Struise Dirty Horse

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

Tasted at 1st Borefts Bier Festival, Bodegraven. Hazy ruby coloured, big head. Fruity notes all over the place, sourness and wood as well. Flavour is sour and sweet, not as harsh as a lambic, but stil pretty complex. Very nice beer.

On tap at Borefts Bier Festival, De Molen. Hazy orange amber colour, dense off white head. Aroma is fruity, sour, musty, some wood. Flavour is sweet, fruity, light funky and a good deal of sourness. Medium bodied. Not my cup of beer, but nice nevertheless. Just a bit too sweet for a good sour ale imo.

Rating 1004. This was by far the best beer I had while in Belgium and I’m glad I made the decision to return to the farm on the day it was offered, which was not a guarantee. Shared with xnoxhatex, mesandsim, harrisoni, magicdave6, and Dedoulequeen07. Poured a hazy caramel golden with a small white frothy head. Super subtle aroma, lightly cheesy, moldy, sour funk, huge wood/barrel, similar to the characteristics found in Gale’s Prize Old Ale. Flavor follows aroma in subtlety, so delicate, crisp light tart sour funky cheesy woody barrel with just a hint of sweet caramel, honey and slight moderate acidity. Not quite a lambic but more than a sour ale. Unbelievably sophisticated. I don’t understand why more beers can’t be like this, so simple and desirable. This beer is finesse . Fantastic softly crisp body while being just slightly syrupy. I know each vintage is quite different, however, this beer really enjoyed its age.

Bottle, at LCRBM 2008, ’s Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Hazy, amber body. Sour aroma of fruits, wood, barnyard, ... Great, very complex and well balanced aroma. Quite weakly carbonated beer. Great flavour however, with a good balance. Heavily sour, lightly sweet flavour. Quite soft (not too sharp). Great, ideal balance between complexity and balance.

This is a rating of the older vintage from the same tasting as Magicdave’s. Clear brown with slight white head. Aroma is sweet, sour, dirty red fruit with oak. Flavor is oak, sour cherry (not unlike a Michigan Cherry), dirty, slight acidity. Light body and carbonation. This has been around for so long and yet it doesn’t show any signs of wear. I bet this one and the two newer vintages will last for a lot longer as well. This might be one of the most perfect beers I have ever had.

Glass from an awsome decanter straight from the barrel at the stuise farm with urban, this happened to be the 25yr old vertion and what is also urbans first ever beer. Aroma is blessed with elegance, its subtle floral tartness, its sherry maderia caramel, the fruity cherry sour character is just breathtaking. The taste follows suit, its delivers everything iv ever wanted in a beer, its like the beer that was made for me because its the way i wanted it. Its just amazing, i stood smiling watching this big bastard god slap itself in the face with its ears and just smiled chuckling to myself the whole time i had this. What do i say?

Samnpled at the Struise Farm from Urbain from a wine decanter in September 2008. What a wonderful 5 year old treat. The beer poured a hazy orange color with nearly no head. The aroma of the beer had nice notes of fruit, cherry, and some wine like qualities. Slightly sour. The taste was the real treat. Although 5 years old the taste was very present. A nice cherry quality, not to acidic but had a good sour quality. There were some definite wood notes as well. I found there to be an excellent balance of the sweet fruit and the tart character as well. This is one very drinkable and well rounded beer. I just wish there was more to go around. I wanted to run with the decanter and drink it all but that would not be good form for a guest at the farm! Seek this beer out if you can find any.

Magnum bottle@ LCRBM 2008, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
[ Courtesy of Urbain and Carlo ]. What a suprising treat. Unclear medium amber orange red color with a small to average, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is Wow ;o) sour, acidic, berry fruity, cask wood, oak, wine. Flavor is Wow, heavy sweet, moderate acdic and moderate to heavy bitter with a long duration, round smooth and very well balanced. Body is medium, texture is watery to oily, carbonation is soft. In one word just WOW .. ;0)) Thanks again Urbain and Carlo, I will love to have anothor go with this beer .. [20081025]