De Molen 1914 Triple Stout SSS

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

bottle 127/696 brewed 17 jan 2008 supplied by rusty to the chiles...

the color seems a bit pale... at least by american standards... hazy burgundy brown with a beige-ish brown head. it smells like sticking my head in a bag of black barley... a bit salty, dusty, tobacco and some spicy/earthy woody bugs. those barrel bugs dominate the flavor... underlying notes of barley/ black grain, bitter chocolate without the sugar, dust, a bit of char and lots of booze-y spice on a somewhat dry finish. light to medium body (for IS standards). drinkable in quantity if i were into porters masked as thin imperial stouts... 7/3/6/3/14/3.3

Shared at the bockyhorsey tasting. Thanks to whoever brought it. Pours a deep burgundy/brown. Aroma is of heavy oak. Taste is also extremely oaky. It is difficult to pick out any other flavors behind that. A bit oxidated at the point that I sampled it. Tastes quite musty, like a basement feels, and that mustiness accumulates. The carbonation seems too high for the style. Interesting beer to say the least, but not to my liking.

750 shared by someone (thank you) at Spuyten Duyvil strong wood fest from sketchy notes. Dark brown black with lasting head and lace. Chocolate coffee syrup mild fruit aroma. Well blended roasted coffee chocolate and dark fruit with bitter coffee finish. Medium full body. Complex and delicious. I really liked this one.

750 mL bottle thanks to lithy, split with CharlesDarwin. It opened with a violent cork pop and a near gush; pours black with a big, fast tan head. The aroma is chocolate, granola, Latin American coffee, slight alcohol and nuttiness. The flavor is really thin and roasty with toasted almonds, strong earthy and woody bitterness, especially toward the finish. There’s dusty and dirty dryness throughout. Good idea as a concept, but I’m having trouble getting into it.

750mL bottle, bottled 2/21/08, #312 of 696. Thanks to Kan for picking this up! Poured medium brown with garnet highlights and a fine cap of beige head. The aroma picked up roasted darker chocolates and black patent malts capped by some ashy smoke.. charred, but moreso in a dry stout way than an imperial stout. The flavor had more of the black patent with earthy and coffee bitterness around.. more smoke appeared toward the back with a hint of molasses. Medium-bodied with ideal carbonation on the palate.. dried out at the end, leaving a lightly scratchy bitterness on the finish. This was most certainly solid, but did not strike me as near 10% nor an imperial stout.

Bottle at Spuyten Duyvil. Bottle 365/696. Deep dark brown beer topped by a thick tan head. Aroma is really lovely. Rich charry cocoa, coffee and a lot of soft herbal aromatics as well. Soft yet intense in a way that is completely different from most American Impys. Rich toasty maltiness with a husky graininess that is quite nice as well. There is a kiss of light fruitiness (cherries and plums) that I can only assume is from the yeast. There is a touch of coffee and cocoa and even a bit of molasses. Lovely herbal hoppy flavour on the back along with a kiss of yeasty apricot/berry. Very subtle and very tasty.

Sample thanks to jdubfl. Pours dark amber to garnet with infra red edges and floaties to go along with a nice mocha head. It has a pleasing malty aroma with black strap molasses and roasty malts and not much else. The taste is much like the aroma with roasty malts, molasses, burnt molasses and then rolling into burnt malts. By midway I get some caramel and a touch of earthiness to go along with the molasses and roasty malts. A medium dry malt astringency takes the experience into the finish.

Bottle at Spuyten Duyvil: Pours a very light color for an Imperial Stout- Brown with a khaki colored head. Nutty aroma with some underlying fruity notes from the yeast and some coffee-like roasted notes. Fluffy/light palate. Nutty flavor with a soft underlying fruitiness. Dry cocoa is also present throughout the profile. Very delicate and balanced for an Imperial Stout. Quite drinkable for the ABV as well.