De Molen Eiken Hel & Verdoemenis

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

Bottle at home. Pours a clear dark brown with a beige head. Smells a bit of alcohol. Sweet with aromas of caramal and toasted malts. Also aromas of dates, oak, and brown sugar. Hides alcohol well. Medium to full bodied with a slightly sticky mouthfeel. Medium carbonation. Some residual sugars towarsd the end. Long toasted finish.

Sampled at DØE Beerfestival 2009, Valby. Pours a very dark/black beer without a head. The aroma is coffee and chocolate. The flavor is coffee and vanilla. The palate has no carbonation. Overall this is a really great beer.

The color is black and the head is creamy. The aroma has notes of chocolate, oak and licorice. The flavour has a light sweetness and notes of roasted malt, chocolate, licorice, light tannic acid form the oak, vanilla and light plum. It is extremely harmonic and truly wonderful!

Bottled at Monks Café. Wallingatan, Stockholm. Pours out in an opque black colour with a small bubbly pale brown head. Strong rock-solid yet really well-rounded aroma of dark chocolate, oak, brown sugar, tobacco, vanilla and sweet licorice. Full-bodied with comact notes of oak, luxury dark chocolate, almonds, sweet licorice and fudge. Low carbonation with a thick mouthfeel. Long warming finish of dark chocolate, espresso, brown sugar, vanilla and oak.

33cl Bottle from De Bierkoning. Pitch black, no head. Aroma of sweet chocolate, alcohol, dark fruits, whiskey. Flavour is rather sweet, chocolate, roasted malts, bit of coffee, some dark fruits, alcohol, bit of plastic. Light bitterness. Very thick, syrupy mouthfeel, but the absence of carbonation makes this beer tough to finish. I prefer the regular H&V, still this is very nice.

Chestnut-hued obsidian. Creamy and tight off-beige head. Plasticlike phenols, stewed plums, and alcohol and permeate the nose with lighter shades of burnt toffee and scorched malt hulls. Soft and viscous on the tongue. Tacky and weighty, initially, with a surge of tangy molasses and liquefied licorice. Metallic and irony, with a medicinal sharpness which greatly hampers the body with too much weight before clashing with the brash phenols. Extremely brash and plasticlike, throughout. Dab of espresso and well-defined crisp roast attempt to impart some brightness as well as dryness, but entirely succumb to the pervasive plastic, alcohol, and overbearing medicine-steeped fruit character. Finishes off-putting in its raspy sweet and tart blend of medicine, molasses, stewed plums and plastic. Dry espresso and bitter chocolate remain submerged beneath the tacky goo. The residual weight is not only oppressive here, but obliterates virtually all malt subtleties. Boozy, plastic-laden, seemingly unfinished. Quite flawed.

(33cl bottle # 262, also sampled from a 750ml bottle) Pours a deep mahogany body with a spare off-white head. Aroma of smoke, roastiness, coffee, wood, light chocolate, and cognac. Flavor of cognac, vanilla, roasted malt, coffee, and oak.

Bottle on the train to Huddersfield, with Craig.Opaque black with practically no head at all. Full bodied. Malty aroma with lots of roasted notes, chocolate, some vanilla and oak. Sweet but well balanced taste. Wonderful !!