De Molen Bloed, Zweet & Tranen (Bruichladdich, Oak-Aged version)

Brewed by Brouwerij de Molen
Style: Smoked
Bodegraven, Netherlands

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Cask at GBBF 2009: wood, peat smoke, dark chocolate, black coffee, dried fruits, malt, oats, dates, dry finish, another great beer from de Molen.

Cask@GBBF2009. Quite much pitch black colour, small brown head. Aroma is smoke, mild peat, roasted malts, liquorice, coffee, some alcohol and also rather wooden notes. Flavour is a mixup of the same in a rather pleasant way. Once again Menno & co has managed to make a really balanced and pleasant brew.

Wooden Cask at GBBF ’09. Near black with a small off white head. Aroma is of the bark chippings I use to mulch my rose garden, mixed with the excellent Tirasisu that Mrs H whips up for dessert when we have company at The Towers. Taste begins woody, followed by an alcoholic rush of the sort of substances I no longer trust myself to consume. Dry finish. Very wonderful. Best European beer of the Festival.

Wooden cask@GBBF. Opaque black color, small beige head. Amazing smokey tar aroma. Flavor has licorice, peat, smoke, whisky and so on. Palate is a bit lighter than expected. Not showing alcohol much. Excellent! The best new beer I had at GBBF 2009.

Cask Conditioned Gravity Dispense GBBF 09. A black beer with a slight off-white coloured head. The aroma has whiskey notes but not of the peaty nasty variety; far more inviting and scrummy. The taste has prickly mossy whiskey notes behind a light roasted malts base. Hints of chocolate and coffee. Great drinkability.

Cask at GBBF 05-08-09 My last beer of the evening and certainly one of the best. Pours virtually black with a light beige head. Aroma is very woody and wet twig like, smoky its quite in yer’ face but good for it. Taste is smoky but the woodiness is very apparent again, lots of liqourice, bitterness is there with some streaks of citrus, bitter chocolate. Lovely stuff that doesn’t suffer from any unecessary cloying sweetness. A8 A4 F8 P4 Ov17 4.1

Cask (gravity) wooden barrel @ GBBF 09, Great British Beer Festival, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, England.
Clear dark brown color with a small to average, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, caramel, smoke - peat, wood - barrel, light chocolate, alcohol notes. Flavor is light heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration. Body is medium to full, texture is oily - creamy, carbonation is flat. Again a master work by Menno - very balanced version of his already very nice smoked beer with scotish malt and then barrel ageded it and not oak aged ! [20090804]

Cask @ GBBF 2009. A black colored beer, with a dark beige head. The aroma of roasted malts and oak. There is bitter with a little sweet. The taste is bitter with roasted malts, some fruits, dry, woody with notes of whiskey. The aftertaste is woody and bitter.

Draught at Borefts Beer Festival 2010. Nice improvement in the barrel with this one, adds aroma and a bit more complexity.

From the barrel at the Great British Beer Festival, Day 1, August 2009. Very dark brown colour. Lots of smoky Islay notes as one might expect but not so peaty / medicinal as some of the "Islay" beers. Presumably because this uses Bruichladdich malt but is aged in a non-Islay barrel. Although the distillery has made some big changes since the change of ownership it was not traditionally one of the peatier Islay malts. All this makes for a well-balanced and nicely drinkable beer that is not too OTT on the Islay character and should be palatable even to Islay-haters.