De Struise Brouwers

De Struise Brouwers
Industry Alcoholic beverage
Founded 2001
Headquarters Oostvleteren, Belgium
Products Beer
Production output
 900 hL[1]
Owner Peter Braem, Philippe Driessens and Urbain Coutteau
Website http://struisebrouwers.be/

De Struise Brouwers (DSB) is a microbrewery located in Oostvleteren, Belgium.

Origin

Owners of a nearby ostrich-raising farm in Lo-Reninge with accommodations for vacationers, Urbain Coutteau and Philippe Driessens developed an interest in making distinctive regional beers to serve to their guests.[2] In 2001 they began doing so with help from local wine maker Carlo Grootaert, and this project eventually developed into its own independent commercial concern.

Upon its inception in 2003, Struise produced beers at the Caulier brewery in northern Hainaut. Since 2006, they have been made at the Deca brewing facility in Woesten-Vleteren in West Flanders. The firm has reported that their own microbrewery and tasting room in a renovated school building in Oostvleteren, is currently open & operational.

The company takes its name from the historic Flemish word for ostrich, which also is a contemporary slang term meaning "tough". They render the name into English as "The Sturdy Brewers", and many of their labels feature ostriches, a trait they share with Dutch microbrewery Brouwerij 't IJ.

Following current industry trends made popular by American craft brewers, the brewery has recently ventured into stronger, more flavorful beers and also barrel-aging.

They have also collaborated with other recent arrivals on the European artisan beer scene such as Denmark's Mikkeller, fellow Belgians Picobrouwerij Alvinne and Brouwerij De Molen of the Netherlands, as well as American brewers. While their Black Albert was originally conceived in concert with USA-based Ebenezer's Pub, a joint effort to create a "Pannepot Cafe" in Brunswick, Maine was abandoned in May 2009.

Awards and recognition

Craft beer fan rating website Ratebeer selected beers from DSB for 9 of their Top 100 Best Beers of Belgium in 2009.[3] Struise was edged out for the #1 slot only by the venerable Trappist brewers of Westvleteren.

In 2008, RateBeer declared Struise to be the best brewers in the world per their annual members' poll.[4] This was met with mixed opinions in the world of beer enthusiasts.[5] Many of those critical of the award cited the recent founding of the company as well as the fact that DSB did not own a brewing facility at the time.

DSB also received 7 separate awards from Ratebeer in 2007, including accolades for the Aardmonnik and Pannepot.

Beers

De Struise Brouwers Products

Joint Ventures / Blended Products

The "Black Damnation" project

This project was conceived by the brewmaster at Struise. Their dark Russian imperial stout beer Black Albert serves as the base for a number of experimental brews that are to be released over a period of two years (2010-2012). As of June 2011, the following six brews have been released to the public:

These brews have been completed, but are yet to be commercially released and have only been available for tasting at the brewery or at various beer festivals or other occasions:[9]

A number of other seasonal and limited-edition beers are also produced.

References

External links

Coordinates: 50°55′55″N 2°44′15″E / 50.931940°N 2.737465°E / 50.931940; 2.737465

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