Category Archives: Belgium

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

De Struise Black Damnation XIII – More Anger

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 1000/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Glenmorangie barrels.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.88
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 1000/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 3rd April 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: Boozy, whisky, chocolate.
Taste: Light roast, chocolate, coffee, caramel, whisky, oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma felt overly boozy for me, to the extent that experiencing it with each sip was quite overpowering. It also felt that the taste had more booze and alcohol than the other Black Damnation variations, but at least unlike the aroma, it was still acceptable. Obviously not one of my favourite variations.

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

De Struise Black Damnation XIV – Talisman

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 769/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Talisker barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 769/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 2nd April 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin brown head that disappeared almost immediately, while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, chocolate, dark dried fruit, raisin, prunes, whiskey, boozy.
Taste: Lightly sweet and a touch bitter, roasted malts, chocolate, molasses, whiskey, with some light smoky, burnt sugar, and dried dark fruit notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable nice sipper, but there’s less smokiness in the beer from the Talisker than I expected.

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

De Struise Black Damnation XXIII – Hollow

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 1134/2000, 2012 vintage

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

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 1134/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 22nd March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a half finger brown head that had decent retention, and settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, licorice, leather, peat, smoky, whisky.
Taste: Sweet roasty malts, chocolate, coffee, dried dark fruits, licorice, peat, whisky.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper with good aroma and flavours, and one of my favourite Black Damnation variants.

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

De Struise Black Damnation XVII – Ben

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 39/2000, 2012 vintage

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

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 39/2000. 2012 vintage, bottled on 29th March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin brown head that settled quickly to a ring around the glass and no lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, dried dark fruits, raisin, prunes, caramel, with some boozy whisky notes.
Taste: Roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, liquorice, boozy, whisky, dried dark fruit, prunes, raisin.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to no carbonation.
Overall: It’s a good enjoyable sipper, but not among my favourites of the Black Damnation variants.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot IX.iv: Aardbeiiteraties: Aardbei + Kriek – Blended & Alive @3 gr/l dosage

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.9%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°4, Season 18/19. Number of bottles – 1299

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen “Speling van het Lot” (Twist of Fate) is a series of small batch experimental brews, barrel maturations, fruit macerations and/or blends. This 9th version features a range of strawberry maceration iterations aiming at balancing the intense fruitiness of strawberries with the subtleties of traditional lambic while minimising the unpleasant phenolic characteristics of the small pits. For this fruit lambic we barrel macerated sour cherries on a previous barrel macerated strawberry lambic (featured in the ToF IX.i). The proportion is 65% strawberries to 35% sour cherries, while the final intensity is 260 grams of fruit per liter of finished fruit lambic. The ToF’s IX.iv to IX.vii follow the same principal except we played around with the sugar priming dosage, which is in this case 3 grams per liter.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°4, season 18/19, bottled on 22nd November 2018, and with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy amber orange colour with a very thin white head that dissipated quickly, and no lacing.
Aroma: Very nice strawberry jammy, with light cherry notes. Lightly funky, wood, hay, straw.
Taste: Fruit forward, strawberry, cherry, sour, lemon juice, wood, light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Good fruit forward and balance of strawberry and cherries. I actually tried the 3F Aardbei/Kriek just before this bottle and I preferred that bottle even though there was slightly more acidity, because there was a more appropriate amount of carbonation for my taste.