Tasting Notes: De Struise: Black Albert: Batch 0

De Struise: Black Albert: Batch 0 (Belgium: Imperial Stout: 13% ABV)

Visual: Coffee liquor thick pour, a dark black colour with a surprisingly thick toffee brown head considering its high ABV.

Nose: Treacle and cloying cream. Roasted coffee beans and bitter coffee. Roasted nuts. Cinder toffee. Bitter chocolate, spiced blood oranges. After about half a bottle can gain a slight soap sud nature.

Body: Treacle, liquorice, smooth and thick texture initially, then charring and a slightly chalky texture if you hold it in your mouth for a while.  Slight nuts, blood orange and sweet lemon traces. Chocolate orange, mocha and brown sugar.

Finish: Bitter chocolate and dry hops, wheat texture. Charring, big nuttiness and good rising bitterness. Blood orange plays its hand once again.

Conclusion: So, here we are, playing with the heavy duty entries of the beer styles, the imperial stouts.  Imperial stouts nigh always seem to have a powerhouse of flavour, and this is no exception, the question is always – do they manage to focus that flavour well?

Well this example starts out with its big roasted front, giving an impression that you are going into a standard heavy roasted style stout, but it eases into an almost hidden fruitiness as the back, subtly done but distinctly different.  The brown sugar feel seems to almost call to the dubbel style, this puts the brakes on the roaring force for a moment, before sliding into a roasted and hop back.  These new elements are putting a distinctly Belgium slant on what initially seems to be a stereotypical imperial stout.

It is these fruity and sugar cane touches that make an unexpected and welcome change that keeps the heavy and almost cloying body from becoming too much.

It plays a lot with changes of style, a smooth texture that becomes chalk rough on the last remnants, or the slowly growing hops at the end that never dominate like the oft overhopped examples of the style

So after this glowing review, what do I say against it? Well about half way through a slight soap sud nose emerges, similar to Thornbridge’s Saint Petersburg. Thankfully this element integrates better than the off putting incarnation of Thornbridges beer, but it does not quite mesh with the rest of the beer, more is the pity.

So a fine work, and a brilliant example of meshing Belgium and craft style.  T Smisje tried the same with their Catherine The Great, but ended up losing the feel of an Imperial Stout. This whilst not perfect is a much better melding of the styles.  Not the best Imperial Stout, but does something different well.