Black Albert
(has 13 batches)

Got in a trade with TopsecretWaffle. 330 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 1/2013. Pours dense and murky pitch black color with a 2 finger dense dark brown head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of dark chocolate, roasted malt, cocoa, coffee, light char, toast, raisin, prune, dark bread, molasses, herbal, light pepper, and roasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/roasted malt and yeast notes; with good strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, roasted malt, coffee, char, toast, dark bread, raisin, prune, molasses, herbal, light pepper, and roasted earthiness. Light roasted bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, roasted malt, coffee, light char, toast, dark bread, molasses, raisin, prune, herbal, and roasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity and balance of big dark/roasted malt and moderate yeast ester flavors; with big flavor robustness and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and very full bodied; with a very creamy, slick, and lightly chalky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a light warming present after the finish. Overall this is a highly excellent Belgian imperial stout. All around great complexity and balance of big dark/roasted malt and moderate yeast ester flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. A very enjoyable offering.

An excellent way to end the year!

Wonderful mix of aromas here. Has a strong oak vein underlying dark, bitter chocolate and nut. Some light coffee and a little sour cherry. Pours black with thick mocha foam. Thick, creamy consistency. Soft carbonation. Finishes very bitter with a light note of sourness. Bottle.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Struise Black Albert Real Ale (by De Struise Brouwers):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 5/5, Overall: 16/20, MyTotalScore: 4/5

21/XII/13 - on tap @ Struise Schooltje (Oostvleteren) - BB: n/a (2013-1161) Thanks to Cis for sharing today's beers!

Note: tasted side by side with the regular Black Albert on tap.
Clear dark brown beer, small creamy beige head, pretty stable, little adhesive. Aroma: bit sour, bretta even, hoppy, somee citrus, lemony, dusty, very weird, smells a lot like lambik. MF: soft to no carbon, full body, smooth creamy texture. Taste: little sour, caramel, overripe fruits, very soft smooth coffee flavours. Aftertaste: little bitter, mocha, coffee, soft roastedness, caramel, dark chocolate, some alcohol noticeable, little dirty, touch of hops. Same conclusion here: the regular version is better, although this one is certainly not bad. Especially the smooth creamy texture of a cask ale is impressive.

Black with chocolate colored head. Strawberry, dried red fruits, coffee, milk chocolate, then more tart fruits. Later more dark roasted notes. Medium-full bodied, lovely creamy texture with thick carbonation. Very, very good.

Nydelig duft av kaffe, lakris og mørk sjokolade. Dyp sort farge. Nesten ikke skum, litt brunt skum langs kant. Preget smak av kaffe, lakris, sjokolade og vanilje. Nydelig.

Nose is sweet, mocha, lactose, loads of vanilla, wood raisins. Appearance, is incredibly black, almost treacle, with a strange viscosity in the pour. Taste is treacle, licorice, raisins wood, plums, leading to a candy sticky finish with smoke, and spice. Mouthfeel is thick and viscous.An exceptional drink. The taste is complex and sweet but never overwhelms or becomes cloying. 2015. Two bottles in ten days is a treat which reveals cherry and tobacco in the body. Like drinking satin wood. 2016 vintage: Nose is as previous with a little more fruit. Taste has much more dark chocolate, leading to flavours note above, but the spice seems much more pronounced. It seems drier and more chocolate than I remember, and the spice is richer and exceptional. If anything better than I remember. 2016: Drunk July 2020 - nose has a little more raspberry and white chocolate notes to add to the above. Taste as above with cherry, hints of cola, bitter chocolate, herbal, spice remains pronounced, remains very dry. Batch '0' Bottled July 2020, drunk Sept 20: Nose has slightly vinous tart note, chocolate, cherry, raspberry, mocha, coffee ice cream. Taste is vanilla, coffee, cherry, liquorice, cream, cafe breve, touch of smoke, herbal, spice, very very chocolatey. Cherry liquor chocolates, a sweet licorice, raspberry chocolates, a dry herbal finish. Cream and sweet fruit flavours feel more pronounced in this batch and with the dry herbal wood notes to the fore. Remains the best imperial stout I've drunk and a magnificent beer. Struise still have some of the ugliest labels imaginable.

Bottle shared at CBC Clerkenwell - cheers to Kenny! Vintage 2009, drank in mid 2013. Pours black-brown with a tight, beige cream head. Nose of dark malts, leathery fruits, light tang, some cardboard hints. Medium sweet with dry, dark and leathery fruits, light wood and faint cocoa. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Lightly warming to finish with some burnt toffee, light cocoa, moderate roast, leather, earth. There’s some moderate oxidation in here but it’s still very decent. (Revisted in September 2020, a BBE July 2015 bottle. It's a really nicely rounded beer. Great depth, high drinkability especially for the ABV. Score: 4.1)