Category Archives: Belgium

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

De Struise Black Damnation XXV – Black Nuts

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 772/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders aged in Ardbeg barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 772/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 2nd March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin brown head that dissipated quickly while leaving only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Leather, peat, roasted malts, chocolate, oak, burnt sugar, boozy.
Taste: Roasted malts, chocolate, black coffee, peat, ashy, smoky, burnt caramel, boozy, whisky, light to moderate bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: It’s an enjoyable sipper, but for the peated barrels, I preferred both Hollow (Laguvulin) and Octopussy (Octomore) just that little bit more.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Het Boerenerf Eylenbosch, Lambic - Fruit

Het Boerenerf Oude Kriek

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Brewery: Het Boerenerf Eylenbosch
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020 harvest

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) De twee krieken zijn afkomstig van twee Vlaamse fruittelers. Volledig fruit, gegist en gerijpt op eiken vaten. Zorgvuldig gemengd met lambiek gebrouwen van oude lokale graansoorten. Tarwe bijdrage van eigen erf. Wild en spontaan natuurbier. Deze botteling is bereid uit 400g fruit per liter.

(translated to English) The two cherries come from two Flemish fruit growers. Full fruit, fermented and aged in oak barrels. Carefully blended with lambic brewed from ancient local grains. Wheat contribution from own yard. Wild and spontaneous natural beer. This bottling is prepared from 400g of fruit per litre.

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

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, bottled on 17th January 2021, with a best before date of 9th November 2041. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: It was a very slightly hazy ruby red colour, with an almost two finger pinkish head that had decent retention, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, cherries, with notes of almond, marzipan, oak and lemon zest.
Taste: It’s what you’d expect from the aroma, sour, tart, cherries, marzipan, almond, oak, and a splash of lemon flesh, with light funk notes on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: A good and enjoyable Oude Kriek. I preferred this over their Oude Schaarbeekse Kriek, and having tried these two Kriek’s, would love to try their other products.

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

De Struise Black Damnation XXIV – Octopussy

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 1275/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders aged in Octomore barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.3
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 1275/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 23rd March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin half finger brown head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, peat, leather, whisky, chocolate, leaning sweet from the dry dark fruit, prunes, raisin.
Taste: Light to medium sweetness, whisky, peat, roasted malts, chocolate, candied prunes, brown sugar.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Generally, Octomore is among my preferred whiskeys, and it showed up nicely in the aroma. In the flavour, the peat was not coming through as strongly as compared to the aroma, although I’m not entirely sure if it’s because of aging as I did not take notes when I tried it in 2018 and 2020. It’s still an enjoyable sipper and among my favourite Black Damnations along with Coffee Club and Hollow.

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

De Struise Black Damnation XX – Ma Boule

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 1555/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Calvados barrel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.21
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 1555/2000. 2012 vintage, bottled on 26th March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Roasty malts, calvados, apple peel, chocolate, oak, with notes of dark fruit, plum, prunes.
Taste: Lightly sweet and bitter, roasty, chocolate, caramel, calvados, dark fruit, plum, toasty wood, with a spicy herby note.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I’m not big on calvados, but I tend to be surprised by how much I enjoy calvados barrel aged imperial stouts. For some reason they just work, and this was no exception with good balanced flavours, and just a very good sipper on a night where temperatures are going down again… strange for an April in Hong Kong.

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

De Struise Black Damnation XVI – Ivan The Terrible

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 979/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Glenlivet barrel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.05
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 979/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 31st March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin brown head that disappeared almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, whisky, brown sugar, with light caramel notes.
Taste: Lightly sweet, chocolate, roasted malts, whisky, oak, some fruity maybe apple sauce notes, caramel, toffee, and maybe a slightly burnt like moderately bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Slightly boozy, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper, maybe a bit boozy, but it’s got good sweet and bitter balance, and nice whisky notes.