Clash of the Titans Reserva
De Struise Brouwers

 

Deep amber in colour with almost no head and little active carbonation.

Aroma is strongly umami with alcohol clearly present.

Taste is strong malt with dark, burnt caramel and a warming booze kick at the end. Taste lingers as the sweetness of the caramel hangs around with the booze, but ultimately the booze overwhelms all as the beer warms.

Mouthfeel is prickly which contradicts the visual appearance of little active carbonation. There is, however, velvety smoothness underneath the prickly carbonation.

Overall a nice beer that opens up complexity as it warms, but ultimately the booze detracts.

A - Pours a cloudy Mahogany colour with a Beige head that dies quick
S - Big barrel bourbon aromas with a buttery roasted malt.
T - Same as the nose, with a little more booze and vanilla hints
M - Medium body and carbonation (lacking)
O - A little lost at what to say. Just average really. The carbonation is a let down

330 mL bottle. Brown body. Smells of bourbon, candy sweetness, and some fruitiness. Tastes just as it smells. Bourbon, fruity sweetness, some booze. Heavy, but not so sweet that it detracts from drinkability. It's fine, but not something I'd go for again. Note: I could have sworn this was bourbon barrel-aged, but as I input this review, I no longer have the bottle to check if that's really what it said. But either way, that's what I got from it.

De Labirratorium. En copa Teku. Jugando a Tell me Why. Sin esperar mucho de ella me ha sorprendido gratamente. Sin la asperaza típica de struisse y con unas notas a vino muy bien integradas con la birra, manteniéndose suaves pero discernibles, sin robarle el protagonismo, y el alto abv bien disimulado

330ml bottle, though the bottle looks smaller and it seemingly pours smaller than that.
L- It's a lovely medium/dark chestnut brown. Pours with just a small patch of bubbles on top, but then at 12%ABV it can't physically (x-ref surface tension) support head formation.
S- It's like British Xmas pudding in liquid form, but it also has a winey note which I wouldn't really expect from a Barley wine, despite the name. Wonder if it might be additionally aged in wine barrels....
T- Woah! The taste closely follows the smell; Xmas pud, and again winey notes, quite prominent now.
F- It's not over-rich the winey notes are quite dry so the rich vs dry sides pretty much balance. Amazingly for a thumping 12%ABV it's presence is very subtle indeed, I've had say 8% beers with a punch similar to this. Still, they say subtlety of such a high ABV% is a sign of brewing skill.
O- It's different, certainly punchy, not over-rich though it is pretty full-on and I don't think I'd wish to have more than one at a go. In fact this might work as a good beer to share as it's $$ and the winey notes might present a chalk+cheese response from people sampling this.
Bought from TremblingMadness/York/UK as part of a DIY-pick mixed case or 3 in fact for home delivery to me in London. A thumping £5.80 Bottled 06/03/2020 with 5 years shelf-life.
p.s. My one remaining question, is this aged in wine barrels? Now I'll check... ... Ok, here is the answer via Google translate of their www...
'An initially hoppy blonde quadruple of 12% Alc./Vol., 26 ° plato, aged for 1 year in French Bordeaux oak barrels in which Swiss wine has been aged. Complex wine with fruity notes, full body and nice aftertaste. The hop keys have almost completely disappeared after 1 year on the barrel.'

 

Bottled in a 330ml dark brown presumably bottle conditioned affair
Pours a brown sugar coloured body with decent enough tan head
Aroma is sweet sherry and liquorice coating
Flavour is rich caramel and dank honey & burgundy