De Molen Pek & Veren (Tar & Feathers)

2007 Cork Date; Sampled September 2008
A soft pour into my 25cl tulip glass still produces a three finger thick, dark beige / tan colored head that is pretty creamy in consistency. The beer is an almost black color, but shows a brilliantly clear, ruby color when held up to the light. The aroma is full of roast coffee notes that take on a sharp, burnt note towards the finish. Dark chocolate notes are noticeable at times, almost more when you are far away from the glass as the burnt / roast grain notes really seem to dominate the aroma. As my nose gets used to it, the aroma begins to take on a significant, though somehow thin, note of roasted prune juice. There is a touch of earthy saltiness & a hint of peat smoke that only becomes noticeable if you really dig for it. An interesting aroma, that has some real potential if the up front roast character was not so dominant this would have a really complex nose. Though as the beer warms up the roast character in the aroma becomes considerably more balanced and tame.

Soft and creamy feeling with a light, prickly carbonation. This definitely has a salty, peat-smoke flavor to it that sort of creeps up on you through the sip and really becomes noticeable in the finish as it lingers lightly on the palate. This has a fruitiness to it in the flavor as well with notes of prunes and even some caramelized, dried fig being lightly noticeable in the background. Up front there is a fair amount of roast character that provides flavors of a city roast coffee, blackened fruit notes, some burnt acrid / acid notes (that don’t become too pronounced) and some dusty dark cocoa flavors. as the beer warms up the fruitiness becomes more apparent as does a subtle, but significant chocolate character.

I really like the peat-smoke dimension that this beer has, it really helps to tame the roast character in the flavor and makes for an all around, much more balanced beer. Plus the peat-smoke is kept at a reasonable level, so that it is just a supporting component rather than overwhelming / dominating this Stout. This is definitely enjoyable and I am having no problems finishing this 750ml bottle, though it did take me almost two and a half hours.

Purchased: Liquor Max, Loveland CO

Deep brown colour with a beige head. Malty, light smokey aroma with fruity notes. Malty, quite smokey flavor with notes of fruit and meat.

Brownish body, beige head; Quite good quite intense nose; Bitter fresh smooth body; Medium long finish where the smoke arrives for the first time and is quite pleasant.

[Sampled at DØE-festival with Helga, Søren and Anne, Århus 2008.] Not the best, but maybe I need a rerating. Unbalanced, but with the true smokenotes of smoke, malt, bread, some acidity with a dry finish.

Bottle. [thank you, Skortila/caesar] Pours deep red with a small, frothy, beige head. Aroma is lightly smoky, some peitiness, oak, liquorice. Light carbonation, fine mouthfeel. Flavour has some chocolate at first, good peity smoke. Finish has nice caramel and light bitterness. Good.