Tag Archives: barrel aged

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers

De Struise Pannepot Special Reserve Cask Strength Port BA

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.1%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: 27 IBUs. Cask strength limited edition with medium carbonation

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our barrel room is housing more barrels each year. As our team does not grow as quick as our barrel total, it is needless to say our barrel aged beers are also aging longer. This batch has 5 years of Port barrel aging. Enjoy!

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2011 vintage, cask strength limited edition, bottled on 15th November 2016. Poured into a De Struise tulip glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a very thin beige head that disappeared almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Dark fruit, plum, prune, raisin, dates, port, oak, strawberry, chocolate.
Taste: Light sweetness, dark fruit, plum, prune, raisin, port, mixed berries, slight booze, with notes of caramel and chocolate on the backend.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: It’s not the first time that De Struise has mentioned ‘medium carbonation’ when in actuality it is either soft or really close to no carbonation. In this case, while I would prefer more carbonation, the soft carbonation is not so bad. It’s a good sipper with lots of good port notes.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers

De Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva Cask Strength Calvados BA

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.1%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: 27 IBUs. Cask strength limited edition with medium carbonation

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our barrel room is housing more barrels each year. As our team does not grow as quick as our barrel total, it is needless to say our barrel aged beers are also aging longer. This batch has already 5 years in Calvados barrel aging, and we’re very happy with the outcome. Enjoy!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.78
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2011 vintage, cask strength limited edition, bottled on 25th February 2016. Poured into a De Struise tulip glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour, with a thin beige head that disappeared quickly, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Dark fruit, plum, grape, calvados, apple, caramel, and slight chocolate notes on the finish.
Taste: Sweet, brown sugar, dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisin, calvados, apple, caramel, and bitter chocolate on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: There was close to no carbonation even though it says medium carbonation on the bottle. It’s not bad without the carbonation, but I definitely preferred some. I also preferred the cognac barrel over this calvados barrel that was aged extra long. Not sure if it was aged too long or what, but the cognac barrel added some complexity in the aroma and taste, that I’m not finding here.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers

De Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva Cognac BA

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: 27 IBUs. A Dark Strong Ale from Flanders

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Dark strong ale, Cognac barrel aged for 2 years.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.31
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle, 2018 vintage, bottled on 3rd November 2020, with a best before date of bottled date +5 years. Poured into a De Struise tulip glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a thin half finger beige head that had decent retention while leaving some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, cola, dark fruit, plum, licorice, clove, cognac, with slightly roasty chocolate and coffee in the background.
Taste: Moderate sweetness, cola, cognac, caramel, dark dried fruit, plum, prunes, raisin, dates, with light bitter chocolate notes on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation.
Overall: The cognac barrel worked well to create a complex, nice and enjoyable sipper.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers

De Struise Pannepot Reserva Cask Strength Makers Mark BA

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.1%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: 27 IBUs. Cask strength limited edition with low carbonation

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our barrel room is housing more barrels each year. As our team does not grow as quick as our barrel total, it is needless to say our barrel aged beers are also aging longer. This batch has already 4 years of bourbon barrel aging, and we’re very happy with the outcome. Enjoy!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.84
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2012 vintage, bottled on 25th February 2016. Poured into a De Struise tulip glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet-ish dried fruit, dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisin, bourbon, brown sugar, red wine grape, slightly vinous, oak, with notes of chocolate and toffee.
Taste: Sweet dark fruit, very lightly tart, plum, prunes, raisin, light bourbon, oak, with chocolate and caramel notes and a very slight char like bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with extremely low to no carbonation.
Overall: For 4 years in a bourbon barrel, I was hoping for stronger barrel character. I also prefer having some carbonation, and I know the bottle says it has ‘low carbonation’ but actually my feeling is that it’s pretty much next to no carbonation.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers

De Struise Pannepot Reserva Bourbon BA

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: 27 IBUs. A Dark Strong Ale from Flanders

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Dark strong ale, bourbon barrel aged Pannepot Reserva.

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle, 2018 vintage, bottled on 22nd July 2020, with a best before date of 21st July 2025. Poured into a De Struise tulip glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a thin beige head that disappeared quickly while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, doughy, clove, fig, candied plum, prunes, candi sugar, toffee, bourbon.
Taste: Sweet, bourbon, dark fruit, fig, plum, raisin, prunes, candi sugar, with maybe slight notes of chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper. I think the Bourbon BA helped it a bit and was not overly done.