Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva

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

Bottle. Pours a deep reddish-brown with a small but persistent tan head, looking like a nice porter or brown ale. Both the aroma and flavour are rich and complex, with notes of dark sugar, oak, raisins, vanilla, anise, calvados and sour cherry, with a mild astringency in the finish. Hides that 10% remarkably well. Beautiful stuff.

330mL bottle, courtesy of kramer17801. Thanks, Jason! Pours a dark reddish-brown color; light tan head with solid fine-bubbled lacing. Solid amounts of tannic red fruits, toasty oak, and sweet Belgian sugar in the aroma. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: lots of tannic wine, well-toasted oak, and Belgian sugar (esters, toasted cereal); light carbonation; the red fruits and tannic red wine character is quite nice; dense, nicely dry Belgian strong character with a touch of toasty oak and red wine; still not, for me, quite as good as the regular Pannepot. Lengthy finish, showing breadiness, oak (toasty, dough), and a touch of vanilla.

2005 Vintage Best by date December 2012; Sampled September 2008
A vigorous pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip glass produces a tightly packed, initially three-finger thick, beige-tan colored head. The beer is a dark, concentrated plum color with quite a bit of concentrated brown. When held up to the light the beer shows a hazy, dark cranberry hue. The aroma is a mix of dark fruit, sweet spiciness, toasted nut notes and some malty, maillard like, almost oxidation induced umami notes. The nose has specific notes of bergamot, mix with earthy coriander, rich clove, caramelized brown sugar, rich molasses rum notes, light cardamom that gets a bit cola like, as well as rich fruity notes of toasted figs, prunes and caramelized raisins. The finish has a nice toasted whole grain bread note that takes on a certain nuttiness, this last accentuated by a touch of light sherry character. This is definitely a rich smelling brew, lots of concentrated, dark leaning malt notes mix quite well with the soft spice notes.

Quite fruity tasting with a certain sweetness and an off-setting tartness. The finish has a nutty, sherry like edge to it that is definitely signs of oxidation / age, but adds to the complexity instead of detracting. This beer seems to have just started to age a bit around the edges. I lick my lips from the first sip and I get a distinct flavor that is a mix of tart tamarind and brown sugar. Fruit flavors definitely play a role here, more specifically dark fruit notes of concentrated raisins, prunes and a touch of citrus infused figs. Lots of concentrated malt notes intermingle with the fruit; distinct malt notes of molasses, toasted malt in the finish and perhaps a touch of grain astringency, while the intermingled fruit / distinct malt flavors have me noticing notes of dark rum, brandy and some salty tamarind notes. There is definitely a distinct, yet soft tartness to this beer that makes the creamy body and rich mouthfeel seem a bit lighter than it actually is. The oak character is actually quite soft, almost non-existent, though there is just a touch of spicy oak in the finish as well as a touch of a tannic boost. Spice notes play a slightly lesser role in the flavor, but do still contribute notes of vanilla, clean coriander, clove, perhaps a touch of all spice and a finish that has a spicy cola / cardamom note to it.

This seems to be just getting in to its own right now and this, the 2005, vintage probably still has quite a long way before it starts deteriorating; the best by date of 2012 is definitely not a joke. I am really enjoying this beer. The oak character is very soft, which is nice, with the biggest influence being the rum / brandy notes picked up from the calvados cask. This is a very good beer, one which I easily wish I had more than 330ml of; my bottle is gone way to fast leaving me really wishing that I had more. If I could make this better I would add a touch more tartness, the lactic note that is here is quite soft and there is lots of fruit and malt character that could easily balance out a touch more sourness.

Bottle shared with reakt. Thanks, Angelo! Pours a deep red-wine brown with an aroma of red wine plumb and prune with berry syrup. Flavor is sweet then sour dough-encrusted cherry wine. Full mouthfeel. Nice and refreshing, not to mention complex.

Bottle (33 cl) from Systembolaget. Murky brown with a medium beige head. Quite complex aroma with vinous notes, oak, dark fruits and berries. Medium bodied and quite smooth, but with a light prickling carbonation. Quite dry, but there is also a quite strong acidic bite in the finish wihich I do not find entirely pleasant. The least good Pannepot i.m.o.

330ml bottle. Pours cloudy dark brown, tan head. Big aroma. Notes of wood, oak, apple, brandy, cork. Smooth body. Sweet and flavorful. Slight flavors of toast. A light flavor of wine, nice malt body. hints of oak, brandy. light carbonation. Medium - heavy bodied. So good, some smooth. ABV is very well hidden.

Bottle: Poured a deep brown/burgundy color ale with a super large foamy head with some exceptional retention and great lacing. Aroma of apple is easily distinguishable with some oak notes and light candi sugar notes. Taste is also dominated by the calvados notes with some oak notes and a nice lightly sweet malt base. Great carbonation with a full body and no discernable alcohol notes. Very well done overall but I still think I prefer the original Pannepot and maybe the oak-aged/calvados-aged has replace some of the complexity of the original beer.

Dark brown. Has a beige head, fully lasting. Aroma is pepper, port, red-wine, spice, laqurice, dark bread. Flavor is moderate sweet, light acidic. Long duration. Warming alcohol.