Struiselensis

Brewed by De Struise Brouwers
Style: Sour Ale
Oostvleteren, Belgium

In short: A slightly funky and slightly sour golden ale that prefers subtlety over intensity. Excellent
How: Bottle 750ml. This rating for a 1+ year old bottle (better now than when it was fresh)
The look: Almost clear golden body topped by very small beige head
In long: Nose of a Gueuze-Light with barnyard and hay. Taste of hay, staw, lemon, citrus skin, sawdust, green and red apples, orange pulp, a bit musty. Quite complex but also quite subtle relative to this usually intense style. Soft carbonation and light-medium body. Light-medium funkiness, medium acidity, light-medium sourness. Finish is very dry. If my bad memory serves me right this beer has gotten a lot more dry and intense compare to when it was fresh. It is now very dry so the yeasts ate all it could eat so I don’t think it will change anymore. Perfect as it is. Very impressive that they were able to combine Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and Pediococus Cerivisae to create that beer, almost as impressive as being able to spell it.

Bottle, served in a Duvel tulip. Lightly hazed golden body pours with very little head. Nose is mostly funky notes: rotting hay, old cheese, lightly tart, green apple. Flavor is sour apples, cheese, hay, slight sourness. Finishes tart and cidery, very drying. When I had this in the past I was blown away, but now that I have more sours under my belt it is merely adequate.

11.2 oz bottle. Rather sweet and sour aroma, sweet fruits, orange and lemon zest, and some mild spices as well with a unique light flatbread yeasty kind of note. Not much head on the pour, but there’s a good ring frothy bubble white head that remains, mostly opaque and cloudy, pretty color of golden orange peel. Very tangy and somewhat tart flavor profile, yet not too overly sour with a semi-dry finish, notes of apple cider, orange juice concentrate, pears, cranberry, and fruit leaves. This was nicely complex beer, yet not exactly the kind of stuff i crave.

Pours a cloudy golden hue, minimal head, white lacing. Nose-sweet tangerine, wiff of sour. Taste-initial green apple tartness, citrus zing and pear. Dry brett finish, musty. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with fairly spritzy carbonation. Drinkability is quite good- the level of sourness is just puckering enough to want more and more.

Pours a medium dark gold color with minimal head that disappears almost completely except for a very thin ring around the edge of the glass and carbonation which continues to bubble from the bottom. Aroma of dark fruit, mainly cherries. Flavor is sour as well, some light lactic acid sourness but not too bad. Main flavor is fruity, cherries, actually has similarities to a Kriek beer in aroma and taste. Finish is slightly chalky.

Pours gold with a thin ring of bubbles. Smells dry and tarte with some residual sugar and perfumy qualities. Tastes tarte and dry. A nice experiment that would benefit from some reyeasting at bottling to stimulate carbonation.

330mL bottle purchased at Chuck’s Liquor in Bowling Green. Poured a hazy gold/yellow color with a one finger white head that remained as a film on top of the beer. The aroma was funky, with sour apples and citrus. The flavor was a bit metallic, with sour apple and pear dominating. The palate was average, with a thin body, good carbonation and a clean mouthfeel. These really aren’t my kind of beers, but I can appreciate really good ones. This one doesn’t quite reach that level, but still pretty decent.

12 oz bottle. Bright yellow heavily filtered. Huge nose-sour, funk, tart, citrus. Nice. Taste is tart and tangy, with alcohol not present. Very easy to drink but the flavor dies a bit on the end. Overall a great beer.