A few months ago, I tried the #1 beer in the world according to beeradvocate.com's Top 100 List- Westvleteren 12. While it may not have been my favorite beer (it was close, though), the smell was what really separated it from any other beer I've had. In my mind, no other beer could come close to the smell of the Westvleteren 12. It was that good. Then, I came across De Struise's Pannepot.
Looking back, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that the smell of Pannepot approached that of Westvleteren 12. After all, the beers are the same style (quadrupel) and the breweries are located about 2 miles away from each other in Belgium, which likely means they use a lot of the same ingredients, including the same water. Still, I didn't expect this. At #83 on the Top 100 List- Pannepot.
Pannepot pours a very dark brown color with a thin but slightly creamy head. The aroma is huge and complex with notes of banana, molasses, dark fruit, freshly baked rye bread and brown sugar. Everything about the smell of this beer blew me away and brought back memories of the smell of the Westvleteren 12.
The taste was nearly as rich as the smell with big flavors of molasses, raisin skins, brown sugar, banana, baking spices and chocolate with just a hint of booze on the finish. Taste-wise, this was incredible but not quite as incredible as the Westy 12. In this battle, the Westy 12 wins by a whisker. Pannepot definitely deserves to be higher on the list, though.
Final Grade: A
Top 100 Beers Tasted: 30
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