De Struise Two Reserva

TWO Reserva. De Struise Brouwers. Oostvleteren, Belgium.

“Wheat ale and rum barrel aged for 4 years.”

2014 vintage.

8% ABV.

Appearance

Easy to pour head. Fine to medium bubbles.

Orangish brown.

Murky. Dirty.

Bottle is kinda ugly and the label on ours is pretty damaged.

This beer may not have been treated well in transit.

Head holds up a long time.

3

Smell

Aimee is fervently selling me on a soy sauce flavor before I even smell.

Is she right? Soy sauce beer?

I can smell it from far away.

Well, now I have soy sauce planted in my expectations.

I’m becoming convinced that whatever flavors I am thinking of or experiencing before a beer tasting become the flavors I taste in the beer.

Soy sauce beer.

I got beer bubbles in my nose again.

Medicinal. Caugh syrup.

Now Aimee is doing the real tasting, and just planting suggestions in my brain.

Is Aimee a better taster than me??

Apple juice. That’s mine - I say “apple juice”.

I often say “apple juice”. It’s one of my go-tos.

I planted that one in Aimee’s brain, and now she’s thinking “apple juice”.

I’m finding that if I distract myself then quickly bring my nose near the glass, that sometimes gives my a hint of new flavors.

There’s some strong fruit here, but artificial fruit. Apricot candy.

No soy sauce!

4

Taste

Aimee is telling me “caugh syrup” before I have taken a sip.

OMG stop planting ideas in my head!

I do not agree about caugh syrup, but I do think that it has a midly offensive flavor as caugh syrup does.

Hard to describe. The flavor is unique enough to keep coming back to, worth thinking about.

It’s not sweet.

The alcohol flavor is strong. It’s only 8% but it tastes strongly alcoholic.

Aftertaste is bitter-sour.

This is a wheat beer, but the wheat flavor is way overpowered by the other flavors. Makes me wonder what a barley beer with a similar treatment would taste like.

I don’t think I like it, but I’m reluctant to give it less than a 3 since this it has a unique flavor worth experiencing.

As I slowly finish the beer over the course of the afternoon I am increasingly repulsed.

It reminds me of my terrible experiments mixing whatever I have in the kitchen with liquor in order to create a “cocktail”.

It tastes like an inept cocktail.

I agree more and more that this tastes and smells “medicinal”, particularly as it comes up to room temperature.

Every time I go back it’s worse. This time, when I smelled it I exclaimed “oahghuh!”

2

Mouthfeel

My tongue is a bit tingly.

3

Overall

Worth tasting. Wouldn’t drink again.

It’s pretty gross.

We didn’t drink half the pint.

2