Struise Tsjeeses

Courtesy of Irishboy at RBSG. Pours a light gold orange with a small off white head. Smells of some big funky notes, lots of spice, coriander, and mild candy sugar. Pretty interesting flavors. Lots of spice, funk, sweet citrus fruits, yeast, and a subtle tartness. Very interesting combination and it definitely peeked my interest. Finishes lightly tart and funky, pretty full bodied for the style as well. Nice.

33cl, from ZBF2007, complex X-Mas brew, balanced, cloudy, good head, good brew

Bottle, at cgarvieuk’s, with Stella, the kids, and Traci. Really great tasting Craig—thanks! Very pale gold, clean white head. Comforting rice pudding aroma with vanilla and cinnamon, fresh yeasty bread, a little hint of herbal hops. Light caramel flavor, buttery sweetness, soft and sweet. Some really nice things going on here, but the butter quality was sort of unexpected and off-putting. Might be something that makes more sense on a second tasting, but in this case, it was a little distracting.

Bottle @ Café Gollem. I must admit, I had high expectations after reading the ratings at ratebeer, but this one really disappointed me. It certainly didn’t live up to the hype. Pours hazy orange with a huge head, gushes out of the bottle. Smell is afwul, rotten vegetables and overripe fruit, very cloying. Made me say "Tsjeeses" allright, but not in a good way. Taste was also cloying, overripe fruit, melon, with a bit of a sour/acidic finish. There’s a lot going on in the flavours there, maybe I didn’t get it. Gets better when it warms up. Must admit, the mouthfeel is superb, really smooth and creamy. However, taste and smell were horrible imho.

Murky orange pour with a rocky off white head. Big funky aroma with hints of hops. Nice balance sweet and spicy. A great X-mas beer.