Struise Black Damnation I - Black Berry Albert

Black Albert with blackberries aged for 1 year on port barrels

4.1

274 reviews

Oostvleteren, Belgium

Community reviews

4.1 Bottle@1420 (Black Damnation tasting) Copenhagen - (2012 vintage) black pour with a tan ringed head. Dark sweet malty with notes of chocolate, caramel and toffee, dark dried fruit, some nice blackberry notes chiming in, medium to full body, dark malty blueberry laden malty finish.

4.2 Piana niewielka, choć drobna powoli opadająca. Kolor czarny, Aromat czekolada,wiśnie w czekoladzie, generalnie owoce, porzeczki, jeżyny, przyjemny niezbyt intensywny. Smak tu się sporo dzieje, jest pełnia, słodycz na wysokim ale akceptowalnym poziomie, zaskakuje gładka struktura, gęstość, oleistość i przy tym wysoka pijalność. Wyraźna gorzka czekolada, praliny, sporo estrów owocowych, lekko drewno z taninami. Alkohol ułożony, jedynie lekko rozgrzewa przełyk. Piwo Wyśmienite Brawo WOW.

4.3 Potente. Turba. Ahumada. Envejecida en Caol ila. Muy buena. Densa. Impresionante.

3.9 (Échantillon au Cellarbration 2016 à Brothers Provisions): Des esters belges fruités, des angles confiturés, une finale sèche et cendrée. Très bon.

4.4 Backlog, ocena przepisana z untappd, w ramach uzupełniania profilu na ratebeer. Niesamowite połączenie wyrazistego, czekoladowego stoutu i owocowej, borówkowo-jeżynowej kwasowości.

4.3 Pours black with beige head. Aroma is roasted, chocolate, coffee and blackberries. Flavour is roasted, bitter, sweet, berries and coffee.

3.5 75cl-fles in de Proefloft van Alvinne te Moen. Merci Glenn! U: Zwart met enkele bruine schuimbellen. G: Bosbessen, licht zurig en chocolade. S: Pure chocolade, koffie, licht fruitig zuurtje van de bosbessen. Geroosterde moutbittere afdronk Leuk experiment, maar voor mij geen wow-factor. M: Lichte carbonatie, mocht/moest meer sticky zijn.

3.8 From notes. Enjoyed this one at the Brew Crew Bash in Ann Arbor on May 21. This one was poured from a 750 mL bottle. The pour is a lighter black with some hints of garnet shining through. There is a fluffy lighter tan head that slowly recedes, leaving a pretty strong lace. The aroma is full of blackberry. There is definitely a strong port influence as well. I thought I would like this more. There is a light roasty malt, and a bland of dark fruit in addition to the blackberry. The port is throwing me, it’s nearly dominant. The flavors are a little better. The port fades a little and lets the dark fruits and the blackberry shine a bit. The malts are big, and there is a little roasted coffee bitterness present as well. There is a light booziness on the back end. The mouth feel is thinner and light. The carbonation is a little too bright for a big stout like this, and the aftertaste is lightly medicinal with the blackberry and the wine blending together. This one had a lot of promise, but it just fell a little short.

4.0 75cl bottle shared at Kings Night Avoidance Tasting. Thin ring tan head. Clear black pour.

4.0 Bottle at Kingsnight tasting. Black with small light brown head. Blackberry, coffee, cocoa beans, marzipan, sweet chocolate, blueberries, light bourbon. Over medium sweet and light fruity bitterness. Full bodied. Nice.

3.8 Sampled from bottle at Kingsnight avoidance tasting. Black with no head. Fruity blackberry, quite alcoholic, roasted malts. Sweet, light better. Full body, light carbonation. Oily texture.

4.0 Bottle. Pours pitch black with a small creamy tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, blackberries and coffee. Flavor of dark chocolate, coffee, blackberries, oak, port notes and dark fruit. Sticky texture, full body, fine carbonation.

4.2 I had this a while ago and it was one of the best from the series. Packed with chocolate, coffee, dried and dark fruits. Thick mouth feel and intensive flavors. Alcohol is well balanced. Great.

4.3 Pours a dark mahogany brown with fluffy tan head. Aromas of dark fruit, malts, and some woody notes. Flavors of chocolate, malty, and some berry highlights.

4.3 Bottle as " Black Damnation One - Black Berry Albert", 13%. Slow gusher. Black with medium brown head. Aroma is roasted malts, strong port, sour fruit, coffee, chocolate, berries and dark fruit. Flavour is roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, port, dark fruit, little sour fruit, berries, wood, oak, liquorice, medium sweet, little sour, little acid, warming and medium bitter.

3.6 Backlog 2015-06-05 Lots of berries and some tartness to mix up the sweetness. Decent, but I expected more from this one.

4.5 750ml bottle of 2012 release. Pours a thick black color with a lot of head. Foams out of the bottle for 10 minutes. Delicious Berry fruit balances nicely with the hoppiness.

4.8 Bevuta in bottiglia. Colore nero scuro, schiuma leggera. Al naso sentori di malti e miele di castagno, frutta matura. In bocca è quello che si sente è cioccolata, frutta rossa, leggero lattico, liquoroso, alcol. Corpo pieno, carbonazionenella media.. da provare assolutamente.

