Category Archives: Belgium

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Struise Black Damnation I – Blackberry Albert

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Belgian Royal Stout ale from Flanders matured on black currants & Red Port barrels.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 9th November 2022, with a best before date of +5 years, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin beige head that had pretty good retention and dissipated to a ring around the glass while leaving small spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roasty, chocolate, sweet berries, blackberries, woody, nutty, with light caramel notes.
Taste: Sweet malty, light roast, berry sweetness, blackberries, blueberries, chocolate, coffee, boozy, a touch nutty, and some bitter notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A very enjoyable sipper with restrained sweetness, and balanced aromas and flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Struise Black Damnation X – Double Wood

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 15%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Belgian Royal Stout from Flanders aged for 2 yrs in Balvenie whisky barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 4th May 2021, with a best before date of +5 years, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin beige head that dissipated into a ring around the glass, while leaving tiny spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, coffee grounds, dark fruit, raisin, fig, whisky, light notes of caramel and vanilla, and a touch nutty.
Taste: Caramel malt, roasty, chocolate, black coffee, whisky, dark fruit, plum, fig, wood, and some lingering char on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Despite the high ABV%, it wasn’t noticeable and it was just an enjoyable sipper with great aromas and flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Cantillon, Lambic - Fruit

Cantillon Racine

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Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A collaboration between Radikon & Cantillon. A blend with the pomace of Chardonnay, Tokay, Sauvignon Blanc grapes and 2 year old lambic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2022 vintage, bottled on 7th February 2022. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden straw yellow colour, with a thin half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, tart, grape skin, rose apple, pear, lemon zest, with funky notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, fruity, grape skin, rose apple, pear, lemon zest, with light mineral notes and funk.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Definitely some interesting flavours coming through, but I think not one of my favourites among the Cantillon grape lambics.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Frambozenlambik

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°22, Season 19/20

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this small batch Frambozenlambik, we used raspberries from Ferme Framboos, located in beautiful Huldenberg, Flanders. These raspberries, hand-picked in the summer of 2019, macerated for three months on stainless steel. While macerating, we only used lambik originating from one brew and from one barrel; no lambik was added prior to bottling. The final fruit intensity is still 371 grams of raspberries per litre of Frambozenlambik.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.2
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°22, season 19/20, bottled on 14th January 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy pinkish orange colour with a thin white head that disappeared quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Jammy raspberry, strawberry, oak, lemon zest, and a touch tart.
Taste: Sour, tart, raspberry, lemon juice, lemon zest, oak, with light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Good enjoyable aroma and flavours with just the lack of carbonation limiting it a bit.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Cassis

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°26, Season 21/22

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this first ever Cassis, we macerated freshly harvested cassis berries on an ex-Bordeaux barrel for a good four months. The lambics used for macerating and blending were all two years old, and originating from two different barrels and eight different brews. The weighted average age of this blend clocks at 26 months. The final fruit proportion is 313 grams of cassis berries used per litre of finished fruit lambik. The berries were manually picked at Purfruit, a small community supported orchard in West-Flanders, Belgium.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°26, season 21/22, bottled on 3rd February 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A deep purple red colour, with a one finger pinkish head that had decent retention, and eventually settled to a thin cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Blackcurrant, damp wood, lemon zest, green vines, a touch funky.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, blackcurrant, lemon juice, citrus zest, rhubarb, oak, green vines (“raw”), with some light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: The blackcurrant aroma and flavours works for me, but there is some rhubarb-y, “green” and “raw” notes that detract from it a bit in this blend.