Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva

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

33cl bottle. Pours dark ruby-brown colour with big creamy and mostly lasting light-brown head. Good lacing. Aroma is Moderate malty with bread, grain and roasted malt. Lots of hops in the aroma with flowers, resin and some citrus. Smells of oak and alcohol (something like red wine) too. Body is cloudy because of some sediments wich gives it a good density. Flavor is sweet with some acidity and little bitterness. Bitterness is bigger in the finish, togheter with little sweetness and acidity again. Average duration for the finish. A creamy texture of the body of this beer makes it fully bodied. Lively carbonation. Quite better than the original version to me. Great beer.

Where to start with this one? Aroma is fairly sweet, some chocolate, a definite sense of the oak on the nose with some fruitiness that could be described as faint apple aromas. Chocolate malts, some yeast and a slightly more savoury edge. Looks like an impy stout or old ale in glass, very little head, very lazy/soft carbonation, head is a very small tan/grey brown layer over the beer itself which grows big fast when the glass is swirled. Flavour is simply gorgeous. Very soft but very complex. Not at all in your face, it’s truly like a fine wine with it’s elegance. Quite restraines but very full flavoured. Starts with a nice sweet/savoury attack somewhere between dark chocolate and black olives, a very subtle tartness in the mids probably from being aged in the Calvados barrels. Lots of chocolate, everything from rich belgian milk choc, to bitter dark choc. Strong maltiness but not at all overpowering, the malt/yeast finish reminds me slightly of Marmite, but with a fruitiness somewhat similar to eating a soft cream chees with a slice of apple and Marmite to boot. This beer is indeed legendary and I prefer it to the normal Pannepot by a long shot, the spicing is all sorted out, the beer as a lovely sensual melowness, right at the end there’s almost a rum like quaity of molasses and burnt sugar. A true delight, one of the best Belgian beers I have had in a while. Just to point out my bottle was a 2006 vintage.

Rich dark brown in colour with creamy head. Nose is very maly and fruity at the same time. The beer is smooth on the pallet and has a wide panorama of taste-elements. It has hints of coffee Port-wine, confit-de-pommes, dried fruits and Calvados-brandy. The taste is rich and very refined. This barrel aged version is also less stout like then the regular one. Finish is long, complex, slight sour, malty and bread like. A tuely fine barrel aged beer with a remacable wine like finesse in the end.

Poured an almost clear deep ruby-brown color with a large long lasting tan head. Semi-sweet malty aroma with notes of dark fruits, brown sugar, wood, cola and a yeasty spice. The flavor was semi-dry with some mild dark fruits and a woody drier finish. The end starts to thin a little. Medium bodied. For 10% it just slides right down with not alcohol taste and just some light warmth.

Bouteille de 330 ml obtenue via Importations Privées Bièropholie. Arôme: Odeur de raisins et de caramel avec une pointe chocolatée. Apparence: La couleur est noire avec une faible densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col beige mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de raisins et de caramel avec une pointe chocolatée. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est plein avec une texture vineuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Présence de raisins en arrière goût. (Rating #1858)

330mL bottle. Pours deep mahogany, capped with a moderate sized tan head. Lively aroma, with spices, pear, wood, and alcohol in the foreground, and brown sugar, caramel, fruitcake, and dark wheat present as well. Sweet malt, raisin, apple, and whiskey are the dominant flavors, with notes of wheat, plum, and wood. Finishes with some warming alcohol and apple skin flavor. Really nice beer. It’s been a while since I’ve had the original Pannepot, but I think I may like the base beer more than the barrel-aged varieties. I hope to try the 4 versions head to head someday...

330cl bottle labeled BB 30/11/2012. Poured a dark brown color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of wood/oak, spices, dark fruits, and chocolate. Tastes of wood, dark fruits (plums and raisins), chocolate, and vanilla. Light tartness. On the sweet side with the alcohol content hidden.

Rating 1111. 2005 vintage bottle, big, big thanks to cgarvieuk. Shared with my girl at home. Deep walnut pour with a bunch of silky-fine tan foam, good substance to it, sticky lacy bits and a lingering layer. Aroma that changes every time I put my nose in the glass. First sniff, with the beer still settling, was sort of a rancid butter thing. That happily dissipates almost immediately; then it’s lovely aged Christmas pud, on to big sweet cherries soaked in brandy, raw chocolate, all in a background of well-oiled mahogany. Flavor is some kind of magical raw muscovado sugar, with the lovely subtle sour notes mixed with chocolate, rum, vapory dark fruit. But unlike eating sugar, where a spoonful overwhelms you with sweetness, this has a soft dry finish with just the lightest sweet touch and a nice lingering plum sourness. This comes together beautifully.