Struise Cuvée Delphine

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

Bottled (BB 03/2014). Courtesy of bierkoning, thanks Edo! Opaque black color, thick tan head. Strong woody-oaky and earthy nose with hints of vanilla. Full-bodied. Licorice, roasted dark malts/chocolate, bourbon, some vanilla. Quite foamy mouthfeel. Aftertaste has tobacco, vanilla, alcohol and wood. Too much earthy barrel-wood flavors for my liking.

Bottled. Quite much black colour with mediumsized brown foamy head. Aroma is sour wood, mild roasted malts, caramel and some notes of alcohol. Flavour is liquorice, toffee, some wood, some alcohol, spices and also some dark riped fruits. Quite sweetish sour aftertaste with some toasted notes.

(Bottled) Very dark brown with a large, light brown, lacy head. Tart and woody aroma of roasted malt, vanilla, ripe fruit. Flavor is roasted-malty - even burned-ashy - with some calvados, vinous-woody tannins, overripe fruit, pear hints, light salty-licoricey smokiness. Medium body, slightly foamy carbonation. Yes, it’s better and smoother than Black Albert bottled - but you cannot hope for a miracle, if the base beer is simply too burned-ashy to be enjoyable.

Bottle, thanks to Gunhaver for sharing. Poured a dark reddish brown color with a large brown head. Some chocolate, coffee, and dark fruit esters in the nose with a touch of oak. Smooth mouthfeel with ample carbonation. Flavor was dark cocoa and burnt malt, definitely some funky, sour notes in there as well. Thinner body than I would have liked but overall pretty good.

Big Thanks to Jack for sharing this. He is full of unexpected generosity. Poured black with a brown head. Aroma is bakers chocolate, cocoa powder, vinous red wine notes, smoke and a touch of funk. Taste is much the same, nice round flavor, with the smoke and chocolate notes pairing nicely with the vinous character throughout. Huh, not sure if they meant for this to get tart, but it is headed that way. Don’t get any bourbon at all. Whatever the case, I like this quite a bit more than the original.

Bottle thanks to goryshkewych. Pour is pitch black with a huge brown lingering head. Aroma is dried fruit, barnyard, grass, slight sourness, alcohol, faint urinal disc, and a hint of coffee. Not what I was expecting. Palate is silky and bubbly. Flavor is Sour, hay, and chocolate up front with a dry fruity flavor in the middle. For a split second it’s almost champagne-like. Finish has a notable alcohol burn, but it is not displeasing. Roasty espresso, dryness, and some lingering tartness in the finish. The bourbon and barrel are most evident in the finish and it’s mostly the barrel. But they do not play a dominant role. The bourbon is hard to find and I only tasted fleeting notes of it at best. Certainly not boring. An interesting stout with a noticeable belgian influence. Worth trying once for sure.

Bottle courtesy of Gunhaver. Poured a dark copper-ish brown color with a loose large bubbled brown head. The aroma is kind of dark fruity esters and then moving to a bit of oak and some barrel sourness. It seems like a funky barrel sourness. A deeper draw brings up stronger notes of oak and a bit more roastiness. The taste is carbonation enhanced roastiness them moving to a bit of burnt malts, oak wood notes and mild sourness. The feeling of this beer is a pretty thin body and non existent sweetness but tasty nonetheless.

Share as part of the "no, we really do like gunhaver project." Pours black with a small tan head. Nose is roast, sour and light vinegar, tartness, coffee, and dark chocolate. Flavor is much the same, and if I did not know better I would say this beer was aged in dry wine barrels. Lots of tartness, vinegar notes, and funkiness as opposed to the sweet oak notes usually imparted. Medium bodied with earth and roast, but the tartness is the biggest surprise.