Struise Tsjeeses

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

(Bottle, BB 10/11) Pours a cloudy orange body with a small off-white head. Aroma of tangerine, citrus, ginger, coriander, pepper, and some vegetable. Flavor of citrus peel, breadiness, banana peel, and light floral.

2009-02-07, draught at Plan B, Copenhagen, as Jesus, 6-2-7-3-13=31
Poorly served, with no head in a half pint glass; cloudy light amber color. Simple aroma; quite strong body; sweet malt flavor, with a touch of sweet liquorice and Belgian yeast; warming alcohol. Maybe too strong, a bit boozy, and not enough exciting.

2007-08-05, bottle, 6-4-6-3-12=31
Hazy copper color; big frothy head; high carbonation. Light aroma, with some caramel, fudge, very light sweet spices. Good body structure, with quite a lot of sweetness, but the flavor reminds me apricot jam, over all; there is also a light sourness. The bitterness is low; at the end there is also some alcohol perception. It actually tastes as if it’s a wrong bottle.

Huge thanks to Carlo for this - the guy just loves to give me beer, bless him. Hazy orange-red, with a small but very solid white head. Aroma is a mix of spices (black pepper, cinnamon and other dusty spice), fruit (apricot, native lime, sultana) and malt (caramel and a hint of oxidation?). There’s quite a lot going on, but the elements seem fairly distinct, as opposed to integrated. It starts off quite thick and sweet before being cut by quite an unusual sourness - malic acid from the fruit I presume. There’s a subtle, but distinct, hop flavour, with more apricot and lime flavours. At the start of the glass I thought there was just too much going on to really enjoy it, but the more I drank it really grew on me. Top stuff.

Bottled at Monk’s Café, Stockholm. Cloudy deep golden, firm head. Fruity nose with herbal spices - cinnamon and ginger spring to my mind. Vinous with vital, rounded mouthfeel. Fiery alcohol lies undeneath and some pleasant lactic acidity adds freshness and complexity. Full bodied. So wonderfully complex - every sip brings out a new aspect. There’s orange and butter, berries and, muscat wines and everything else I want. I tried to be a sceptic, but failed hopelessly. Oh, what a beer!

If only more tripels had balls like this. 33cL bottle at Kerstbierfestival pours hazy orange-amber, with a grayish head and sticky lacing. Sourish, fruity nose and a tart flavor to back that up--notes of dried apricot and unripe orange. There’s a reasonable layer of bitterness to help balance the booze. Maybe a touch thin. Fruity, warm, and damned nice.

12 oz bottle, via BierKönig. A bit of a gusher here, lost an ounce or two. poured a very cloudy orangish brown body with a nice one inch fizzy off-white head that retained as a thin covering. Nose is heavy syrupy and bready malt with lots of yeast, some caramel, and a little alcohol. A general murkiness abounds. The flavor just seems a little off for a Tripel. Touches of caramel and over-ripe, almost rotten, peach fruitiness overlays lots of yeast and sticky doughy malt. No alcohol flavor up front, but a little on the finish. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with a slight stickiness and moderate fizzy active carbonation. Overall, this just was not my kind of Tripel.

(Bottle 33 cl) Pours very cloudy amber golden with a creamy, off-white head. Sweetish, fruity nose with a touch of yeast. Medium body with a very smooth mouthfeel. Quite fruity, some overripe accents, lightly vinous - sherry-like - with an underlying tartness. The bitterness is quite discreet. Elegant, but not really what I would expect from a Christmas beer. 051207

In the 330 mL bottle. Thanks to mdi for the beer! Pours a dark gold with a creamy off white head. Has the aroma of freshly baking bisquits in the oven. The first flavor is a mix of Pixie Sticks and 7-Up. This is a very grain-enriched beer. It has the dense fruitiness of pears and apricots. The honey-like nectar is big. There’s a sublime tartness discernable throughout the beer. I’m lovin’ it.