Struise Pannepot

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

[Sampled with the trio: Svoger, Svogergylp and Adenila Foged at EBF, 2008.] Although it is long time I’ve tasted this I remember some fantastic notes such as vinous, dried fruit, sweet fullbodiness, spices, trappistnotes and also freshness.

2007 bottle at Blind Tiger in NYC. Very dark brown with a tan head. Huge aroma of dark fruits, lots of spices, caramel, candi sugar, vinous notes, and floral hops. Incredibly complex and delicious flavor of roasted malts with port, dark fruits, banana, and spices. Thick, dark, and strong, will fill you up and knock you out.

Enjoyed a 2006 bottle poured into a trappist glass for drinking. The beer had a cloudy, dark brown-syrupy color with a big, tan, creamy head that had great retention and cling. It had a spicy aroma with a floral effect, and a strong presence of dense fruits too, particularly raisins. There were also hits of caramel, and maybe a touch of citrus in the aroma. The beer had a sweet, dense-fruit taste with a raisin effect and a touch of bitterness and grain. It finished a bit sour and had a slight alcohol effect. It had a creamy-syrupy mouthfeel with a log of cling and stick inside the mouth, with a slight velvet effect. Carbonation was slightly below average, but the beer did have moderate liveliness. Definitely a superb beer that I enjoyed thoroughly, thanks for the present Siobhan!

2006 bottle. Pours a dirty reddish brown with a small tan head. Aroma is lots of dark dried fruits, some cinnamon and spiciness, a little bit funky with hints of pennies. Flavor is lots of dark cooked fruits. Hints of caramel, banana, and clove. Very sweet but not cloying. It really melts in your mouth like candy. Very full bodied with medium carbonation. This is a real treat.

Bottle purchased at From The Vine a couple months ago. [Still available at Rozi’s in Lakewood as of today.] Pour is a nice thick dark brown with little flakes of sediment floating around and all topped of by a nice thick creamy foam. The aroma is rich, full of dark fruits, fig, dried cherry and raisin. Notes of musty wood and yeast and a tiny note of alcohol. Flavor is pure Belgian love, rich warming spicy malt, sweet sugary notes. This is fantastic, pure and simple. Literally, this beer is pretty simple as far as the realm of Belgian strong’s, but it is fantastically good. As solid as it starts, the sweetness just builds as it goes. Fantastic. The palate is smooth and velvety at first, then a hint of buttery bitterness and a tingle of alcohol. Top notch stuff, certainly not a let down, and done exceedingly well.

Pours a dark mahogany with a nice hefty tan head and lots of lacing. The aroma is heavy with dark fruits (raisin), caramel, malts and fig. The taste again dominated with the dark fruit and lots of sugar which provided the sweetness - definitely spice coming through as well. Nice carbonation. The is a big beer and very very tasty. A special treat for the hard to please beer fans....

Bottle (2006). Dark brown colour with a huge light brown head. Rich complex aroma and taste of malts, dark fruits, spicy and yeast. Long finish.

Bottle (2007): pours a dark, murky brown with an airy tan head, aroma of dark fruits, yeasty, some spices, taste of dark fruits, yeast, spices, sweet but dry, plenty of carbonation, nice warming finish.