Tag Archives: black damnation

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

De Struise Black Damnation III – Black Mess

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Belgian Royal Stout from Flanders aged for 2 yrs in peated whisky barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 14th January 2021, with a best before date of +5 years, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin tanned head that dissipated to a ring around the glass while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, chocolate, black coffee, wood, whisky, with notes of dried dark fruit, raisin, fig, and maybe just a splash of peat.
Taste: Light to moderate sweet malty, whisky, dried dark fruit, raisin, prunes, light roast, chocolate, coffee, with some light bitterness on the backend.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper with balanced aromas and flavours, but for being aged 2 years in peated whisky barrels, there is a distinct lack of any peat.

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

De Struise Black Damnation I – Blackberry Albert

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Belgian Royal Stout ale from Flanders matured on black currants & Red Port barrels.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 9th November 2022, with a best before date of +5 years, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin beige head that had pretty good retention and dissipated to a ring around the glass while leaving small spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roasty, chocolate, sweet berries, blackberries, woody, nutty, with light caramel notes.
Taste: Sweet malty, light roast, berry sweetness, blackberries, blueberries, chocolate, coffee, boozy, a touch nutty, and some bitter notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A very enjoyable sipper with restrained sweetness, and balanced aromas and flavours.

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

De Struise Black Damnation X – Double Wood

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 15%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Belgian Royal Stout from Flanders aged for 2 yrs in Balvenie whisky barrels.

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 4th May 2021, with a best before date of +5 years, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin beige head that dissipated into a ring around the glass, while leaving tiny spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, coffee grounds, dark fruit, raisin, fig, whisky, light notes of caramel and vanilla, and a touch nutty.
Taste: Caramel malt, roasty, chocolate, black coffee, whisky, dark fruit, plum, fig, wood, and some lingering char on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Despite the high ABV%, it wasn’t noticeable and it was just an enjoyable sipper with great aromas and flavours.

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

De Struise Black Damnation XXVI – Froggie

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders matured in Bordeaux wine barrels. Margaux, Pauillac & St.-Estèphe.

My rating: 3+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.88
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 25th July 2018, and a best before date of 24th July 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a nice frothy one finger brown head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, light char, chocolate, cocoa, raisin, fig, dates, and a touch red wine vinous.
Taste: Roasted malts, bakers chocolate, espresso, light char, licorice, and red wine notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: The wine barrels add an interesting dimension to the aroma and flavour, but it’s not among my favourites of the Black Damnation’s. It’s a decent sipper, but I didn’t think it was better than much of the whiskey barrel aged variants.

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

De Struise Black Damnation IX – Beggars’ Art

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 18.1%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Belgian Royal Stout from Flanders aged for 2yrs in Ardbeg whisky barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 5th May 2021, with a best before of +5 years, poured into a De Struise tulip glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger beige head that had pretty good retention, while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, caramel, dried dark fruit, prunes, raisins, with some nice boozy whisky notes, although surprisingly only lightly peaty.
Taste: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, fig, raisin, licorice, whisky, light char, a touch peaty, with light leather notes.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: There was surprisingly less peat than expected. It was actually strange in that the peat was noticeably strongest while the beer was colder, whereas when it warmed, this peatiness was somewhat tamed. Also 18.1% ABV? If the ABV was this high, it certainly did not feel like it as it drank easy and smooth. Even easier than some of the lesser ABV Black Damnations. Despite these two comments, the beer did have good aroma and flavours, and drank surprisingly well.