Struise Mikkeller (Elliot Brew)

Formerly brewed at De Struise Brouwers
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Oostvleteren, Belgium

Bottle. Pours a reddish caramel color, with a big white fluffy head and pretty much no lacing. Creamy hops in the nose, some distant pine, and brown sugar, too. Very hoppy flavors, pine, a malty floral kick, vanilla. Strong with spices and Belgian yeast. The typical citrus is there, but it’s not up front. Feels like a convolution of several styles, which is good. Bitter and drinkable.

Bottle sampled with Stegosaurus. Orange/coppery cloudy pour with with off white head. Grassy aroma with definite belgian spice and citrus. A bready hop flavor that turns slightly sweet. A perfect blend and a great brew.

A reasonable pour quickly produces an almost four-finger thick, pale, tan tinged, off-white colored head in my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip. The beer is an orange tinged, amber color that shows a lightly hazy, orange-tinged, copper hue when held up to the light. The aroma has a big, grassy hop character to it that is a mix of hay, dried grass and even a touch of mustiness. There is also a fair amount of citrus here, most notably grapefruit and lemon zest. Definitely spicy smelling too, almost like a Tripel actually & I would guess that a characterful Belgian yeast strain was used; this has a peppery nose, a touch of ginger, an earthy spiciness and some soft clove towards the finish. The nose of this beer is quite aromatic & pretty darn complex, especially when compared to a typical IPA profile.

Thick and chewy, with a full, textured heft; the beer is not quite as sweet as the body might suggest, but it certainly has enough sweetness to well accentuate fruity hop notes of lychee, ruby-red grapefruit and bergamot. The sweetness and citrus fruits are cut through by a spicy, woody, black pepper note, some spicy-warming alcohol towards the finish, sweet young ginger that mixes in with the citrus, earthy almost coriander like spice notes, some light clove and a touch of spicy phenolics towards the finish. As the beer warms up a bit it accentuates hop notes of hay & grass, though these still play a secondary role to the more dominant citrus (the opposite of the aroma). It is probably the addition of the candi sugar, but this also has the dangerous drinkability of the best double IPAs; light enough & with the massive hop character this would not be mistaken for a Barleywine.

Opposite of many American IPAs this actually has more of a grassy herbal edge in the nose than it is in the flavor, which has a big, citrus-hop component to it. Definitely a Belgian interpretation of an American, amped-up IPA; I really like the added complexity that the spices and yeast bring to this beer, yet these notes don’t distract from the hop focus that anything with the name IPA should have. Definitely a tasty brew and one of the better double IPAs I have had in the last year or so.

At Noogfest Four-O. Pours orange-yellow with whitish head. The aroma is very, very orangey. Flavor is orange, biscuits, and some disembodied bitterness. A nice, full, tasty IIPA. Update, 2/23/09. Aroma is very fruity with lots of cherry and orange, some sweet tobacco, pineapple, yeast, and caramel candy. Flavor is orange, tangerine, tobacco, nice mellow earthiness, and tons of herbal hops. There’s a clean wooden taste all about, with some cherry and peach. Plenty of yeast. Everything is so clean and bitter. Definitely a high quality beer.

Tasted at Noogfest 4.0 (2008). This Imperial IPA pours an orange gold color from a 33cl bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is fruity, malty and citrus hops. A medium bodied Imperial IPA. The malts are fruity and sweet. The hops are citrus and grapefruity. A medium bitter IPA. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

bottle from five points bottleshop in athens. dark burnt orange with a huge foamy head that stays around a while. aroma is like a belgian triple - sweet candy fruit with hops, spice and grapefruit. sugar hops and lemon up front then malt then a nice spicy bitter finish. palate is fantastic - thick and syrupy, but not too much. nice warmth. very interesting. K-8

So this one is underrated. I understand it is different and doesn’t conform to "traditional standards" but what an amazing beer. There are few that can compare with the aesthetics of this brew. Murky 24 karat with a hint of tangerine. The huge dense cotton head never leaves...I mean, never. It’s kind of like that relative that overstays their welcome in your guest bedroom. We need HARDER BEDS. Anyway, sticky foam clings to the inside of the glass like ivy. Aroma of a sour...extremely tart and fruity. Flavor is sharp bitterness (but not like that of a traditional DIPA) and ends with a touch of honey. Show this beer the LOVE!!!

I quite liked this, notwithstanding its Ratebeer connection (i.e. trying not to be biased by that). Interesting aroma and a great sweet profile that off-sets the citrus with some fruit, spice, caramel and bread. Medium bodied. Interesting aroma, in particular.