Struise Dirty Horse
Starting with a Lambic grist bill composed of 70% barley malt and 30% unmalted wheat. No yeast was artificially added to the wort, but was exposed for two days to the open air in one of our plastic tunnels at the Noordhoek Ostrich Farm. First fermentation took place in second hand sherry oak casks for six weeks. 200 grams of Northern cherries per litre and the Roeseleire yeast strain were added after six months, provoking a new fermentation process. Eight months later, we pumped over the young ale to oak casks and let it mature for another 3 years. This project was realized after a tasting of the same recipe Urbain once made 20 years ago and was barrel aging in his garage in De Panne eversince and while he was in Africa and forgot all about it. As this is a very limited version, this ale will not be suitable for export but rather for sale at the farm when available.
4.2
183 reviews
Oostvleteren, Belgium
Community reviews
dirtied horse. 1983 batch on tap at ebenezer’s belgian fest. very small sample. notes of dusty, leather cobweb funk, old earthy cherries, moderate rustic yogurt sourness. some light old wet oak. dry. complex. holdin up pretty well it seems. nice.
Vintage 1983, sampled from tap @CBC 2012. A red-shaded blond lace over an slight unclear reddish-brown body. Soft fruit aroma. Jammy berries, dried dark fruits, cherries and grapes. Tones of caramel, port, dried wood and mellow sourness. Taste is soft and rounded. First a light fruity and berry-ish sourness, then some fine vinous tones. Hint of wood, caramel/toffee and burnt sugar. Supersmooth in the mouth. Not very full, yet perfectly balanced. Light fruity-tart endnotes. A gem! And what a great experience tasting such a rare item.
Tap @ CBC. Hazy amber body with a small offwhite head. Aroma is cherry, earth, barnyard, nuts. Flavor is red fruits, acetic, tart.
750 ml bottle shared at the Blue Palms brunch during RBSG. 90% 1983/10% 2005 version. Huge thanks to Jerz for sharing this! Liquid is rusty red/brown with a minimal pinkish head. Aroma is extremely complex with lots of lemons, bit of brett, maybe a hint of the cherries, some oak and oxidization and dust from the age. Taste is absolutely delicous with a puckering but balanced sourness and even more complex flavours with lemons, funk and red fruit. Very balanced sourness. Medium bodied, low to medium carbonation. Really enjoyed it, very complex and balanced.
Bottle shared at Blue Palms during RBSG 2012. Pours a dark berry-amber color. Tart raspberry and cherry throughout, not terribly sour but with a solid lactic presence. Funky citric, leather, brett, lots of complexity. Well deserving of its prized status.
Bottle thanks to Jerz.
Pours a nice red/rust color with minimal head. Notes of cherry, tartness, some funk with oak and fresh red fruit and very light citrus mixed in. On palate, great acidity with flavors of sour cherry, slight used oak, and citrus with great vigor to the mouthfeel. Overall, great tartness balanced by the right amount of fruit and aged oak.
You’re the best, Jer! Pours a hazed cherry red color with a small head. Nose is sweet cherry pie with a nice lactic tartness underneath. A bit of musty wood, grass, apples, and berries. The flavor is nicely tart, mostly lactic with just a hint of red wine vinegar. Musty oak along with lots of cherry flavor. A hint of red fruit (berries?), some leather, and a definite citrus zest quality. Was not expecting this to be that good, but I really enjoyed it.
Kindly shared at RBSG. Never though I would get to try this. Reddish yellow, really funky looking, with lace. Nose of lemon, dust, and a bit of vinegar. Lightly sour flavor, very dusty and funky, with cherry and lemon. Very interesting and less sour than expected. Complex and lovely, though.
Clean sour, dry with wet hay. Lightly citric and pome fruit. Light medium effervescence golden color fine white foam.
From notes from July 4th 2011. Big thanks to Urbain for sharing this with us as well as purchasing a grill so we americans were able to bbq on the 4th. Offered us both the unblended ’83 version as well as the unblended ’05 version side by side. Score is the higher one.
