De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis (Bordeaux)

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

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Bottle. Deep red brown color, pretty small cream head. Aroma has subtle roast, wine, some smoke, liqourice, vanilla, oak and bread. Taste has roast, oak, smooth coffee, liquorice, smoke, alcohol, sugar, grapes. Very heavy, albeit fairly easy to drink. Almost no carbonation.

Bottle at Patricks. Black colour with a tan head. Aroma is alcohol, smoked, malt, oak, wine. Flavour is alcohol, smoked, malt, hop, coffee, cocoa, oak, wine. Nice beer.

Pours opaque deep brown with no head at all. First thing to strike me in the aroma is cat shit. Very weird. Behind that there is leather, oak qualities and some smoke, notes of port, alcohol and roast. Clear evidence of the french red wine barrels that provides some nice dryness to the beer. Some sweet vanilla and caramel notes as well. Taste is more focused on the malts with liquorice, chocolate and roast, dry wood characteristics, tar. Very complex in taste, but lacking some complexity in the aroma. Carbonation is very low, large mouthfeel, but not as thick as you might expect a 13% imperial stout to be. Nice to taste other barrels than bourbon on the legendary Hel & Verdoemenis.

180 ml red-waxed capped green bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Bordeaux barrel aged. Bottle No. 484 out of a batch of 600 bottles. Brewed 31. March 2010, bottled 21. Sept. 2010. O.G. 1105, F.G. 1027. ABV 13%. 99.9 EBU. Bittering hops Premiant, final hops Saaz. Pitch black colour, very low and coarse tan head. Strong and intense aroma with roasty notes, also notes of sweetened strong coffee, chocolate, oak and claret. Minimal carbonation in the glass. Rich flavour, loads of malty sweetness and strong roasty notes, also strong oaky notes with just a hint of claret. Will probably benefit from a few years’ cellaring,. Declared good for 25 years if stored cool and dark. Recommended serving temperature 15 degrees C.

Pours almost black with brown/golden edges. Aroma is soooo fantastic. Chocolate chocolate chocolate, nuts and a nice hint of redwine and earthy notes and also some hops to balance out the chocolate sweetness. Flavour is so nice too. Hops, chocolate, redwine and earthy notes comes together in a very nice and balanced beer :o)

Bottle, bought @ Ølbutikken, Cph,
Pours oily pitch black with no real head. Incredibly complex aroma. Lots of grapes, vinious, some roasted malts, dark chocolate, cocoa-powder, mild coffee, some oak, light tartness. Light rubber (but somehow in a good way). Low carbonation, oily mouthfeel. Flavour is fairly mild, lots of roasted malts and dark chocolate, oaky, some blackberries, mild spiciness. Lots of warming viniousness. Really lovely.

Bottle kindly passed on by Craig (I think?) Cheers Craig, consumed at The Shoulder of Mutton, Wantage, Oxon, with Peter Fowler (ex Pitsop Brewery) 14.01.11 Black, jet black, sharky eye black, black hole black, yep this is one of the darkest blackest Impy Stouts I’ve ever see. Bit flat and lacking any life, but nice aroma, red wine and some wet wood, oaky touch creamy. Taste is good, really easy drinking, alcohol is marvelously hidden, some fruity wine flavour’s, smooth bit coffee and liqourice, it’s good stuff, however I’m beginning to tire a little of Big Imperial Stouts at the moment. A7 A3 T7 P5 Ov14 3.4

Bottle 180ml #206 @ Patricks Pub og Restaurant, Kristiansand
Pours black with no head. Aroma has notes of malt, wood, oak, red wine, vanilla, licorice, chocolate, fruity hops. Taste is light sweet and bitter with the warmth of alcohol. Body is full, texture is oily, carbonation is flat.

Bottle: Bottle number: 600/569. Some brown airy bubles on top of this beer. A black, like cola, colored beer. Smell liquorice, dark chocolate, brown sugars, roasted malts and spices, vanilla, hints of wood and vanilla. Taste liquorice, liquorice wood, toffee, dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, hops, bitter and dark spices.  Light coffee bitter liquorice grassy aftertaste. Silky mouthfeel, low to no carbo and a full body.

Bottle from Kamiel (Countbier) - Handed over at the second Borefts Beer Festival at De Molen in Bodegraven. Thanks. This H and V has from the very beggining of Menos beginning of making them been one of my absolute favorits. Especially the Eiken versie with cognac was really good. Now it has been on bourbeaux barrel - and Im kind of a sucker for beers aging on wine barrels so Im looking forward to this red-waxed beauty. The pour is rather disappointing and without any head and any signs of carbonation. Not as thick as I remember and not completely black. When turned against the light it has a redish glow in the edges. The nose is good. Its roasted and heavy malted with traces of caramels, coffee, vanilla, a bit of smoke and black peppercorns. The palate is medium to watery and without any carbonation at all. Thats a shame. The taste is richly flavour and I get impressions like burned almond, roasted malts, coffee, chocolate with an extreme high persentage of cacao. The alcohol is clear in the finish where it tends to burn your mouth a little. A can’t really tell what the barrels have added to this batch. The mild sourness that usually is seen in these red-wine aged bottles are not in mine. I Guess im kinda disappointed, especially the lack of carbonation at all is a shame imo. Cheers everybody and happy new year... tomorrow its back to work. Cheers