Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva

Brewed by De Struise Brouwers
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Oostvleteren, Belgium

Vintage 2006. Dark amber colored beer. A very complex beer. Medium malty sweetness but also notes of sourness. Resins, dark fruit, wood,... excellent beer.

What should I say about this, it’s Pannepot, only slighty different. You can really tell it was aged in different barrels, it adds a little sweetness to the original beer. Thanks to Urbain for bringing this sought-after beer to the tasting!

vintage 2006, very complex brown, black, brown foam, medium sweetness, medium bitterness, lightly sour, sticky, soft carbonation, long finish, chocolate, coffee, toast, resin, woody, smoke

Cola colored with a fleeting tan head. Light roasty aroma with candi sugar, rootbeer spice, and wet wood. Medium body. Big malty sweetness in flavor with candi sugar, spicy dark raisons, and a hint of wood. Thanks Brad for this bottle.

2005 bottle sampled August 2009.

First, let me stress that (regular) Pannepot is one of my favorite beers, period. All of this is to be taken in that context. Pours deep brown with an ample of course head. Rich, lovely, and complex nose: apple and dried fruit, gingerbread spices, plenty of oak (but not way over the top). The flavor is a bit of a letdown, slightly more sour than expected, barrel character obscuring the Pannepot spices, and metallic like biting one’s tongue and tasting blood. Relatively sweet, classic Pannepot yeast bite later in the sip, a bit hot on the close even after four years, Partly, this is just a really challenging beer, I guess. I would have called my first sip about a 3.8 but after slowly sipping for an hour I’m appreciating it in the 4.0 range. Still, I fear this fails to live up to (regular) Pannepot -- the barrel character subtracts rather than adds to the essence of that great beer.

33cl bottle. Pours dark ruby-brown colour with big creamy and mostly lasting light-brown head. Good lacing. Aroma is Moderate malty with bread, grain and roasted malt. Lots of hops in the aroma with flowers, resin and some citrus. Smells of oak and alcohol (something like red wine) too. Body is cloudy because of some sediments wich gives it a good density. Flavor is sweet with some acidity and little bitterness. Bitterness is bigger in the finish, togheter with little sweetness and acidity again. Average duration for the finish. A creamy texture of the body of this beer makes it fully bodied. Lively carbonation. Quite better than the original version to me. Great beer.

05 bottle. Dark, dark reddish brown, a small light brown head lasts a good while. Some lacing along the glass. Aroma is lovely, caramel and sweet liqourice, christmas spices, some alcohol, some yeast, some earthy notes, and a little vanilla. Flavour is very fruity, raisin, dates, or plums, caramel and the spices. Some hop bitterness in the finish keeps it from being too sweet. Alcohol is well hidden. It gets a bit more acidic and bitter with the yeast from the bottle mixed in. Medium body, smooth carbonation, loads of tiny, lively bubbles. Awesome beer.

Bottle, 2005 vintage. Good, but I still find the regular verson or reserva much better. Pours dark red brown with minimal head. Fantastic aroma of oak, and port. Flavour of dark fruits and figs, but overall too tart for me.