Struise Pannepot Reserva

2005 Edition shared with the folks at the Bruery and a few friends. Rating number 2300. 750ml bottle thanks to JB175. Pours with a huge, fluffy, khaki head over a hazy brown body. Full retention from the head, and great lace. This is a beautiful beer. Aroma is rich and really opens as the beer warms. Raisins, oxidation and sherry make themselves seen early with some spice, meat, chocolate, special b malt, caramel and mulling spices. Light oak brandy presence too. Taste is brandy, oak, meat/Pannepot "blood", raisin, oak tannins, paper oxidation and apricot. Light acidity towards the finish. Huge duration. Creamy mouthfeel and carbonation. Another solid and special de Struise beer!

2005 Bottle thanks to bman1113vr - shared with the folks at the bruery Pours with a murky dark brown hue with a light brown head that is mostly diminishing. Aroma is of dark fruits, raisins, and lots of run - smells like its right out of the Caribbean. Flavor is astringent, salty, sweet, and alcoholic. Syrupy texture with light carbonation

Deep cloudy reddish brown with no head. Nice dried fruit, oak, alcohol and sweet malt. Same in the complex and evolving flavor with a smooth mouthfeel.

2007 vintage from The Cracked Kettle, Amsterdam. Pours an opaque dark brown with a bigger fluffy head that reduces to a certain point and then stays. Aroma has a lot of brown sugar, some chocolate, molasses, maybe a little plum. Nice complex aroma. Flavor repeats the chocolate and molasses, but comes a little more with the dark fruit. I’m also detecting a cognac-like flavor hiding in the background. Very complex. The mouthfeel is simply perfect: Thick and velvety. As soon as I completed the first sip I truly said to myself, "That’s so Struise", in reference to the velvety mouthfeel and finish. There is really something special, I’m convinced, about Struise’s approach to mouthfeel. Or end result thereunto, at least. Overall, world class. Thanks Struise.

Bottle courtesy of Immy at Immy’s Backyard Throwdown. 2005 vintage. Murky brown pour with a short tan head. Aroma of dark fruits, caramel, brown sugar, custard and sweet malts. Taste is light cocoa, dark fruits, custard, caramel, light spice, yeast notes, brown sugar, oak and vanilla notes. Very tasty! Body is medium and chewy with dense, tingly carbonation. Ends with more dark fruit notes, soft spice, oak, caramel, custard, brown sugar and chocolate. Yummy!

2005 bottle shared by Immy at Immy’s Backyard Throwdown. Pours a brown color with a big frothy head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma is toffee, berries, chocolate, cherries and herbal notes. Taste is chocolate, cherries, berries, burned caramel, spice, herbal notes and bread. Full bodied. Damn good beer.

Bottled vintage 2007. Courtesy of bierkoning. Thanks Edo! Dark almost opaque brown color, medium-sized brownish head. Aroma of plums and earthy oak barrel, also some cognac. Sweetish plummy flavor (plums, figs, dates), vinous mouthfeel, some oak and earth. Also apply Calvados notes, although less than in Grand Reserva. Quite sweet stuff, sweetness covers alcohol very well. Still I prefer my Calvados and Pannepot in different classes.

"Mystery" sample at Portland International Brewfest. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw bottles of this sitting at a booth! Poured dark brown with a small white head, light lacing. Aroma was vinous, caramel, brown sugar, oak and fig/plum. Flavor was plum, fig, light chocolate, caramel, quite a bit more sour and vinous than I’d expect from having had regular Pannepot so many times. Nice bit of oak finish. This was the 05 version, and it was very tasty.