也不知道為甚麼拿這瓶酒出來喝，特別是在今天 (Good Friday) 這個對於基督教徒(雖然我不是)很特殊的日子… 放在冰箱上的聖母攜子圖旁照張像，也讓心情特殊/嚴肅一下~~

這款比利時鴕鳥酒廠 De Struise 釀的自命為 “Double Imperial Indian Pale Ale” (瓶標上寫的)，根本就是另一則啤酒風格標籤綁票案。其實大聲說妳愛酒花，所以釀了款很酒花、很苦、但又充滿傳統奇異酵母滋味的比利時酒，還怕那些羅馬競技場式的草根性品酒網站不給你開個特殊的風格標籤嗎？為什麼一定要靠過去對號入座？(反正他們只要是跟美國靠邊的就一直往下分類，一直加新標籤) 還來個『雙重』『帝國』甚麼東東…

會這麼說，因為，據第一次品這款酒的經驗(筆記如下)，今天再次嚐它(BB 04/2015版)時根本好像就是完全不同的另一款酒了… 要不看酒標說明，閉著眼睛聞起來根本就像極了傳統的英式老Barley Wine，或甚至很強勁的Old Ale：十分宜人的混和英式麥芽香，帶了氧化老蜂蜜、蘋果、老橘皮、融化焦糖、與許多乾梅子蜜餞的複雜水果氣息；而在味蕾上喉頭間，更多加了十分厚實但不尖銳的酒花苦度、柔順油滑的酒花resins、以及酵母化學帶來的複雜辛香；餘韻則真的是如同一款老年分的Old Ale，那老雪莉酒般的甘醇質感，真是錯不了的…

比起三年前那一瓶的酒花禮讚，看來，要不是這批放得較久才喝，才會有這些新奇的驚艷，便是配方定有所調整了… 都好，先祝復活節快樂~~

De Struise, Elliot Brew (Struise Mikkeller - SM No.12), 9%abv. (Double IIPA)

Purchased at the BSF bar, GBBF 2010; this “SM No.12”, supposedly one of the ales produced in the “Struise Mikkeller” project, comes in a 330ml slim brown bottle, bottle-conditioned, at 9%abv., with a whopping 163 IBU. The label specifies that this ale is “Brewed and bottled by Struise @ Oost-Vleteren, Belgium” and does not mention Mikkeller anywhere, hence the entry here rather than at Mikkeller’s; served lightly-chilled in Tripel Karmeliet’s long-stemmed tulip-shaped goblet.

4/5 Appearance: pours a hazy, dark reddish copper hue with rather moderate carbonation, topped with a light beige creamy froth that lasts pretty well throughout the drink.

4/5 Smell: the main fruity theme consists of rich maltiness on a par with sweet grapefruit jam, flowery fragrance, and a touch of green mangos – not alcoholic at all, but semi-estery as compared with an American product of this style; a swirl wakes up the more oily feel of hop resins, ripe pears, berry-flavoured candies, sweet pale malts, melted caramel and a hint of candy sugar (I’m influenced by the description of ingredients, I admit… otherwise the candy sugary element is nowhere as apparent as one’s normal Belgian ale). Overall, richly hoppy as much as it is malty and sweet – a rough balance is reached on the nose.

4.5/5 Taste: surprisingly clean and pleasantly effervescent on the palate, with longan-fruit-ish maltiness, lubricating fruit-esters, grapefruit notes and tea-ish tannins of hops developing elegantly on the tongue, followed by a mild spiciness, as of old dried citrus peels. Only in the very end does the full quality of bitterness manifest itself, as it has hidden surprisingly well up until this moment, when a lingering flow of grapefruit-peel-ish tannic bitterness and aroma expands. But the finishing touch is light in hop flavour, and not at all as bitter as the quoted 163 IBU has prepared my brain & taste-buds for. The 2nd sip, however, ends in a much, much more bitter fashion, with hop tannins going deeper & deeper down the palate, but overall just chewy, not horrendously bitter as many hop bombs I’ve tasted from the USA, and neither is it so sweet in terms of maltiness – the work of yeasts?

5/5 Mouthfeel & 5/5 Overall: perfectly lubricating, lightly-carbonated, full-bodied but somehow the flavour profile is much less bold as I’d expect from an American Double IPA. In contrast, the bitterness level feels more subtle on my palate than does an even standard American IPA or indeed a bolder English Bitter in that, everything goes so smoothly and treading in the Belgian territory of mild hop flavours plus alchemy of yeasts. Hops do lend their depth (more than body & flavour) to the overall performance, but in a rather different way than most American products, again perhaps balanced by the yeastiness. I’m very grateful that BSF imported this ale from Belgium this year, otherwise I would never have known how a 163 IBU, Belgian-made “double IIPA” might treat my taste-buds… the answer is, sheer heavenly…

--Yau (tasted 29/08/2010, notes transcribed 29/03/2013, revisited 29/03/2013)