Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva

six pack from Sammy, very dark thick pour, lots of head, nose is as said before kinda alcohol sherry-ish sweet dried fruits. flavor continues on the booze but also has a great dried fruit, oak flavor really interesting, glad i grabbed a few.

Solid, but I’ll take the original anyday. Dark brown pour with descent sized white head. Nose of oak, vanilla, sugary sweetness, boozy malt. Flavor is a bit on the alcohol side of things, but after a little warming it turns into a nice fall evening type beverage. ,

Bottle that Craig kindly passed onto me at Cropredy festival 2008, cheers mate, consumed 10-08-08 Strictly speaking this wasn’t my first tasting of the Grand Reserva as I had a couple of little tasters of Loz’s at Delirium, Berussels the other week and at just 4 euros 50 cents I thought it was an excellent price. The nose is quite distinctly different from the regular Pannepot, its woody, a little sour and not unlike an old aged wine with far less of the toffee and buttery sweetness of thge regular version its quite lovely. The colour is still a hazy brown but its not so murky as the Pannepot and appears quite clear at the top although just seperating a little at the edges, in short this beer looks great and betters the original in the beauty stakes. The taste is quite gorgeous, dark molasses, dried fruits, the warmth of the alcohol is still there but a little more refined, nice sweet and sour edge to this, fruity, some toffee again. This is very, very nice but just lacks the depth of flavour and richness of the regular Pannepot in my opinion.

Rating 1111. 2005 vintage bottle, big, big thanks to cgarvieuk. Shared with my girl at home. Deep walnut pour with a bunch of silky-fine tan foam, good substance to it, sticky lacy bits and a lingering layer. Aroma that changes every time I put my nose in the glass. First sniff, with the beer still settling, was sort of a rancid butter thing. That happily dissipates almost immediately; then it’s lovely aged Christmas pud, on to big sweet cherries soaked in brandy, raw chocolate, all in a background of well-oiled mahogany. Flavor is some kind of magical raw muscovado sugar, with the lovely subtle sour notes mixed with chocolate, rum, vapory dark fruit. But unlike eating sugar, where a spoonful overwhelms you with sweetness, this has a soft dry finish with just the lightest sweet touch and a nice lingering plum sourness. This comes together beautifully.

Case from Roland and Russell. Pours dark colour with dark red highlights and lots of lace, off-white head. Aroma: sherry, ok, manipulated yeast, rich. Mouthfeelis on creamy side, it tastes creamy and a bit sour and oaked, and finsihes magnificantly satisfied. Deep and soulful.

Beer No. 4000 and our third big milestone celebrated with a Struise beer.
A Sim rate: This is one of the most amazing aromas I’ve ever smelled. It’s sour apple jolly ranchers and pear jelly bellies. It’s the sweetest red wine vinegar...with truffle. Different every time. Grapes, strawberry. A fruit salad marinated in brandy, just how my dad makes it. And the cream whipped with vanilla essence just to finish it off. The first sip hits you like a rush of brandy. It’s tingling on the back of the tongue and hot going down. The flavours aren’t quite as light and fruity as the aroma. They’re darker, deeper: red wine and dark cherry chocolate liqeurs. Sneaky brazil nuts usurp the finish. I could drink this all night. Sadly, I only have half a bottle to myself. I’m sure that there will be a time and place where I can enjoy more ;) Absolutely delightful.

Mes’s notes:
I have had many bottles of this, mainly thanks to Urbain and Carlo but I also have to thank Brad and this one that my lovely Mrs and I are finally getting round to rating at home is thanks to Craig. This is a beautiful looking beer. It’s that sort of vampyr black / purple with glorious condition and a good beige head that is a clear trademark of my favourite brewer. When swilled you can see the head seeping into the darkness and it looks amazing, something that would not work quite so well if it were pitch black. Ok, there may be swearing ahead folks, I apologise. Fanfuckingtastic aroma. It’s close to a 10. The calvados and wood is clear as day but it dances back and forth like a flirty little tart with nail polish (a smell I love dearly), vintage perfume, cherries, plums and luscious thick alcohol. There is definite Coca Cola in there too. Bollocks to it, thats a 10. Yeah, that’s the aroma done I think. The flavour is not quite so good. Don’t get me wrong it’s still bloody excellent but it’s a little too sugary, the tartness of the Calvados shows a little too clearly and I just can never get into dried fruity notes too much. All that aside, the base of the Pannepot is still evident and that can never be a bad thing. The balance of the sourness against the thick and chewy sweet malt flavours is just excellent. The finish is huge and develops beautifully. There is a huge hit of alcohol too but the rest of the beer is so powerful it carries it really well. This is not my favourite from Struise but is still worthy of a huge score. Struise seriously rock.
Numbers: 10/5/8/4/17

Incidentally, we had a tasting at the Farm once and Urbain opened about 5 bottles of this, maybe more. As we were all going mad and drinking Mikkeller Black, Peche Mortel, Dirty Horse, Aardnon, etc. etc the 5 PGRs were left on the table (oh the decadence) Sim, good little sport that she is, bravely polished them all off and had nothing more than a sip of everything else. It made for a most entertaining ride home...

Bouteille de 330 ml obtenue via Importations Privées Bièropholie. Arôme: Odeur de raisins et de caramel avec une pointe chocolatée. Apparence: La couleur est noire avec une faible densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col beige mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de raisins et de caramel avec une pointe chocolatée. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est plein avec une texture vineuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Présence de raisins en arrière goût. (Rating #1858)

Bottle with yalnikim (in NZ), poured brown with a large foamy brown head, with great lacing down the glass. Biscuity malt on the nose, with nutty and sugary notes. A refreshing sourness on the palate, balancing some sugary flavours. Maybe had too many on this night to appreciate it as much as others.