2006 bottle form jsquire at the Fort Wayne tasting - Pours dark brown with a lingering tan head that laces well. It smells of light roast malt and spice. Malt, spice, dark fruit, and yeast comprise the thoroughly enjoyable flavor. It’s lively on the palate and finishes with pleasant alcohol warmth. Excellent.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Stockholm) Dark amber colour, slightly hazy, with big frothy beige head. Fruity, hoppy nose with notes of grapefruit, citrus, sweat and lots of metallic hops. Fruity, hoppy taste with grapefruit and grassy and floral hops, turning slightly metallic in a rather spicy finish. Lots of spices and malt, but the hops dominate. Starts out fairly sweet, but turns drier towards the finish. Very hoppy IPA but with more focus on continental european hops than american or english, meaning Popering, De Ranke XX Bitter or different kinds of saison or even german pilseners, but then a lot more of it. Very nice beer, retaining a distinct freshness.

On tap at Erasmus, Bruges. Black colour with lasting tan head. Lots of tarry bitter. Black chocolate. Intense smoothness in mouth. Velvety. With Green & Blacks choc flavour. Good lasting dry graininess on finish. Lovely finish in fact, a mix of lime hop and choc. There are hops on the aroma, but they are balanced. They have to be strong to blend with the intensity of the choc/coffee aroma, but they are not too strong. Just perfect. The mouthfeel is sensational, the best I’ve had. I simply cannot find a fault anywhere in the appearance, aroma, mouthfeel, flavour or finish. Doesn’t taste anywhere near 13%. I can’t find any reason not to give this 5.0/5.0 for only the 4th time and my second for a Struise beer. They truly are the best brewers in the world.

Bottle shared at the Struise Farm with Urbain, Mesandsim and Duff. Can I really detect apple on the aroma? Yes I can. Mouthfeel is quite thick in the mouth which is great. It has the original Pannepot characteristics, but with additional flavours and complexity. Cola and apple aroma. I had the chance on the Saturday after ZBF to have a session drinking regular and Reserva Pannepot at The Kulminator and I must admit that the regular is my favourite. It has all the flavours and complexity and character from a beer that I want. At this very high end of world class beer making, it really does just come down to personal taste. Oh and I ended up having 4 or 5 bottles of the regular in one night.4/5 75cl bottle bought god knows when, at Struise. 2nd Struise beer in a row. Not surprising really as I had such a great time with these guys from 2005 onwards. It’s a big bottle of 10 per cent goodness for a weekday, but I will give it a go. No idea what to expect. Except this is a 13 year old beer. Metal cap and a cork, could be explosive so opening over the sink. Well it opened with no fuss at all. It pours beautifully. Clear, no chunks, no floaters. An almost black dark brown rich colour with a lasting tan head. Aroma is Christmas cake with a little age presence. Malty, dark dried fruity. Mouthfeel is lovely, soft carbonation. No oxidisation. This beer has kept well. Oh boy, glad i’m sat down, this is sheer heaven. Some baked raisin but some fresh raisin aroma too. Dark plums. It’s amazing. So fresh so alive. The dark fruits are so fresh so clean it’s like eating a bowl of freshly picked dark skinned plums. After 21000 beers this is one of the best I’ve ever had. You know how you keep a beer for a special occasion and you wait and wait and then have it. And it’s flawless. Even some of the baked apple from the calvados barrel ageing comes through. It’s glorious. After the disappointment of not making it to the Pig’s Ear beer festival due to family stuff I was a bit depressed but this has lifted my heart. What a beer. 13 years on and it’s as fresh and as alive as a bowl of fresh plums from the fridge, picked in the morning and eaten in the afternoon. No hint of alcohol. It dances, it glides. It is simply one of the best beer experiences I’ve had in my life. Just a touch of balsamic on the edge maybe. Which just counters the sour plum flavour nicely. Outstanding. So glad I have decided to do this Advent thing. It means I get to try some of the beers I have been saving for ages. And they are starting to reward the effort.

Bottle shared at the Struise Farm with Urbain, Mesandsim and Duff. According to Urbain this has had 1 year of secondary fermentation and 4 years on cask, making it 5 years old. It is orange / pale brown/gold with no head. The aroma is of cherries and a slight almond marzipan. It brought to mind an aged Chianti wine with the red cherries from Sangiovese. Brett and Rodenbach yeasts used on separate primary fermentations means that this beer has great complexity and character. Once you then actually drink it, this lambic quality kicks in. The finish just goes on and on and on. There is some caramel (caramelised cherries, said Duff), but it’s not really sweet. Some juiciness in the mouth. The fruit is just stunning. Bit of funk on the aroma. Not any mustiness on aroma. Great acidity on a lasting finish. Phenomenol. This will be on commercial sale from the Struise farm once they have their shop there set up and I for one will be going and buying this. Urbain then gave us a sample of his 20 year old version that the 5 year old is based on. More brown in the colour, but you can tell it’s the same beer. Less fruity, but still plenty of vinous cherries. It is like the most perfect red wine. Acidity has preserved it well. More almond marzipan. The fruit is just so stunning and the smoothness of the flavours. Little bit of spice/perfume. Simply, one of the best beers I’ve had. Thank you Urbain so much for letting us try this 4.9/5.0 Its got cherries, raspberries and strawberries. Woody aroma and first flavour, but then this explosion of red fruits, redcurrants. That first hit of cherry/almond is just so stunning, then settles down into lasting redcurranty sourness.

Bottle share at the Struise Farm with Urbain, Mesandsim and Duff. Clear gold, thick off white head. Lovely lambic/brett aroma. Lemon and touch of nettley hop on the aroma. The nettle is on the herby side. So drinkable, it’s unbelievable. Good carbonation. Lemon/lime aroma is gorgeous. It’s kind of like champagne in terms of the fruit and spritzy zing on the finish which is both the carbonation and the fruit. Zesty and would make a great aperatif.

33cl bottle from olbutikken, CPH. Ohh bwoy, have I looked forward to this?!. Indeed!. Pours dark brown with a nice stable creamy brown head. Aroma is immediatly everything - vinous, sweet, liquiorice, dark dried fruits, caramel, sugar - ohh so lovely. Palate is creamy & smooth. Big smile on my face right now. Liquorice is a bit dominating as it is in pannepeut. Very sticky lips. Warmth, smooth, complex, lovely. This is up there in the absolute best Belgium category! Im blown away! :-) Rerating Jan. 2010. Aroma is just as amazing and complex. Taste is very oaky and not as great as 2 years ago. Probably better fresh. I had to give it a 0,2 less down from 4,4 - 4,2.