De Molen / Struise Brouwers Black Damnation

Brewed by Brouwerij de Molen
Style: Imperial Stout
Bodegraven, Netherlands

L’ho bevuta al ma che siete venuti a fà e mi ha molto colpito... al naso è talmente caffettosa ke rikorda una miscela arabica....

For me is just one step below Black Albert from Sruise. Very very nice stout, completely balanced at all. Mouthfeel is magic. I m looking forward tasting Black Damnation No2.

First rate of the new decade, and I thought the occasion warranted something appropriately big. This is unquestionably it, and sitting here sipping it also embodies one of my New Year’s resolutions: to drink (a bit) less, but more good stuff. Pours tar black with a plump toffee-hued head going nowhere and speckling the bulb of the (Oerbier) glass. Ashtray of vanilla ice cream, brandy-steeped dark fruits (incinerated), recognisably stouty charred barley, 70% cocoa solids, dab of apple/banana fruitiness, and brandy butter aroma. Yep, there’s definitely some butter there, but meshing with the richness of the malts, and I don’t mind it. Flavour just as good; roasted malt-dominated like a great stout should be; cigar ash and cocoa to the max, enrobed in that silkiness only The Belgians can truly master. Sugar without cloying sweetness, trickle of underlying blackcurrant and bittering citrus hop, bonfire, chocolate cake, cinders. Lacy and humming with good stuff- mostly turned to ash. Huge, seductively balanced brew that artfully retains the smoky character of a quaffing-strength conversational stout 3 times weaker. Delicious stout, built for contemplative sipping, despite that ’dark twist of the mind’..

Pours a black color with a very thick brown head. Aroma is smokey, with a hint of roasted malts, chocolate and spices. Strong flavors of creamy coffee, roasted smokey malts, liquorice and black chocolate and with a hint of brown sugars and spices. Low carbonation, very dry and very bitter, and lots of smokeyness. Very long lasting flavors in mouth. Very complex in all areas, and a very havy and strong tasty stout. A great beer to end the year.

Bottle @ home. Pours solid black with a creamy espresso head. Complex aroma with hints of coffee, fruit, chocolate and yeast. Intense flavour of smoke, coffee and something I can’t place. (But it is something good.) Long and balanced aftertaste. This truly is a good hookup, with the "regular" Hel en Verdoemenis (Hell & Damnation") I missed a form of carbonation, this has got it and plus an even more complex aroma as a bonus. Sweet!

Wonderfully complex brew. Thick head. A beer you can get lost in. Can detect figs, brown sugar and dark chocolate melting on the mouth. Licorish and dried fruits. A heavy full mouth feel. Superb.

Flaske: Kulsort øl med et kæmpe skumhoved. Fantastisk karbonering i forhold til procenterne og det forhold at de Molen er med inde over. Kraftig duft af kakao, en smule kaffe og lidt brændt sukker. Smagen er gennemskærende kakao og kaffe. God humlebitterhed, men en smule grynet i mundfylden gør at den alligevel ikke er helt oppe at ringe. Men rigtig rigtig god øl.

Pours pitch black with a small but solid, creamy beige head. Intense aroma that is slightly sharp. There is coffee present, but also some tobacco, sugar and dried fruits. The flavor is quite complex, with sweet coffee and roasted malt dominating the beginning, but then moving towards a dry bitter finish. Not much carbonation present. Nice beer, but I’ve had better from both brewers.