Struise Black Jack

Brewed by De Struise Brouwers
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Oostvleteren, Belgium

Bottle purchased at Alvinne bottle shop in Belgium. Beer tasted with friends at TJ’s on 29.12.08. The beer poured a very dark, brown head with a deep tan head and ring on the edge. The nose has strong coffee and cocoa aromas. The taste is a bit sweet up front but is complimented by the strong coffee character and some chocolate notes. There are also some dried fruit notes in the taste, a bit of funk as well. I had tried a small sample of this at the Struise brewery a few months back and was very happy to try this one in bottle.

Rating 6000 (I promised myself that I would stop at 3k, oh well). And what better way to celebrate that landmark than with a Struise beer? My favourite brewery. Somewhere I would never have discovered without this site. I bought this 75cl bottle at the Alvinne beer shop at their brewery back in December 2008 and have been saving it for this moment. I’ve tasted this beer in 33cl bottles and so was interested to see how it would be in a 75 since the Pannepot Gran Reserva was so much better in the 75cl bottle. I was at the Struise farm when Urbain opened the package with the beer bottle labels for this beer, so I feel a bit of history with it. When he said that it was brewed for guys in Sweden, I never expected to get any, but then again I have been wrong before. As for the beer, well it is black with a thin tan head. Intense dark Belgian chocolate dominates the aroma, with some fig, tar, worn leather jackets and tobacco at the edges. Some woody notes as it opens up. In the mouth it is incredibly smooth. The carbonation is very soft indeed. Stupidly drinkable. It’s a bit like liquid Belgian chocolate but far less sweet. Bit of dryness on finish and the lasting taste of dark cherries. I suppose some coffee is present, but not overly dominant. The finish of dark cherries is quite superb. Alcohol isn’t present at all. I had to slow myself down from guzzling the whole bottle in 5 minutes. Just so drinkable, I suppose the low carbonation helps that. Would happily drink this every day. Congratulations to all at Struise and Monks Cafe for producing such a good beer. This rating is dedicated to this site and all the users, brewers and other beer related people, who have helped me through this crazy and wonderful world of beer. Cheers to you all.

A Mes rate. 75cl bottle at the farm. Straight forward but gorgeous black and tan looks. Rich as hell, loads of coffee, just the right amount of barrel and some excellent milky notes. Simply awesome cappuccino notes draw you in like a hot mug on a cold day. Superb fruity notes too. Very slight lick of characteristic Struise sourness and funk. The dryness is just about perfect and the toasty notes work really well. The dark chocolate continues to develop as long as you are prepared to keep it in your mouth. Not at all over done. Gloriously balanced. We tried this from the conditioning tank some time ago and it was clear then it was going to be good. The end product is exactly what I expected. Brilliant.

Bottled. Hazy brown color, medium off-white head. Aroma of candy sugar, brown malt, roasted, some dried fruit. Bit dryish taste, chocolat, coffee. Nice.

Cask - Very dark brown body, big bubbled beige head; Very very nice nose mix of red fruits, red berries and a slight hint of dark chocolate; Quite intense flat soft body, lightly fruity; Long mellow starting finish, lots of aroma more roasted then nose, hops steps out pleasantly both with bitterness and aroma. Much better from the cask the from bottle, much more aromas and the falt texture suits the beer very well............Bottle - Dark brown near black body with a very beautiful bordeaux shine, very long lasting but not really big head; Very special very beautiful nose, lots of good old roasted porter aromas, both in front and behind the roast the are layers of the finest flower aromas I have never experienced in a beer before, soft roses, sugary violets etc; The body is not as fine, a milk like texture with a very soft velvet carbonation, very little feel to it, the most apparent is a slight acid touch maybe from the oak; Dryer and at the same time fatter aromas in the finish, a balanced acid is filling the mouth, combined with a roasted dryness and a malt softness, lots of character. Very special beer and more Porter then most Porters. For most other brewers this would have been a perfect beer, but since it says Struise on the label it needs a little extra work. Thanks! 8-4-7-3-15=3.7

Bottle at home ... Thanks to Fonefon for this one... Really Very pleased to get this... deep black... thin tan head ... nice soft chocolate malts ...big chocolate malts ... little milky ... little dry ... little sandlewood ...medium heavy body ... low to medium carbonation ... All in all its the chocolate tones that shine through and i really liked this

Sampled several times and also on cask. Pours very dark clear brown with a small fizzy head. Roasty aroma, touch of coffee, and hint of tartness. I may be in the minority here, but I really like the acidity in this beer over top of the roast. Some decadent dark fruits as well, dry finish. Medium bodied but lighter mouthful, very easy to drink, nice lively sparkling carbonation, not sticky at all. I could drink these all day.

At BLES Bierhappening 2008, Zottegem, Belgium
Deep, black body. Creamy, lightly brown head. Aroma of strong malts, coffee, fruits. Intense flavour: quite sweet, lightly bitter. Drinks easily.