Belgian Rare Beer Series - TASTING NOTES - Black Albert

Black Albert, De Struise - 13% - Imperial Stout

De Struise has come a long way since its commercial inception back in 2003. The Oostvleteren based brewery has been forcing the barriers and boundaries of a rather pedestrian, albeit superb and timely, brewing industry in Belgium. The traditional tripels, quads, dark and pale ales are being superseded by a flair and adventure displayed by the revolt and uprising of the craft brewing scene in the US over the last number of years.

Black Albert is the father, the base, the root notes of the brewery's imperial stout line. The Belgian's in recent years seem to have joined the big stout bandwagon with De Dolle Export (a superbly balanced and flavourful 9% beast) and other smaller brewers such as

Smisje's Catherine (a bit of an over-carbonated and thin let down if truth be told)

This was one of the very first beers added to my Bruges want list on a recent trip to enjoy brews and of course the annual beer festival. I managed to find a handful of bottles at The Bottle Shop, one of the city's biggest stores with a superb selection (even if prices were very much on the high side)

Black Albert follows a range of big imperial stouts, along with similar brews aged in different ways such as Cuvve Delphine which I sampled in the cosy and eminently gracious and friendly, t' Brugs Beertje. At €7 a bottle some may pout at my exuberance but the dark, rich, oaked stout aged in bourbon barrels was fantastic.

The rich sticky stout pours with a slightly viscous, oily body with a da

rk mahogany brown bo

dy with no visible light penetration. A little whisp of a light cocoa head with little bubbles of snake like lacing up and down the edges of the balloon wine glass it calls home this evening.

Despite my rather sniffly demeanour this 13% whopper doesn't lead with subtleties in any respect. The initial waft of alcohol laden tobacco tinged chocolate and espresso soon subsides with a sweet tinge of vanilla, lavender and Turkish delight.

Buttered slightly burnt toast on the palette, huge amount of charring, smoke and cigarillos (it sounds anal but certainly not the depth of a Cohiba or Montecristo) Surprisingly thin mouthfeel for a stout of this size, not comparable to the rich creaminess of something like Stone 12th Anniversary Oatmeal or Victory's sublime Storm King. Low on carbonation with a deceiving drink-ability, the finish is full of the usual plethora of bitter chocolate, espresso and of course the obligatory roasted malt.

This is stout number two from the young brothers and based on comparison with the bourbon aged Cuvee Delphine I do prefer the whiskey aged monster. It might have been the traditional Flemish surroundings or the four or five beers that I had before it but the Cuvee takes pride of place as the best Flanders stout I've had thus far.

Next on the agenda? Perhaps the rarest of all, Black Damnation. Coming soon at a blog near you...

TASTING NOTES: Innis and Gunn IPA

There is a bone of contention amongst a few of my beer comrades as to whether Innis and Gunn's oaked beers are a tasty addition to the array of Scottish ales available. I've always been fond of their standard ale, on occasion, when I'm feeling like a change of pace. Its a rich, buttery, diacetyl, malty, heavily oaked sweet ale. It certainly isn't something I would drink more than one of.

Besides the standard release I've had their 2005 special, their 2006 IPA (which differs in abv and malt/hop bill from this one) and their rum cask release. All have been perfectly drinkable. I'll be sampling three of their beers over the next few days, the standard, the rum and in today's case, the IPA.

This is a 7.7%abv, oaked English IPA. Served slightly chilled in an Innis and Gunn glass

Pours with a light amber body. No haze or cloudiness as its not bottle conditioned. Puffy, dense white head with good retention.

Aroma, not huge or overwhelming. A touch of oaky sweetness, little bit of malt and a touch of alcohol. Little bit of mustiness also. Taste, creamy, almost overly sweet hop tainted malt. Lots of honey and sweet oak. A touch of English bittering hops but certainly not overpoweringly so. Malt rich alcohol on the finish.

A bit of an oddity. Not particularly interesting or memorable. Its a little boozier than the standard ale with a handful more hops however the sweetness of the malt and overpowering oak character is a little off putting. This may be worth a peek at some point but I can't see it turning any heads. Solid, but underwhelming.

