Struise Black Albert

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

Houston RB Dec Impy Stout tasting. Bottle. Coal black, small tan head. Nose is sweet, chocolately, just a bit alcoholic. Taste starts off with a bit of carbonation, with hints of coffee, chocolate, pepper, raisins, spices. Chewy, thick and very easy to drink. Alcohol is well hidden. Excellent beer. Too bad about the 10 dollar price though.

VRBT. Another one I am happy to get to taste. Black, brown at edges. Aroma was chocolate based. Flavor was more coffee oriented, with some fruitiness and brown sugar notes. Decent, but not life altering like some of the reviews read.

This beer poured pitch black with no head, and little lacing. Aromas of chocolate, coffee, toffee, and a hint of vanilla. Full frontal taste of chocolate, belgian yeast, slight alcohol, with a nice, subtle coffee finish. An excellent brew, and a difficult one to come by. Well worth the 12 dollar price tag for an 11 oz.

Tap at City Beer. Pours with a pitch black color and essentially no head. Aromas of coffee and chocolate. Flavors dominated by cocao and coffee, very little oak, and very little dark fruit. Body surprisingly thin. One could make out maybe a hint of Belgian yeast, and essentially no alcohol hotness. Due to its body that is a bit too thin I come to the conlusion that this beer is overhyped and that there are better impy stouts out there.

330 ml bottle from a trade with cletus. aromas of chocolate and dark fruit, a little muddled. the aromas take a long time to fully develope in the glass. flavours are warm and welcoming, very much a belgian stout. lots of roasted malt but the fruit aspects of the belgian candi sugar combined with the yeast make this quite different then the american versions of the style. the alcohol is very well hidden and after a few hours in the snifter this drink wonderfully. not entirely my thing but very enjoyable and worth the price of admission. thanks for the trade cletus.

Tap @ City Beer Store on 12/13/08. Black as oil with a deep dark brown head that I could get to rise up by swirling the glass but it never lasted. Rich and smooth with a robust chocolate malt base that stretches long after each sip. Light coffee and caramel undertones with a subtle Belgian stout character. Surprisingly little dark fruit elements. It hides the 13% abv extremely well and finishes dry.

Tap @ Binnys. I was extreamy excite when I heard this beer was hitting chicago. This poured a dark brown somewhat transparent, a bit light for an impy stout. very clean, chocolatey, dark fruit and malty. Deceptively smooth for 13% ABV, and enough body to balance an extremely alcoholic beer. Could have been a bit creamier or silkier but still quite good. The lingering taste is well-rounded with a lasting taste that pleases. Interesting and pricey...

OK... a 5 on appearance, pours a thick syrupy pitch black with a fine brown thick frothy head, not an inch deep as indicated, but still enticing. Strong fruity aroma of black berries, black currant and varnish, some vanilla and light licorice. First taste is similar, very soft mouthful, holy crap is that smooth and velvety, unbelievably even consistency, like airy liquid marshmallow. Great deeply roasted barley flavor, so fruity and decadent. Lightly burnt coffee and dark chocolate blend beautifully with the rich berries. This really is like biting into a piece of flourless dark chocolate cake with raspberry preserves. Not terribly sweet either, its more understated with mild bitterness. Im not getting any alcohol what so ever. Really quick finish that leaves a nice lingering dark chocolate and berry taste. I must say I was expecting to pan this after some of the recent bad reviews of the latest release, however this is flat out delicious and absolutely deserving. Also... youre wasting your money if you serve this beer any colder than 60F. 8.5.10.5.20 [...update 4.27.09 - my Birthday - bottle] I’ve been lucky to drink probably around 5L of this stuff this year... it helps when you have access to it on tap and you are the one pouring it =). My favorite beer... not sure why I gave it a 8 on aroma... so unique and distinctly Black Albert and I’ve come to be addicted to it so I’ll bump it to a 9. The aroma brings me back directly to days spend in Belgium. Holy hell what a beer. Amazing pour, finally this time around I achieved the super thick, creamy, rich decadent large head indicated in the description. Never ending amazingly rich decadent dark chocolate with sweet, tart and tangy berries in a perfect marriage. I’ve tasted this beer several times side-by-side with Cuvee Delphine, Black Damnation and Double Black... nothing is quite like this most Royal of Stouts though. 9.5.10.5.20 [bottle 10.6.09] still can’t believe I only gave it a 9 on aroma... it is completely distinct and unique... I suppose it should get a 10 there also... so maybe this is a perfect 5... mmmm =p maybe. this absolutely transcends beer... it is a beer and dessert all mixed in one