Here is your beery Christmas gift – Struise Sint Amatus Reserva is a Belgian quadrupel aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for two years.
Pretty much anything barrel aged from Struise is a winner; it is what they are known for. Sint Amatus is a beer that they make every year, and it is one that we certainly look out for when planning which of their beers to bring over.
It pours this lovely reddish brown colour, and immediately you are hit with the smell of dried dark fruits, caramel malt and the sweet bourbon notes.
The first taste is full and complex, there is quite a lot to take in with this beer. Early sweetness from the big malt body and the dark stone fruits like plum, cherry and raisin. The bourbon barrel doesn’t hide either, with the woody tannins of the oak barrel mixed with the smooth bourbon flavours. The two years that this beer has rested in the barrel mean all the flavours blend so smoothly.
The finish is both dry and spicy, but also smooth and fulfilling. For a big beer it is dangerously easy to drink but remind yourself to let this beer sit and open up, so you get to experience all it has to offer. Merry Christmas!!