Food and Beer pairing: Pheasant....

A late birthday present landed my way this week. Two shot pheasant, one cock and one hen. The next thing to do was turn this wild game into something very tasty. I ended up pairing the food with Brewdog's Punkmonk. This is essentially Punk IPA brewed with Belgian yeast. It gives the beer a rich Belgian nose, similar to something a little offbeat such as Orval or De Ranke XX. It does however remind me somewhat on a homemade extract Pilsner I made years back, thats not necessarily a point in its favour.

The taste was spicy and well hopped, that being said the Belgian yeast seems to split the flavours down the middle. Its an odd mix of traditionally hopped 6% IPA with yeasty, chalky Belgian character. Its solid but I think the Punk IPA still reigns supreme.

Anyways, the food. This is of course a beer blog but food is just as important in my world so this post may be somewhat of a departure from norm.

Yesterday I skinned and gutted the birds. A suprisingly straightforward process, I was expecting much more blood and turmoil.

The process was, cutting the wings off at the joint. Then pulling the tail feathers out and cutting the legs off (cutting around the bottom then pulling hard to remove the tendons)

Next, cutting off the head followed by making a slit in the flesh. Basically then pull it all apart, ripping the skin from the body. Lastly, small cut inbetween the legs and crown and yanking out the insides. Quick wash under the tap and done.

I seperated the breasts and marinated them in port, gin, salt and pepper and a touch of nutmeg and cinammon. Left to soak for a few hours.


I did the legs confit, so, a bottle of vegetable oil , season the legs and cook for 1hr 30mins on a low heat.

I made a stock witht the carcass, carrot, celery, garlic and bay leaves. Cooked down, strained, then reduced to a third. The sauce was made with diced red onion, star anise, port and stock, cooked and reduced down and finished with butter.


The breasts were finally wrapped with smoked streaky bacon, pan fried and left to rest. Then served with the sauce along with brussel sprouts with bacon, shallot, honey and cashew nuts.


Twas a fine meal all round, however the legs.... dry as a bone. I think its fair to say next time they are getting slowly cooked in a casserole. The Punkmonk went very well. Ideally something with a bit more caramel and malt and a little less hops would have gone well, something like an old ale or rich beefy stout.

TASTING NOTES: Urthel Hop It

The last Belgian IPA I had was Brewdog's attempt at an amalgamation of a dark styled hopped ale and a 'Belgian IPA'. T'Smisje IPA, which I reviewed last month was a fantastically tasty, hopped and balanced brew. Hop It was one of the first heavily hopped Belgian's I was aware of, now its time to dig in.

Its 9.5%abv, served in an Innis and Gunn class, chilled. 330ml bottle.

It pours with a rich straw yellow body slight haze and a bubbly off white, creamy head. Solid retention and a touch of patchy lacing.

Aroma is rich and spicy. Lots of Belgian yeast, zesty alcohol rich hops. Some fresh flowers, touch of lemon zest and a whack of chalkiness.

Taste, initialy crisp spicy lemon hops. Crunchy biscuity malt with a noticable Belgian character. Syrupy honey sweetness, dry lingering lavender infused hops on the finish.

A balanced and very drnkable brew. Doesn't shout out as noticably as the t'Smisje IPA which just had a much more impressive and overwhelming hop character. That said this reminds me of Duvel with a bit more sweetness. Worth a go.

TASTING NOTES: Harviestoun Ola Dubh 18 Year

I believe its time for a special brew, on this occasion its Harviestoun's Ola Dubh. What they have essentially done is bumped up Old Engine Oil, then aged the brew in Highland Park whiskey casks of varying ages. Available are, 12, 16, 18, 30 and 40 year cask aged beers. The latter being harder to come by and featuring a heftier price tag. I opted for the 18, somewhere in the middle of the range and not much more expensive than the 12, £3.99 for the beautifully presented 330ml bottle.