4.0 750ml Bottle BBE 30/09/18 at home, shared with The Beast, 6th February 16. Opened carefully after reports of gushing, not even a hiss! The beer pours black, little bit if a head, in fact carbonation spot on. Aroma is chocolate, leather, wood, barrel. Taste is complex, chocolate, never too sweet, good bitter cocoa, oak, slight port or vineous, no where near as much as I expected. Blackberries completed integrated into this beast. Great beer.

4.0 750 ml bottle shared by Steve at Mark’s gigantic tasting- thanks again, Steve! Pours a deep, nearly opaque cocoa brown with a minimal bubbly head. Notes of rich chocolate, oak, blackberries, figs, mild roast, earth, and sweet, rich, vinous port wine throughout. Drier nose, sweeter flavor. Medium-full bodied, with low carbonation and a rich, smooth, sweet mouthfeel. Hides the ABV well, but it’s a big one.

3.9 Bottle @ Bullerup Pubben’s , Re-Opening/Solar eclipse pt. 2. Black body with a small offwhite head. Roasted malt, port wine, tart berries, light alcohol,

4.3 Bottle at The Bullerup Pubben reopening/Solar Eclipse pt. 2 tasting. Pours opaque black with a creamy tan head. The aroma is loaded with black berries, chocolate, oak, vinous berries and sweet roasted malts. The flavour is deep ripe berries, with dark chocolate and some roasted malty notes. Incredible use of the black berries and the chocolate that the roasted malts provides. Thanks Dolle!

3.1 Bottle @ Bullerup Pubben’s , Re-Opening/Solar eclipse pt. 2. Pours black with a creamy beige head. Fizzy carbonation - wanna leave the bottle - fucking typical Struise ish. Wood , roast, ashtray, tart fruity edge. Can’t believe they fooled me again. So fucking mediocre stuff at best! Don’t spend your loot or your trades on this. Yeast, dust and a tart almost infected like edge. Crap!

4.2 The first one in this great series of "dark twists of the mind", vintage 75 cl bottle of a couple of years of age. Very violent gusher: the liquid poured out of the bottle upon opening and I lost half a pint in the sink; the foam kept creeping out of the bottle afterwards for minutes on end. I guess the sugars from the added blackberries kept fermentation going inside the bottle for years but obviously this is not a pleasant start. Anyway, what I captured had a deep brownish beige, moussy, frothy, very thick head thinning after a while and completely dissolving in the end, and an ink black colour, completely opaque. Aroma fortunately does not show signs of infection - affirming my guess that it is the fermentation of the fruit sugars which caused the gushing. I get impressions of coffee grounds, some dry cocoa powder, earth, wet leather, red port but subtly so, blackberry indeed, warm oak and vanilla-like tannins, pipe tobacco gone completely dry, unripe kiwi, chestnuts, straw, candied fig. Quite intense taste, candied and dried fruits, restrainedly sweet, dates, hint of dried banana, surrounded by a soft fruity sourishness which could come from the blackberries, but if I hadn’t known about them, it could have been redcurrant or even blueberries just as well. Meaty and somewhat teriyaki umami flavours hang around in the mouth cavity too, above a thick and viscous layer of caramelly, nutty and chocolatey malts, providing smoothness and sweetness and matching well with the Belgian yeast and the fruit - the first being more ’clean’ than is often the case in Belgian ales, but in this particular style, such a feature is obviously very welcome. Lovely, rich bittersweet finish, with the thick maltiness gliding through the throat and carrying a glow of warming, brandy-like alcohol though no alcohol burn, a lovely and well-dosed drying woodiness and an equally well-measured herbal hop bitterness; the initial soft berry tartness remains as well and adds some more drought in the end, but it is the chocolatey malt bittersweetness which has the final word. The gushing is all forgiven after tasting this: I really hate it, but in this case the flavour is rich and intense enough to ignore it and just enjoy a few glasses of the stuff on this gloomy autumn afternoon.

3.8 Pours almost black, a bit reddish. Aroma is full, booze, nice fruity tingle. Black bitter chocolate. Coffee flavour also there. Not really getting much of blackberries. But maybe they contribute to fruitiness. Some leathery peat in the background. Aftertaste lingers, sweetish, pretty good. Kind of difficult to keep track between five different damnations in one go. Great anyway!

3.3 Bottle shared with MF666 <3. Black with a small light brown head. Taste all syrup, chocolate, cocoa, wood, minerals, earth, mild smoke. Full body, sticky texture, fine carbonation. Not offensive and carries the abv well, still not something that really stands out or gets me exited except for the sugar and booze. Perhaps a different experience when it was fresh as there is no trace of blackberries in it now.

3.8 Bottle shared at a tasting. Thanks Jon! Pitch black pour without a head. Roasted malt, faint smoke and light blackberry on the nose as it warms. Taste is fairly roasty with some espresso and roasted caramel. Not sweet, but some dark fruit and light sourness on the finish.

4.2 Bottle. Thanks Jon. Very nice. Aroma is little smoky, dark and roasty. Taste is very nice, roast, caramel, chocolate, little sweetness. Little bit of sourness, is that the blackberries?

4.0 Nice port character nice roasted malts. Full body. Roasted malts. Love the lingering port character. Just tons of port and black berry.

3.8 Poured into a teku showing pitch black center with thin rims of coffee translucency and no head. The nose shows very light, barely perceivable notes of blackberry, The palate is moderately carbonated and medium bodied. Hints of blackberry with slight residual dark fruit sweetness. Mid-palate shows light coffee notes and the finish shows heavy roasted malts. Linger shows a lot of heavy roasted malts once again.