de la finale (faibles notes boisées également présentes en toute fin). Post-goût long et un peu sec, moyennement amer de rôti, de chocolat noir, de café, moyen de houblon herbeux et dalcool ainsi qu avec un goût fruité (moût de raisins vineux, de cerises et de prunes).