Review: De Struise - Pannepot

Style: Quadrupel
ABV: 10.00%

2007 bottle purchased from Bruisin' Ales. Didn't notice the vintage until after I was home. Pours a deep, pruney purple. Even the gentlest pour yields a huge 3 inch head, literally 4 parts head to 1 part beer. When the dust settles after a bit, leaves some neat lacing around the glass. Smells strongly spicy, combined with the typical pale hopped, dark candied sugar of a belgian dark ale. I tried a couple sips at first when it was still pretty cold, and I got a lot of metallic taste - some belgian darks carry this all the way through, it's not my favorite flavor. As it warms, this goes away, and by the end, the prevalent taste is the spicing - I like my quads to have the dark malt and dark fruit (figgy, plumy) backing to hold up without lots of spicing. It adds to the mouthfeel in this case, making it a bit more peppery, and it slides off the palate easier. But I think it's a little overspiced. Nevertheless, it's a pretty good Belgian Strong Dark (I really don't think of it as a quad). Drinking is a little tough, despite the creaminess that has come out in both Struise beers I've had (Black Albert, and this one), so the small 11.2oz bottle is just the right size.

A: 4.5/5
S: 11/15
T: 41/50
M: 13/15
D: 10/15

T: 79.5%