Its been a while since we’ve had a Struise beer in our packs, so high time we rectify that. And the wait has been well and truly worth it with this beauty.
The beer owes its name to a Benedictine Monk (of course) by the name of St Aimé, who defended the less-fortunate from the ruling tyrants. Belgium only has one parish to patron St Amatus, and it happens to be in Oostvleteren. Also home of the Struise ‘schoolhouse’ brewery.
And interestingly, the artwork is by Carlo Grootaert, who is one of the owners of Struise. Anyone who has visited Struise will know Carlo as the genial host, plying you with tasty samples from their 30-tap tasting room system.
But back to the beer.
It’s a beautiful dark Belgian quadrupel, which has been aged for 3 years in Woodforde Reserve Bourbon barrels.
Rich and smooth, there is chocolate and dark stone fruit, caramel malt and caramelised sugars, a little nuttiness, then finding a little bitterness and more dark chocolate. The barrel aging gives an additional sweetness and lots of length to the aftertaste, with just a hint of sweet boozy liqueur.
A big Belgian Quad aged in red wine barrels, then transferred to Sauternes white wine barrels for a further year
A bold, strong dark ale edging toward a quadrupel style beer
by L’Abbaye Notre-Dame de Scourmont
The classic strong dark Trappist ale from the Chimay Trappist Monastery
An interesting Belgian Quad that has a little bit of imperial stout about it
A Boreft Festival beer from last year, this is a Belgian style quadruple with South American Tonka Beans
De Molen's 'Beautiful & Ruthless' is part quadruple part imperial stout
A delicious bourbon barrel aged quadrupel, made for De Molens Boreft Festival
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
The winter seasonal from Emelisse is an ABT/quadrupel. Each year they add a different ingredient - for 2015 they've added English liquorice
The quadrupel/ABT beer from the newest Trappist Monastery from Austria.
The new addition to the Gulden Draak label - a rich and boozy quadruple
A beer dedicated to the original brewmaster, the Gulden Draak Quadrupel has been aged in whiskey barrels
An award winning quad that kick-started the commercial brewing careers of two twin brothers
Formerly known as 'Kasteel Winter', this quadruple stands alone from the traditional Belgian Christmas beers relying on Belgian chocolate and coffee, rather than herbs and spices
The crown in the Kasteel beer range is their Cuvee du Chateau
An oaked Belgian quadrupel from Brasserie des Legends
A rich and boozy quadrupel, featuring Alvinne's Morpheus house yeast
by Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven
The top of the tree from Dutch Trappist Monastery La Trappe
A big-hitting Belgian quadrupel is the introduction to this Belgian brewing collective
by Brasserie Artisinale Millevertus
A big, rich and smooth Belgian quadrupel style, just the thing for a cool night by the fireplace
More like a traditional quadrupel than the Pannepot; brewed for the Dutch market.
One of the best Belgian beers you'll ever taste - so much flavour it's impossible to describe.
A Belgian quadruped brewed with Costa Rican coffee beans
Voted Belgium's 'Best Hobby Beer 2011', no in full-blown production
The grandfather of Trappist strong dark ales - does it get any better than this?
The showpiece quadrupel of the St Bernardus Brewery - as close to Westvleteren 12 as you can get without the real thing.
A bigBelgian Quad from one of Belgium's old family breweries - what's not to like!
The newest addition to the beer portfolio from the only active brewery still inside the city walls of Bruges.
The sister-beer to Pannepot, this quadrupel was first made for the Danish market
A dark blond quadrupel that has been aged in both St Emilion wine barrels and Kentucky Bourbon barrels
A big Belgian quadruped aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for two years
A big mouthful of flavour with this fiery quadruple, brewed in the La Trappe Monastery by one of Belgium's leading female brewers.
by Brasserie du l'Abbeye du Val-Dieu
A big, tasty quadrupel from the Val-Dieu abbey brewery
A delicious Belgian quadruped, aged in oak barrels with the addition of some port wine
by Trappistenbrouwerij De Kievit
Th second beer from the second Dutch Trappist Monastery is a rich Belgian quad of 10%
A double IPA from Struise, originally made for De Molen's Borefts beer festival as a tribute to De Molen Vuur & Vlam
More like a traditional quadrupel than the Pannepot; brewed for the Dutch market.
One of the best Belgian beers you'll ever taste - so much flavour it's impossible to describe.
Beer number two in the Black Damnation series
A massive barley wine aged in Bordeaux French oak barrels that were previously home to Swiss red wine
The sister-beer to Pannepot, this quadrupel was first made for the Danish market
The famous Old Fisherman's Ale from Struise is a spiced strong dark ale
The 2019 version of Pannepot aged in bourbon barrels
Struise's spiced strong dark ale Pannepot, matured in Bordeaux barriques for a full 4 years
Struise's famous spiced strong dark ale aged three years in wine and port barrels
A dark blond quadrupel that has been aged in both St Emilion wine barrels and Kentucky Bourbon barrels
An amber ale brewed with barley, wheat and oats and finished with a little Belgian candi sugar.
A big Belgian quadruped aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for two years
The Struise Tsjeeses is their blond-amber Christmas seasonal beer, with this 2014 vintage being aged in Bourbon barrels
Another masterpiece from Struise, a blonde Christmas Ale full of flavours that come through in layers.
A cracking seasonal blond-amber Christmas beer from De Struise Brouwers
Struise's winter seasonal offering - a 10% strong blond spiced ale
