Black Albert - De Struise Brouwers

Displayed for educational use only; do not reuse.

BA SCORE
94
exceptional
-
1,082 Ratings

THE BROS
90
exceptional
-
read more »

rAvg: 4.25
pDev: 10.12%
Reviews: 769
Hads: 313

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
De Struise Brouwers

Belgium

Style | ABV
Russian Imperial Stout | 13.00% ABV

Availability: Year-round. bottle (715), on-tap (54).

Notes:
Originally brewed exclusively for Ebenezer's Pub in Lovell, ME.

View: Beers (52) | Reviews (7) | Events (0)

Reviews

Sort by: Latest | High | Low | Top Reviewers |

Alström Bros | Show Hads:

« first ‹ prev | 1-25 | 26-50 | 51-75 | next › last »

Reviews by zhanson88:

zhanson88

Montana

3.8/5 rDev -10.6%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Black Albert is a phenomenal looking beer. It pours almost pitch black with a couple fingers of mocha colored head, even with a careful pour. Retention is very nice and lacing is great. One of the best looking imperial stouts out there.

Smell: Right off a big Belgian characteristic comes out, and as well as dark fruits. It takes a bit of digging to get down to the roasted malts and chocolate. Overall this is a pretty nice scent once you get down into it.

Taste: Roasted malts and chocolate show right up front on the palate. A bit of hoppy character actually shows up on the back end, as well as that yeast characteristic and dark fruits. Aftertaste is slightly leathery, but not in a bad way.

Mouthfeel/Drinkability: The body is slightly over medium with quite a bit of carbonation. It seems like a lot of De Struise beers have this feel, but I'm not sure it works perfectly with imperial stouts. Still, not bad. This is a pretty drinkable beer. It's a different take on an imperial stout, but that's not a bad thing.

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2011 23:52:44 | More by zhanson88

More User Reviews:

Photekut

Azerbaijan

3.5/5 rDev -17.6%

05-18-2013 22:21:39 | More by Photekut

brian4beer

Indiana

3.75/5 rDev -11.8%

05-18-2013 03:20:49 | More by brian4beer

carlosega

Ohio

4.25/5 rDev 0%

05-17-2013 19:20:21 | More by carlosega

jkane101

New Jersey

4.25/5 rDev 0%

05-16-2013 22:17:00 | More by jkane101

deekyn

California

4.25/5 rDev 0%

05-16-2013 04:16:37 | More by deekyn

BBP

Ontario (Canada)

4.4/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

Pours somewhat standard for a stout of its calibre, but a little thinner in appearance. Carbonation was as expected.

The aroma is sweet, with subtle booze, and some slight chocolate.

The taste is quite strong, and appealing at first. There's quite a balance to this stout, and the IBUs are quite far from obvious (although not something I'd prefer), and it really comes across perhaps too smooth. For 13%, this is very easy drinking, and the booze is there, yet works with the drink rather than against it. Chocolate, coffee, and vanilla are all here; A bit of sweetness as well. Perhaps raisin and vanilla. Sweeter than most imperials, but not by a long shot.

The body is full, and the carbonation plays its role without bringing attention to itself, which is all I could ask from a stout.

Overall, this was quite a tasty stout, and perhaps one of the best stouts I've tasted outside of North America. It's really nice to see a Belgian brewery strive to branch out beyond the typical styles that they're known for and this was a big success.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2013 20:00:38 | More by BBP