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.

330 ml bottle. Very dark brown, almost black, and lets a little dark red colour through. Medium-sized off-white head. Initially there is an instant feeling of scotch whisky and oak. Lots of vanilla and oak, and a little roasted character. Complex malty flavours with a surprising brettanomyces twist. Flavourwise it is rich, but with an acidic flavour. A little acetobacter and other sour flavours that balances the complex oak and whisky nicely. A very interesting beer, but I find it a little too thin given its other characteristics.

2005 BB4 Nov 30, 2013. Very dark amber looks dark brown until held up to the light. Lasting thin head. Sour edged scent, malty vinnegar, or sour soy and molasses. Melds into a wine dipped cigar kind of aroma. Flavour starts out as aroma implied. In addition to the sour oak, soy and light molasses is a layer of chocolate. Complex with lots of layers but dominated by the sour oak edge particularly in the finish.

Small dark-beige head over near-black beer with ruby highlights. Slightly smoked, aroma’s of old books, slightly dried pipe tobacco, lots of liquorice, ivy, and discreet spices with pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, some caramel. Sourish-sweet, with soup vegetables, coriander, more nutmeg, liquorice, oakwood, dark candi sugar. Dried fruits retronasal (apple, apricot, pear and grapes). Very well-bodied, very slick, just not syrupy. Leaves an oily film on the mucosas. Pity about the expressly liquorice part. Just a touch more acidity would do it a world of good - just as a 75cl bottle with some extra aging would do, instead of the 33cl.
Rerate for draught version Pretty similar, except for the nose, which is incomparably more complex, with notes of fine brandy, or better: single malt whisky. Would earn 9/10.

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.

Nice brown with a thin cream head. Aroma is coffe, caramel, oak, brown sugar and alcohol. Taste is oak, caramel, brown sugar, yeast, and light alcohol. The barrel aging really changes this beer in differant directions.

Rating # 4900. Cloudy deep reddish colour with a small beige head. Caramel and dark fruit sweet aroma with spicy notes and hints of wood. Sweet malty flavor with dried dark fruit notes and hints of wood and spices.

Pours a murky brown color with a medium tan head. Very pleasant aroma of wood, raisins and liquorice. The flavor is also pretty solid, the wood is present, but not too much, there’s also some raisins and liquorice. The body is medium with a liquorous texture and gentle carbonation. It’s a very successfull barrel aging experiment, but I still prefer the original Pannepot.