Category Archives: Belgium

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

De Struise Black Damnation XXII – Willy

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 1184/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders aged in Clynelish Wilson & Morgan barrel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.18
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 1184/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 24th March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a slightly less than one finger brown head that had decent retention and left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, boozy, whiskey, chocolate, licorice with notes of dried dark fruit, prunes.
Taste: Roasty, chocolate, whiskey, boozy, licorice, dark fruit, raisins, prunes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: It’s quite boozy, but the roasty and whiskey flavours work well together, and it was an enjoyable sipper.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Struise Black Damnation XXI – Black Mes Senior

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 1313/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Caol Ila and Lagavulin barrels.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.85
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 1313/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 25th 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: Roasted malts, dark chocolate, chocolate cake, whisky, light peaty notes, brown sugar, molasses, and prunes.
Taste: Bitter, roasty, dark chocolate, burnt brown sugar, whisky.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: This was surprisingly thin compared to all the other Black Damnation that I’ve tried, and considering the Lagavulin barrel, there was a lot less peat than expected, especially in the flavour. It just didn’t work as well as the other variations in my opinion.

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.