De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis (Bordeaux)

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

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle #126 split with Pat, Joe Beck, and Mr. Fannon. Brownish black pour, not much head at all, small lace, aromas of chocolate, almonds, cabernet, and bourdeaux. Taste is toffee, caramel, coffee beans, dark chocolatem apples, roasty sugars, merlot or another sweet red wine. Flavor was as complex as you can get and constantly change on each sip especially as it warmed slightly. Warming as can be. Another gem from the best brewer in Europe.

Bottle, thanks to Benzai. It pours very brown-black, with a thin, bubbly beige head. The nose is spiced fruit cake, cocoa, medicinal, fig, currant, prune and a touch of red wine. The taste is roasted malt, medicinal aspect, herb, pepper, burnt cake, spice, treacle, cola, vinous, date, fig, currant and alcohol warmth, with a dry finish. Full body and moderate carbonation. Good, but doesn’t stand up against the Misto/666/Wild Turkey versions.

Bottle at home in London with Paul. Pours oily, red-brown-black with a small, off-white bubble head. Dark malt aroma, some booze, dark fruits, dark cocoa. Medium to big sweet flavor, some dry wood, burnt sugar, burnt wood, baking cocoa. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Warm finish, fairly dry wood, oily chocolate, some dark bread. Very good. Quite big. The only real red wine characteristic would be the woody dryness. Very nice overall, though.

Tiny-ass bottle thanks to largadeer. Darkest brown in color with no head really. Dark chocolate, anise, coffee, and vinous aromas. Dark chocolate flavor, slightly tannic, with roast, coffee, and Bordeaux. Full-bodied And syrupy as a mofo with low carbonation. Tasty beer but a bit too much to drink a lot of it.

18 cl bottle at the Farmer’s Cabinet De Molen dinner served with a Duo of Beets. Dark brown with ruby edges and a trace of foam. Nose is chocolate, espresso, hay and hints of red wine. Medium to full body with a tingle. Taste is dark chocolate, wood and dry red wine. Great balance on this one, just enough of the barrel to compliment and expand on the base brew.

Small bottle from Countbeer! Black with a ruby hue around the top of the pour with no head. Somewhat roasted, more sweet malts, mellow tannin, light vanilla and alcohol, bit of chocolate. Low carbonation, moderate body, bittersweet, prickly, thick as it progresses, little dry, some oak and more tannin on the finish. Quite tasty.

#1209 bottle; nose is vanilla, coffee, mediumsweet alcohol, sweet tobacco, mellow dry grape, feel is mediumwatery, carb is low, taste is decent mediumsweet oak, cough syrup, walnut, later some cooked vegetables, velvet alcohol

Bottle thanks to bulldogp04; shared by me at my house. Pours black with no head. Nose/taste of chocolate, vanilla, oak and vinous notes. Medium body.

UPDATED: DEC 3, 2011 Bottled on 21 Sept 2010. Very dark brown colored, almost no head. Nose of a classic Hel & Verdoemenis, molasses seem to be a bit more apparent, perhaps some fruit. Smooth initially sweet and later on more sour flavor, seems thinner than the regular version. Lots of liquorice and coffee in finish, quite bitter. An explosion of flavors, but this is definitely not the best H&V variation in terms of balance. Still, not bad at all.

Bottle 263 of 600. Pitch black pour with zero head and not a single bubble or spot on the glass. Aroma definitely toned down compared to other barrel treatments. Cocoa, vanilla, oak, and deep red wine in the nose. Not as aggressive or rich as the others, the wine undoubtedly cuts through the chocolate and adds some fruitiness.