De Molen Bloed, Zweet & Tranen (Blood, Sweat & Tears)

Brewed by Brouwerij de Molen
Style: Smoked
Bodegraven, Netherlands

Stable dark-cream head, dense, over pitch-black beer. Hot rubber, sulphury; very roasted, faint tobacco, black breadcrust, heavy-smelling. Tobacco ash and smoke, very roasted & burnt, near-imperceptible malty sweetness; finishes heavily bitter, with just a slight hoppy rounding. Long bitter-smoked aftertaste; medium bodied, quite slick. A bit unidimensional, if agreable. Sulphury rubberness in the nose is at first unpleasant, but mellows substantially.

Bottle in a train in Belgium. Dark brown coloured with a medium sized beige head. Roasted aroma of chocolate, smoke and liquorice. Roasted flavour of chocolate, smoke and hops with notes of liquorice. Roasted finish. Well balanced.

75 cL bottle, courtesy of joergen. Pours pitch black with a dense tan head. Dry and roasted to mild smoked aroma. Subdued sweetness and malty flavoured. Light chocolate touch to a dense roasted malt base. Ends dry and roasted with a lasting smoked note from the back of the nose.

From bottle, 75 cl. today, @ Pre-zbf days Alvinne. Almost clear amber - dark red color with a creamy, good lacing, beige head. Aroma malt, roasted, smoked. Medium body. Taste complex, sweet, heavy smoked, and good bitterness. Nice one.

bottle, thanks to SHIG, pours very dark brown, almost black with a tall dark tan head. Aroma has light coffe notes and some smokeyness with dark malt. Flavors start out with some sweet dark malt and a light spice and turn into a smoked malt bitterness that is out of this world. Tons of sweet dark fruit and maltyness in the finish riding alongside the smoke flavor that is so good and begs to be revisited. This is awesome beer.

The smoke here is subtle, and the stout is nice, but ultimately too sweet. All the regular components; sweet raisin/plum, full body, soft wood and leafy/herbal essences (although faint in this area). Smoke is subdued, very nice on the nose but not in the flavor. The beer doesn’t have a lot of head, but it isn’t fully dead either. I like these beers by De Molen - this one is good but not great. Thanks Edo.

Bottle at Monk’s Café, Stockholm
Dark brown color; too much carbonation. It has the aroma of a Stout, with a shade of smoked malt. Medium to thin body, with chocolate and roasted malt flavor, very light smoked touch and very light sourness. It’s 95% Stout and 5% Smoked. I took it because I like Smoked beers, but this one doesn’t deserve much attention.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Wallingatan, Stockholm) Black colour with a frothy, pale brown head. Malty, roasted nose with notes of chocolate and smoke. Malty, roasted taste with smoke, chocolate, dark fruit, tar and a dry, balanced cocoa bitterness in the finish. Nice balance, the smoke doesn’t really get too dominant. Very nice one.