Tag Archives: 2012 vintage

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.

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 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.