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| None more black |
In June you may have noticed that I was in Bruges, Belgium and I had the
pleasure of visiting the Struise shop and sampling their brews for the very
first time. I bought from them as many bottles as I could fit into my
regrettably small suitcase and I’ve gradually been working my way through my
selection. The trouble I have come across when starting to build a nice
collection of rare beers is deciding when to drink them however as I started
two weeks of leave from work last Thursday evening there seemed no better time
to enjoy something special and so De Struise Black Albert was selected. I paid
just under five Euro for my bottle of Black Albert, quite reasonable when you
consider it’s a 13% ABV Imperial Stout and
it makes me wonder how come similar beers weigh in at much higher prices but
that’s another debate for another time so I'll just get straight into this beer.
Although I’d left the beer chilling in my fridge all day I
let it warm up for around half an hour before opening the bottle. I generally
find huge boozy stouts such as this benefit from being allowed to rise to
cellar temperature and as I do not posses a cellar this is how I attempt to get
around it. As I open the bottle a wisp of scent escapes and I already get a
hint of the huge stewed fruit aromas I am about to experience. Black Albert
pours into the glass with an almost tar like consistency and is pitch black,
the head is the colour of milk after you’ve left your coco pops in for too
long, a rich mocha brown and surprisingly big for such a high alcohol beer.
The nose is like a rich, warm flannel being wrapped
around my face as aromas of molasses, stewed figs, liquorice, blackcurrants and
raisins soaked in port and brandy envelop my nostrils. Despite its high ABV
the beer fizzes away nicely and maintains a surprising amount of foam but I can
see no light penetrating the black oubliette of liquid that’s held within my
glass.
I take a taste and as you can guess it’s a very big beer but
it’s not as scary or intimidating as you might assume. It starts off all warm
and sweet with hints of molasses and black treacle coating your palate and then
it begins to evolve in your mouth first taking on the flavour of fruit cake
with just a hint of bitterness keeping all that sweetness in check. As you
swallow the beer continues to transform leaving a huge taste of liquorice and a
little bit of tobacco at the back of your tongue leaving you feeling like
you’ve just taken a toke on a large, fruity cigar. There’s a tiny bit of
alcohol burn as it slips down but much less than you’d expect considering its
strength and this goes a long way to show the skill that’s gone into crafting
this beer.
It’s another great beer from De Struise Brouwers and I
particularly like the way that they’ve described it as a ‘Belgian Royal Stout’
as opposed to an Imperial Stout because like all their beers although it’s
undoubtedly different from classic Belgian brews it has taken all of their
qualities and pushed them to their limits. It’s almost like they’ve taken one
of my favourite beers, Rochefort 10 and added a slug of port into the mix and
as a result it lacks a little of the elegance that you would find in those
classic beers. Still this is not one to be missed and if you find yourself sat
in front of your computer with your credit card when these are available then
definitely stick one in your basket.
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