Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva

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

Shared by MaltOMeal at the September Houston Tasting. Thanks Papsoe! Pours a filthy brown with a little tan head. Spicy oak and yeast on the nose. Flavor has a touch of sourness, vanilla and dark fruit. Easy drinker that was enjoyed.

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.

Bottle. Pours a muddy brown colour with a big beige/light brown head. Aroma is dusty, sweet and slightly creamy in the vicinity of the glass. In the glass, it’s soft, sourish, and deep spicy. Fruit, horse blanket(?) and metallic notes. Plums as it warms. Flavour is sweet and alcoholic with fruity, metallic and spicy sourish notes. Finish is molasses with slight notes of banana and sharp, stingy alcohol notes. An okay beer, but I find a bit too metallic. 28-07-08.

Shared by MikeTD. Thanks Mike! Dark brown body with a small head. The aroma is heavy caramel and prune. Nice mouthfeel--syrupy and thick. The flavor is just like the aroma with hints of oak and definite alcohol.

33cl bottle. Pours brown with reddish highlights, thin, fizzy, tan head, no lace. Smells of slightly sweet wood and some malt with a good dose of alcohol as well. Tastes woody and malty sweet with lots of lightly bitter wood flavors lingering. Definitely a sippin’ brew. THe sweetness of the malts really pops through the middle but the wood is what lingers. Full body, good carbonation.

330ml bottle, 2005. shared by mspindler, big thanks for sharing Mike. Dark pour. Lots of dark fruits in the aroma, and a little something else I couldn’t put my finger on. Flavor was very metallic, like sucking on a wrench, kind of a let down, but interesting nontheless.

2005 bottle via daddyslick...THANKS BRAD. Extremely fragrant brew...aroma pouring out of the bottle even before the beer reaches the glass. Smells of red wine, brown sugar, brett sourness, and a touch of cherry skin. Flavor is quite complex with molasses, maple syrup, alcohol, sour grapes and cherry skin making its tartness known late in the experience. Clear mahogany pour and small but creamy khaki head gives no insight into how amazing this beer is. Medium mouthfeel. A very tasty beer and glad I had a chance to try this one.

2006 from Monk’s. Pours black with a thin oily ring of beige head. Strong alcoholic vanilla tones, oaky, quite a lot of nail polish, malty, spicy and calvados spirit. Superb taste, liquorice, chocolate, malt, vanilla, with quite a nice long apple taste. Despite its strength it is smooth to the last, and with very little alcohol there. Excellent.