Struise Mikkeller (Elliot Brew)

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

33 cl bottle, from Liquid Solutions. Pours hazy dark amber with a few floaties, huge fluffy head what leaves a thick wall of lace. Aroma of pie cherries, bready yeasts, floral hops with fruity notes as well, light herbiness and a hint of dust. Bready, malty, fruity sweet, floral, citrus and pine hops to balance, dandelion milk and dusty moss notes with a hint of funk. Medium to full body, fine, tingly carbonation.

Bottle, 130 IBU’s? Where did they go? This seemed more Belgian than IIPA. Pours a orangish somewhat cloudy brown. I found a lot of earthy funkiness 7 bandaid in this. Hops seemed extemely subdued. Some caramel sweetness, candi sugar. Bitterness was definately hidden the Struise way whatever that means. Decent but different

(Bottle at Hilpeäa Hauki on 2008-04-25) Amber and hazy. White medium sized head. Nose contains malts, hops and yeast. Full-bodied. Taste in balanced combination of yeast, malts and hops. Some sweet liquorice. Strong body hides the strong bitterness.

Decent nose and look, though very subdued in flavor and minimal hop character. Very drinkable, though nothing too spectacular.

Nice brew, but it seems a bit tame (excepting the 9% ABV) for a DIPA. It pours a hazy, nearly cloudy brownish amber/orange body with a large rocky head that leaves a heavy coating of lace on the glass. The aroma has a strong caramelly sweetness almost matched by hoppy scents of yellow grapefruit, lime pips, and pine. The taste is fairly well balanced (In a DIPA?) between the caramel flavor, now joined by some toffee and apples, and the hoppy bitterness, now having some earthiness added. The finish is dry and bitter with a slight hit of alcohol. Pretty decent effort by both breweries.

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Pours a murky light brown with firm two finger head. Aroma of hops and fruits. Very different flavors for an IIPA. The Belgian yeast was evident as were the candi sugars and fruitiness, but the bitterness of the hops was mellowed by the malts. An interesting beer, to say the least. I liked it, but not sure it will make it into my "beer rotation."

Bottle courtesy of tjthresh. Pours a hazy deep orange-bronze with a huge, fluffy, off-white head that leaves behind patchy lace as it descends. The nose is very interesting: a big dusty/malty blend of caramel, citrus (grapefruit), herbs, flowers candy sugar and lightly funky/spicy Belgian yeast. This is not the big citrusy hop bomb that typifies the style. IWhile the label says this bad-boy is packing 130 IBU, the hop notes play a more supporting role in the nose. Medium/Full-Bodied and velvety soft with a slightly sour and mildly dry finish. A mildly odd woody/funky blend of the yeast and hops linger on the tongue after the swallow and is the only thing keeping this from being a "5" on the palate. The flavor is a round malty and citric front with spicy, slightly funky and dry Belgian yeast following close behind. The hops finally kick in at the finish with their own contributions of citrus, earthiness, light resin and herbs attempting to blend with the spicy yeast. I’m not sure the "blend" really works for me. It’s apparent that these guys know how to construct a solid beer, evidenced by the fact that this one has probably earned the highest score from me for any beer that I’m not sure I’d care to drink again. It has a lot of qualities to admire, but I’m just not crazy about the overall effect. Nevertheless, I’m very happy to have gotten the chance to try this unique brew. Thanks again for the bottle, Tom!

33 cl bottle courtesy CelticBrew - much appreciated, JIm. Hazy orange/amber pour and a big creamy head that has amazing durabillity and some beautiful lace. A beer can’t look much better than this. Aroma starts off with toffee and light brown sugar and then the hops kick in with citrus and some distant pine.

Medium/full body is tempered by a lively effervescence, which also helps dry the palate. Mouthfeel has a richness that is unusual for the style, especially notable as it warms. Nicely balanced flavors of malt sweetness and a pleasing spicy bitterness that persists in a very lengthy finish.

These big imperial IPA’s are difficult to keep balancec, and this does quite a good job at that. It certainly doesn’t taste like a beer with 130 IBU’s. Finally, there was some noticeable harshness when first poured and cold, but his disappeared, and the character of the beer improved considerably as it warmed.