t IJ Struis

Brewed by Brouwerij ’t IJ
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Bottled. Hazy brown colour, huge brown creamy head, lacing. Strong bitter fruity aroma. Sweet caramel as well as fruit and berries in flavour. Sting of alcohol also present as it gets a bit warmer.

Bottle at the brewery.Pours cloudy ruddy brown with a small tan head. Quite a bit of sediment. Sourly fruit aroma. Complex bitter and sour fruit flavours. Dry finish. Well-carbonated. One of those beers that only get better the more you taste of it.

Bottle. Dark copper-brown color, super-thick rocky light tan head that almost goes over the glass. Slight funk on the aroma, along with grain, grapeskins and pepper. Taste has a pleasant funkiness balanced by some mild sweetness. Real grainy throughout and the alcohol never really is apparent. Reminded me a bit of La Roja.

This beer is a dark reddish-brown color with a thick long-lasting head, great-looking yeast sea monkeys and moderate lacing. The palate is nice—moderately thick with velvety carbonation. The aromas are a trip: pipe tobacco, raisins and dates, cellar, alcohol and damp garden soil. Very earthy and warming. The flavor is mildly bitter-sweet with an average-length finish. Yes, please! Pretty darn drinkable for 9%!

Had this from bottle at the brewpub, Amsterdam, 27th Oct 2009 Pours hazy dark brown with an off-white filmy head. There are malts and hops in abundance on the nose and also in the mouth along with a nice chewiness, bit of banana and a very nice warmth from the alcohol. Soft in the mouth, good spiciness, powerful brew, but tasty stuff and the third very nice beer from this brewpub. A7 A4 F7 P5 Ov15 3.8

Bottle sampled with Stegosaurus. Pours bronze with an off-white head. Aroma of citrus, fruit, and yeast. The flavor is sweet, fruit, and citrus.

Pours a dark, ruddy, caramel brown color with a burnt orange tinge. A thick, creamy, beige colored head displays excellent retention, leaving strong, well defined, foamy lacing behind. The aroma shows the signature ’t IJ funk throughout, with musty, peppery yeast permeating a malty base of caramelized apples and candy sugar. Flavors follow suit, with caramel and orchard fruits intermingling with sharp, dry, spicy yeast notes. The result is a unique contrast between sweet, sour, and dry that just seems to work in a funky sort of way. Medium-full bodied and moderately carbonated, the yeast dries out whatever sugary sweet textures that the malts attempt to impart. I call this brewery the Jolly Pumpkin of Europe, and brews like this go a long way to substantiate that claim. Great beer.

Unclear dark amber with nice head. Malty yeasty aroma of caramal, honey, fruit and flowers. Flavour is sweet with sour touch in finish