Struise Tsjeeses

Brewed by De Struise Brouwers
Style: Abbey Tripel
Oostvleteren, Belgium

Bottle from WestLakeView Liquors. Pours dark golden with a lasting head. Nice aroma of fruits, estery, and sugary. Flavor is pretty sweet, fruity, not very acidic like a lot of beers of this style. Alcohol is really well hidden, well at least while you’re sober. Palate is clean.

$8 for a, what looks to be, 6 oz sample...draft: crisp raisiny nose with cobwebby yeast background. shiny amber color with white suds atop. certainly looks stellar in this little fancy glass...a little wet in the mouth, yet sticky at the same time.. some essence of apple and sugar with somewhat forward but chalky yeast notes as well.

Tasted 1/10/09. 12oz bottle. Hazy and brakish. Bubbled off-white head. Aromas of Belgian candy sugar. Rather full bodied with a chalky citrus flavor. Not my favorite.

Bubbly amber brown with a thin tan head, and substantial yeast in suspension (hence the 4 instead of a 3 for appearance). Aroma is piquant with sour red apples. Taste is full and fruity and sweet with mild spice, and strong hop bitterness in the finish. $9/11.2ozs

Bottle from Premier. Pours an orangey amber, a whole lot of sediment. Nose is sweet fig jam, nice caramel maltiness, alcohol, berry jams. Hop bitterness almost seems oxidized. Flavor is fig jam, sweet malts, candied fruits, plenty of bitterness to back up that sweetness. Limited alcohol in the flavor but plenty of tingles in the finish.

11.2oz bottle. $8.99 a pop. Pours a thick and murky orange-brown color. Lots of carbonation, huge frothy head, particulates floating about. Mild deep spice aroma. The carbonation doesn’t really come through in the mouthfeel, very sweet and watery. There is some interesting orange-like fruity flavor. I don’t this beer is a Tripel, despite the strength and potential candi sugar presence. Good, certainly unique, but doesn’t quite live up to it’s price tag.

11.2 oz bottle purchased from Jonathan Ron in Brielle. Poured a mostly solid amber/orange body with a good amount of visible floaties and a large fluffy white head that slowly disipated leaving an average amount of lace on my Duvel tulip. Aroma on this one was very nice with a good dose of fruit, pear..apricot..fermenting berries, yeast, lots of vinous notes and a bit of booziness. Very lively carbonation over a medium body with only a hint of dryness and an ever so light hint of alcohol warming. Flavor has a nice touch of booze, fruit..banana..apricot..pear, mix in a little bit of yeast and this is one nice beer. I really enjoyed this beer but at $8.25 for a single 11.2 oz bottle it is not something I will be buying on a regular basis.

Snifter served at Bavarian Lodge -De Struise Night, Lisle Il. Cloudy, dark golden hue with a quickly discipating, foamy, white head, and good, clinging lace. The aroma gave off a variety of fruit notes as apricot,currant,ripe pear,berries,orange zest, sweetened rhubarb? and a little spice. The flavor sported a little malt but was mainly the fruit, and as it warmed, I was being warmed by the alcohol content. A little wine and dryness in the finish. Subtly complex all around. Totally enjoyed!