Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva

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

Bottle@Home. Vanilla, calvados and acorns in the aroma. Dark brown, light brown head, good lace. Sweet, vanilla, hint of cognac, licorice, smooth mouthfeel. Alcohol well hidden.

On tap at t Brugse Beertje, Brugge, April 2008. Many thanks to Carlo for providing this for Jeremy Gray’s 40th birthday bash. I’m often not convinced that wood aging necessarily adds anything (desirable) to the underlying but I definitely thought it did in this case. It tempered and balanced the sweet fruit. So it ended up fruity and slightly woody, with just a smidgen of tart acidity. Good balance of prune-like fruit and chewy caramel malt, coupled with lots of liquorice. Firm mouthfeel - full but not too fat. If I wanted to nit-pick I’d say that the alcohol is perhaps a little too evident but that didn’t stop me drinking about four pints of the stuff. Gorgeous, and a not a bit like Coca-Cola harrisoni..

Bottle. Pours a dark amber color with a small off-white head. Has a sweetish malty dark fruit and oak aroma with some hints of chocolate aswell. Sweet malty and slightly yeasty dark fruit flavor with hints of chocolate, also some hints of oak. Warming malty dark fruit finish with some nice hints of oak in the aftertaste.

2005 vintage. A deep clear brown with orange amber hues, and an extra thick mika head. A pleasant aroma of candy sugar, dried prunes, and raisins. In mouth, an intriguing old wood and sweet plums in tatse, lightly molassey, like panella, definite lactic acid, porto notes, some astringence. A very good mix betwen a sour ale and an abt. Bieropholie import. BB 12/2012.

Dark brown with a long lasting, big, tan head. Dark dried fruits and oak dominate the aroma. The barrel aging is obvious, but the end result is a less complex and intense aroma than the original (I opened a bottle of each of course) Super dry, with the added dry feeling of the tannin, fruity and oak flavours.

Creamy lightbrown good mostly lasting head. Dark red-amber colour. Heavy malty powerfull aroma with nice raisin/plum/vanilla notes. Powerfull woody moderate bitter flavor. Long complex finish. Creamy but a little cloying palate. A bit fizzy. Great beer but not as good as "normal" version. Maybe it gets better over time.

Complex aroma evokes dates, figs, cookie dough, plums, brown sugar, vanilla and some alcohol. Opaque darkest brown body is topped by a decent tan-brown head that recedes slowly to a decent cover with some lacing. Flavour blends oranges with plums, brown sugar, cookie dough, alcohol, chocolate and vanilla. Light underlying sourness and dark malt character that lingers in the aftertaste. Medium full body with very pleasant strong effervescence that prickles the tongue and cheeks. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature. Bottle (2005 vintage) received as a gift in Nov-08. Thanks, MartinT!

Bottle from Alvinne. 2006. BB M 14. Pours dark reddish brown/black with a hugh dark tan head. Smells like wine, oak and dark chocolate. Full bodied with mild, frothy carbonation. There’s detectable heat. Flavor is coffee, wine, chocolate and finally dark malt. Then it gets oak notes. Something like drinking smooth red wine while eating chocolate. Finishes dry and towards chocolate. I’d eat this with steak and drink it every night.