Struise Mikkeller (Elliot Brew)

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

Pours dark brownish amber w/ a lofty head that lingers forever. Smells of salted hopped up river cobble. Medium nectar w/superb carbonation. A very rustic specimen w/ charred caramel, salty peanut shells, bit-o-honey. This thing is supremely hopped w/ laser beam focus. Alcohol is well hidden. Awesome. Trump!

Bottle, 33 cl. Yester evening @ ’HOP’-evening Kortrijk. Many thx to Urbain and William ! Hazy darkgolden amber color, with a nice off-white head. Aroma fruity, bit yeast, and meany hops. Full body. Taste have notes of spices and yeast, starts with a bit sweetness, but a very great hopsbitterness. For me this beer is really perfect (also in balance). Aftertaste long nice bitterness. Wonderfull brew !

Glass: Tulip Purchased at: Circle Liquors, Pennington, NJ Price: $7.49 Size: 11.2 fl oz ABV: 9% Estimated Calories: 200 C RateBeer Rating: 96 Aroma 10 out of 10 Intensity: Strong Balance: Sweet Impression: Nice Malt Flavor: Sweet Roast Nut licorice banana Hops Flavor:dirt grass Herbal Spice Tar Lemon Other: cherry, candy Notes: What an amazingly tasty, varied, layered flavor. Appearance 5 out of 5 Color: Copper Clarity: Sandblasted Head Retention: Good with great lacing. Notes: A stunning looking beer. The malevolence of the deep sandblasted body is notable. Flavor 10 out of 10 Intensity: Strong Balance: Bitter Impression: Nice Malt Flavor: Grain Sweet Roast Nut Toffee Hops Flavor: Earth Floral Herbal Spice Resin Citrus Other: Cherries, licorice, bubblegum Notes: The flavor is the best part of this absolutely fantastic beer. Palate 4 out of 5 Mouthfeel Sensation: Creamy Warming Body: Full Carbonation: Lively Finish Length: Long Intensity: Strong Balance: Bitter Notes: The palate and finish are yet another complimentary aspect of this brew. General Impression: 20 out of 20 Craftmanship: Excellent Freshness: Fresh Personal Taste: Loved Notes: Probably one of my favorite beers. Address : <http://beercritic.wordpress.com/>

I was lucky to be one of the first people to get my hands on a crate of this recently young batch of IPA. Struise brewer Urbain told me that the beer is very fresh and meight be a bit young on the pallet. The nose is very grassy and noble hoppy, it is nutty in the aroma and has a dry hint of pine needles, flowers, malts and citrussy hops. The attack is smooth, silky, bread-like and very nutty, it has a crispy-dry twang and a fantastic hoppy bitterness. The rich hoppyness is keeping me awake, it punches you in the face with an invisible silk glove, Woooa, I could not believe that such bitterness could be so tastefull and delicious, I think I gonna drink another one right now &#033;

Bottle at Chris o’s Magic Night. Huge thanks to Mes and Sim for this. Hazy amber colour with Belgian yeast. American IIPA aroma as well. Lots of Belgian yeast and American hops. I love this beer. Mouthfeel, the spicy hop finish, but smooth, grassy, stunning. Really grabs my attention. Great candied fruit. And I got to see it being made as well, which just adds to it. Thanks to everyone involved in making this beer. 4.8/5.0 Re-rate So clear and bright amber, with thick lasting beige head. The hop aroma is just the best. The grapefruit is so stunning. Fresh fruit, no over the top resins. Sherberyness is great. Choc limes on finish. There is a definite sweetness to the malts, toffee/caramel/fudge. Tropical fruits. Great balance of malts and hops. Quite hot hop. Just the tropical fruit!!! Passionfruit and mango. It has a Belgian yeast character definitely, nods towards a tripel. This smooth fudge malt sweetness is just adorable. Re-rate again for Batch 3. The beer I drank the most all of Zythos weekend 2009. The aroma is just one the best I’ve had. They have changed the recipe and for the better I think, more obviously a DIPA. I bought I think about 20 bottles of this over the weekend and loved all the samples and bottles I had of it. The one in the Kulminator was probably my favourite, oh no it wasn’t the best I had was the one Urbain mixed with the remainder of the Batch 4 from a magnum bottle which I had from a plastic water bottle at home after the Post Zythos Struise Tasting. Now that was one amazing beer. Glorious and I still have 20 bottles of it to drink......

Pretty cool that Ratebeer is able to generate this kind of kudos. Poured opaque, ruddy orange with a beautiful head. The aroma is dirty and earthy, promising a full piney experience beyond. Imagine my surprise at the subtlety of this gem, then, when it poses as a sessionable ale, exceptionally well-balanced with a nice crisp, yet still woodsy, bitter goodness. Very, very good brew. (#3692, 10/4/2009)

I put this on equal terms with Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel for very good Euro/US beer mix. Lacks the US over the top hop approach but makes up for it with a Stone Temple Pilots "Sour Girl" infusion of balanced bitterness and Euro yeasts. A lip-smacking good beer.

First tasted at RB session at my place Sept. 2007. Re-rated December, full bottle, no previous drinking - not many additions to the previous rating. Cloudy orange with a big and lasting off-white head, so lively it’s almost comparable to a Dolle beer. Hoppy aroma with all the good American notes of citrus, peach, grass and pine - plus additional fruity notes of Belgian yeast - mango, and perhaps some cane sugar. Very dry, but with a tripel-like sweetness and some warming alcohol. Long aftertaste of hops. A delicious beer that makes you sad about the "Special Release" note... Thanks to thewolf for sharing this!