Black Jack - Port Barrel Aged - De Struise Brouwers

Jeffo

Netherlands

2.15/5  rDev -20.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Reviewing this one from notes. Wasn't going to bother as I figured it was just going to go under the older 2009 version, but I guess this bottling is considerably different. Anyways, cheers to Dennoman for opening this at our party a while back.

From a 750ml bottle into a taster

APPEARANCE: Pours brown and relatively transparent. Pour produces a small, medium looking, creamy tan head with good retention. Dark bistre brown in color with zero carbonation evident. Head slowly fades to a wisp leaving no lacing down the glass.

SMELL: Basically no smell at all. A touch of roast, dark fruit maybe and some light, light port barrel. I could make up more, but I'd be reaching. Lack-luster.

TASTE: Like the nose, this is just way too plain to be memorable. A bit of roast and port barrel with some faint wood notes in there, but not much else. A mild and dry finish with some light port flavors, a touch of roast and light bitter coffee. In the end, this is just way too mild to be noteworthy. I've had 4% beers with more flavor. At least it's not a sweet wood bomb like the 2009 vintage was.

PALATE: Medium body and slightly higher levels of carbonation. Relatively light on the palate, creamy enough, goes down fine and finishes slightly mouth-coating.

OVERALL: Struise is one of my favorite breweries, but this beer just doesn't do it for me. Why age a 7% beer in barrels for two years? Mild, boring, and ever so unimpressive, if I were in charge, I'd scrap Black Jack all together and brew anything else. These guys have been making kick ass stuff over the last couple years, so I have no idea why they even considered bringing this one back from the dead. I guess the two years of aging meant it was too late to abandon ship here. At least it was not offensive like the 2009 was. Pass.

Serving type: bottle

01-18-2013 18:52:57 | More by Jeffo