Don't call it a comeback

Whatever happened to De Struise? It's not just that I haven't been swanning around the Low Countries in over a year; I haven't encountered any of their beers in the wild for nearly three. And I've been looking too: their reputation as masters of big, strong and dark beers is entirely well deserved. Am I missing a piece of the puzzle, or did they slip out of the hype bubble at some point?

Today's beer dates from the height of their pomp: a 2013 vintage of Sint Amatus 12, presumably a cheeky swipe at their neighbours St Bernardus and Sint-Sixtusabdij. It's badged in unBelgian fashion as a "quad", and is 10.5% ABV. Though there was a bit of fobbing when the cap came off, the head is thin, forming no more than a patch of bubbles on the swampy brown body.

The aroma is properly quadrupel-like: a warming mix of ruby port, sultanas and figs. The booze vapours are strong enough to suggest it has been fermenting away in its own time and it's possible that a point or two could be added to that ABV. In the flavour, the sweeter side of the fruit is more apparent, raisins in particular, with a squeeze of black cherry and a dusting of chocolate too. The texture is appropriately full which, in combination with that mild fizz, makes it very wine-like. The only nasty surprise is a mild phenolic TCP thing, lurking late in the finish. Not enough to spoil things, thankfully. For quad purists, there's a toasty dry side to the style spec which is entirely absent here, but I don't miss it at all.

This is a beautiful beer and very much the sort of thing De Struise's reputation was built on. I hope they're still producing it and its ilk, and that people are still buying them.