In regards to the brewery I don't think I've had close to a bad release from them. Their beers, fresh on cask are some of the most sessionable and flavourful ales available. Notable releases would be Bitter and Twisted, and Schiehallion (a superbly fresh hoppy cask lager)

This was served just under room temperature in an Innis and Gunn glass, 330ml bottle.

Pours with a rich, deep, crude oil body. Fluffy tan head with great retention, some patchy lacing up and down the glass

The nose on this brew is huge. Unctuous rich, smokey, peaty malt backed up by some ester sweetness. A touch of acetone and slightly musty malt. An almost rich meat stock aroma, think bisto.... in a good way. A hint of savoury on the nose doesn't detract from it. It works

Taste, a little disappointing to put it bluntly. The body is quite thin, far thinner than the pour would lead one to believe. Spicy, malty roasted malt. Creamy caramel malt and a touch of acidic bitterness on the finish.

I really wanted this to blow me away but it hasn't. Huge aroma but let down but a thin body and not enough balls and flavour. Worth a visit perhaps but warrant the £4 price tag it does not. Alot of work has gone into making this but I'm just not convinced its paid off.

TASTING NOTES: Odell's IPA

There has been a lull in recent posts, primarily due to an increasing workload and Christmas. However, the backlog will be heartily rectified with many beer tasting notes that have been in the works.

The beer this evening is an example of a balanced American IPA. To be honest the breweries, for better or worse have a habit of making IPAs in excess of 8%, hopped over 80ibus and have as much balance as a blue whale on a see-saw. In my experience its no bad thing. I don't seem to have a hop limit, I can't remember in five years using the phrase 'this is too hoppy', however balance is a commendable attribute in brewing.

This is a 7%abv IPA by Colorado based Odell. Served chilled in a La Chouffe goblet.

Pours with a rich deep yellow body. Rich amber hues, tight creamy nicotine stained head. Good retention and some snake-like lacing up and down the glass

Nose is full of sweet, honey-infused piney hops. A hint of freshly cut grass and a touch of lavender floating around there too. Some sweet caramel malt.

Taste, crisp, oily, silky hops. Perfectly balanced, citric hop bitterness permeated with chalky, sweet malt. Lasting spicy lemon hop bitterness on the finish

A very refreshing, balanced and drinkable ale. Tastes very fresh and the abv is well hidden. Certainly a contender in the US craft import market, stands up there with Stone, Victory, Flying Dog and Sierra Nevada.

Food & Beer pairing: Meantime Union + Wings

It may not be the height of culinary excellence but hot, spicy, marinade laden chicken wings have always been a hardy companion of the malted ale. In this case, were pairing it with a crisp Vienna amber lager, courtesy of Meantime in London.

The beer firstly. Vienna lagers are slightly hoppy, residually sweet lagers from the city that they take their name from. Three

malts are generally present, Munich, Pilsner and Vienna along with a reasonable hop bill.

The wings. Heavily marinated in numerous types of hot sauce, cayenne pepper, paprika and malt vinegar. Grilled, tossed in the sauce served with home-made blue cheese dressing. A classic combination...

The pairing. The beer pours with a rich deep dark amber body. Puffy off white head with solid retention and a touch of lacing. Smokiness on the nose a whack of dextrin malt and a hint of fresh lavender infused hops. Taste is crisp. Biscuity malt and a touch of hop bitterness, little bit of sweetness on the finish and a touch of spicy dried fruit.

With the wings its a solid match. Lagers generally work well with heat, IPA's full of citric hops also match up well to the acid and fiery punch of chilli heat. The Meantime holds up very well, the sticky spicy fat from the wings was contrasted well by crisp fresh hops soaked in a sea of biscuit malt. The 4.9%abv gives it a reasonably light body without any noticeable booze. Cuts through the heat well, supports the sharp vinegar and creamy sour cream sauce and backs up the overall flavour.

A superbly competent bedfellow for hot and spicy chicken wings. Its not a delicately layered beer with epic flavour but it is a well balanced, fantastically drinkable little lager.