We’ll start with the ’83. Pour is a dark copper with orange edges and thin bit of light tan head. Nose is pretty solid for how old it is. Some leather brett like notes up front with accompanying cherries. Some dusty cob webb and lactic acid notes behind. The taste has dry, dusty cobwebs with a leathery note behind. The cherries are nicely blended with some vanilla and lactic notes behind. Very faint sourness in this. The body is light and creamy with a gentle carbonation and fairly dry finish. Solid beer for the age, held up well. Flavors are a bit muted, not very bright, but well integrated and deep character. 747415.
Now the ’05. Pour is dark ruby red with light pink head. Nose is dusty, dry brett, light leather, brighter tart cherry and some low pleasant acidity. Taste is well integrated cob webb funk and leathery brett blended with very tart cherry and assertive sourness. Lactic notes in back. Body is light and soft with a gentle carbonation balancing enough and a very dry finish. 848416
Tap at the Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2012. Pours cloudy red with a fine, pink head. Ripe cherries and fructose in the nose. Light to medium sweet flavor with mild tart berries, well ripened, with some bread and light, dank must. Light bodied with fine carbonation. Moderately sweet on the finish, fairly dank with hints of mold, and more cherries. A very nice beer.
Shared by craytonic, this legendary beer kicked off the tasting yesterday. Thanks a lot Matt!
100% 1983
Auction bottle 96/100
The beer appears a rusty orange color with no head whatsoever. What do you expect from a nearly 30 year old unblended lambic?
The aroma offers caramel candies, cherry juice, a hint of chocolate. Not as big and bold as I was expecting, but definitely an inviting scent.
The flavor takes it up a notch. Cherry flavor is surprisingly present, with a lightly sweet caramel character. Not sour or acetic like I was expecting.
Silky smooth feel. Wow. This beer goes down so easily. Light without being thin. Like drinking old cherry juice from the barrel.
What a joy to sip this seemingly mythical beer.
On-tap at the Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2012 (highlight of the event and worth the trip to Denmark alone). Vintage: 1983 100% unblended. Deep cherry red (almost maroon, but not quite). Single (off-white) fingernail head fades slowly. Smells of soft sour cherry, oak, and faded mixed berries. Touch of funk and must, but not terribly pronounced. Hint of lemon, spice, and vanilla fade to aged, worn leather. Definitely old, but soft earthiness makes this quite appealing. The complexity of the nose is very inviting! Taste is deep, rounded, and complex considering its age! Loads of soft cherry tartness up-front followed by touch of lemon zest, vanilla, oak, and plum. Mixed berries follow along with soft yeast and mild spice. Sourness and funk is smooth and slightly faded, but very enjoyable nonetheless. The complexity, yet simplicity, is what makes this beer amazing and so tasty! What can I say...this beer lived up to the hype for me and I thought it was absolutely stellar. I was happy to enjoy multiple pours of this each day at CBC and think the character, fullness, and depth is brilliant. I’d be curious to see how this holds up in the bottle. Superb beer that is worthy of the hype! Urbain doesn’t disappoint and neither does this beer. Standing ovation!
Thanks Alex for bringing this bad boy, another of the whitest whales. This blend is 90% 1983, 10% 2005. Pours a clear to hazy light red in color. Nose is exceptionally funky, very musty, basement, cob web, and some cherry. As it warms, i notice a little more oude bruin character to it. Taste is less focused on the funk and more cherry forward...very nice beer. Mouthfeel is light, gentle carbonation, and a moderate to long finish. Incredible beer, thought this might be another product of hype, but holy shit is it good. Probably one of the best beers I’ve had to date.
Dirty dirty nose. Dark amber, light head. Awesome funk and a tad of fruit. Well balanced tartness, lots of fruit, light funk and a nice sweetness. Super drinkable
Sampled at Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2012. Pours an unclear and dark reddish beer with a weak white head. The aroma is malt, fruit, notes of basement, acidity and berries. The flavor follows the nose. The palate is dry with sweetness and acidity. Overall a really good and complex beer. Was a vintage, but unsure about the year due to different information.
1983 vintage at Copenhagen Beer Celebration. Longtime want fulfilled. Very murky and earthy flavour, amazingly wellkept.
Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2012. Cloudy red amber with a lasting white head. Funky aroma with cherry, other red berries and marzipan. Dry, tart and fiunky flavour with cherry notes. Plenty oxidation, but still very drinkable and pleasant
tap at cbc 1983 vintage - got in a long opening line especially for this one! Pours dark amber red., Aroma of oak, sherry and cherry, some fuink, raspberry, cloves. Medium body with nice sourness. Taste of cherries, caramel, almond. BUT! - and this is perhaps a hard nut to crack - there was a lot of oxydation (especially when it got warmed up)... Without this latter aspect, it would be a great beer; I can only conclude for now that the beer is a bit overrated.
Tap @ Copenhagen Beer Celebration, 1983 vintage. Pours hazy burnt orange with a small offwhite head. Aroma of grapes, barnyard, yeast, light sourness, brett, oaky, and some sweet fruit. Taste is lightly sour and very fruity, peach, melon, cherries, brett, grapes,barnyard, oak notes, slight oxidation. Thin to medium body, soft carbonation. Very nice and complex beer. 120512
Pours golden with a white head. Aroma is caramel sour and fruit. Flavour is caramel, sour, light acidic, heavy fruit and grapefruit.
1983. Multiple draft samples @ CBC. Deep cherry red in color with a small off-white head. The nose is strong sweet strawberry and jammy concentrated sugar. Juicy. The taste is strong sweet jammy red fruits, bursts of fruit juice. There’s a light funky soured sock finish. Mild cheese. The body’s light, soft and so smooth. Very drinkable. Overall, I loved this.
Draft. An amber beer with a beige head. The aroma has notes of caramel, malt, spices, alcohol, and cherries. The flavor is acidic with notes of cherries, wood, alcohol, and malt, leading to a tart finish.
On tap @ Copenhagen Beer Celebration. After the Pannepot Wild, the time had come to taste an even more legendary beer: Struise’s Dirty Horse from the Year of Our Lord 1983! Must be about the oldest beer I’ve had. :-) Pours a deep orange-bronze body with a small, faintly pink-hued head. Aroma is incredibly mellow dark fruity tones, port wine-like oxidized notes, brett, wood, caramel and hints of red berries, cherry and melon. Taste is mellow yet tart port wine tones, wood, vinous raisins, cherry, candy sugars and hints of red berries and alcohol. Incredibly smooth, with the fruits literally blended together, but somehow a bit watery on the palate. Perhaps not as amazing as Ratebeer thinks, but certainly a unique beer. Very glad I got to taste this one. :-)
Tap @ Copenhagen Beer Celebration, 2012. Hazy copper with tiny off-white head. Aroma is malt, fruit, sour, wood, barnyard and tart. Flavour is malt, fruit, tart, cherries, little acid, medium sweet, tart and a little barnyard.
CBC. Hazy reddish amber with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, fruity, wood and barnyard. Flavor is quite sweet and moderate acidic. Dry and moderate acidic finish. 110512
Tap at CBC 2012. First beer of the fest! It pours cloudy ruby-brown, with a thick beige head. The nose is lemon, tart berry, vinous notes, malt vinegar, floral and mint humbug sweets. The taste is tangy lemon, lime, vinegar, hint of caramel, vinous, tangy grape, tart cherry and earth, with a dry, tart finish. Smooth and mellow. Medium body and fine carbonation. Well balanced and very drinkable. I am delighted to have tried this on tap.
On tap at CBC, 1983 vintage.
Hazy amber.
Lovely sour aroma. Quite mellow, the edges have worn off. Rich, complex. All the elements have blended seamlessly together.
Tap at CBC, 1983 vintage. Pours hazy brownish with off white head. Aroma is tart, sweet fruits, berries and dark fruits. Taste is like aroma with some sourness, eathy, floral.
Very, very fun to try, and it was really nice.
On tap. Pours a cloudy opaque amber with a small off-white head. Complex tart aroma with a suggestion of red berries. Surprisingly light body, an initial light tartness, overripe berries and a little wood, nuts and biscuits with only a hint of oxidation. Finishes dry and tart. A very welcoming and complex beer. 120512