Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva

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

Pours dark mahogany with a small, but dense, dark tan head. The aroma has lots of oak, dark caramel, brown sugar, Belgium yeast and candi sugar. Medium / thick body with very soft carbonation. The flavor starts with rich Belgium malt, oakiness, dark red fruits, light Belgium yeast and green apple. The finish is fairly hot and a bit bready. This is quite nice, but I’m still more of a fan of the original Pannepot. Big thanks to xmarcnolanx for sharing this hard to find brew.

My Bottom Line:
This Barrel-Aged Belgian Strong Ale is a veritable playground of complexity where wooden tenements harbor cajoling chocolate and vanilla sweetness, delineating apple orchards and vineyards till the taste horizon fades. This is another delightful Struise product which can age gracefully.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A layer of foam covers the blackened dark brown. Is it me or this one is a shade darker than the regular Pannepot?
-The spice bouquet is not quite as revealing (or blatant, for that matter) as in the regular version.
-The meditative finish provides effective dryness alongisde an alcohol nudge.
-The aroma efficiently foreshadows the flavor profile.
-A peppery splash precedes the vinous fruitiness.
-The body is beautifully ample, with many caramel love handles to hang on to.

Bottles; 2005 vintage.

Drunk to celebrate my rating number 10100 - the presently highest rated beer available to me, that I haven’t yet rated. A deep red beer with a medium dark brown head. The aroma is sweet with strong notes of herbs, spices, brown sugar, caramel, and malt. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of malt, spices, herbs, and caramel and medium notes of plums and wood, leading to a dry herbal finish.

Date: 05/10/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

Appearance: clear dark brown, wispy dirty white head,
Aroma: rich deep dark fruit aroma with a dark caramel and vanilla sweetness and a hint of oak,
Flavor: sweet dark fruit flavor touch of oak comes in to corral the fruit, dark caramel adds a touch of sweetness and bring out a ripeness in the fruit, light woody character adds a hint of tartness, light spicyness along with light peppery alcohol,
-------- /> Date: 05/20/2008
Mode: bottle
Source: trade

Aroma: sweet and fruity aroma with a nice peppery spicyness, rich dark fruit with vanilla sweetness and spicy oak,
Body: highly carbonated body stirs up a continous creamy head until it finally turns creamy,
Flavor: rich and fruity flavor, growing dark ripe fruits, rich chocolate, caramel and vanilla sweetness is tempered by light oak and spices, light bitter finish follows out of the spices,

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***+/4

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.

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.

(Bottle, 2005 vintage) Pours a dark brown body with a small tight creamy beige head. Aroma of dates, molasses, apple, watermelon, caramel, brandy, and raisins. Flavor of burnt molasses, toasted marshmallow, vinous, toffee, caramel malt, anise, baked apple, and pear with a smooth mouthfeel and a dry oak finish.

Bottled (thx Theis). Hazy and very dark brown coloured with a rather large tan head. Very well balanced and quite complex. Notes of ryebread, blueberries, woody dryness, calvados, liqiurice, chocolate and has a somewhat vinous feel.