De Molen Hemel & Aarde (Heaven & Earth)

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

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: JAN 13, 2012 Bottle 1068; Sampled July 2010
The beer pours with a creamy, tightly beaded, brown tinged, dark tan colored head that sits on top of a black and viscous looking body. The aroma is salty and a touch sour’ish some how; this turns into peat smoke and roasted, dark coffee notes pretty quickly though. There is a deep, toasted peanut aromatic note to this beer which is quite intriguing and as the beer warms up rich notes of chocolate start to come out.

The beer feels thick and viscous as it first hits my tongue; it really clings to the palate quite a bit. There is a really nice mix of peat smoke, roasted peanuts, dark roasted espresso, burnt malt, burnt cocoa, malt sweetness and even a touch of cherry like character to this brew. The finish has a sharp smokiness to it as well as a bitterness that is distinctly contributed from burnt grain and the hop character. This is very nicely balanced between flavors of roasted nuttiness, peat smoke and rich malt; I am really enjoying this far more than I expected, as I was needlessly worried that this would be horribly peat influenced. A fantastic brew that I wish I had more of.

Bottle # 302, November 2008 Bottle Date; Sampled December 2011
4.0, 8/4/8/4/16
As expected, the beer is a bit of a gusher, but only slightly as I easily have enough time to get it into my glass. I end up with four-fingers (including one above the rim of my Lost Abbey Teku glass) of darkly brown tinged foam. The beer is a concentrated brown, near perfectly black color that shows opaque, but perhaps a touch more brown when held up to the light. The aroma reaks of smoky phenolic notes, it is almost oily smelling in its smokiness with touches of smoked salt, lots of peat smoke, some burnt / smoky plastic edges to it (this last being typical of peat malt in high concentrations in beer); the burnt / smoky plastic isn’t nearly as overwhelming as it could be, and in fact is at a low enough level that it doesn’t detract here. There seems to be a touch of underlying funkiness here (is this being suggested to me by the slight gushing) that seems to lean towards Brettanomyces like funkiness, but only just barely.

Somewhat rich feeling as it rolls across the palate, this isn’t incredibly viscous, but certainly has a chewy heft to it. There is a ton of smokiness and umami character to this beer, which helps to hide the malt sweetness that might otherwise be noticeable in this brew; the sweetness is here in the finish, where it accentuates a chocolate / cocoa flavor. There is a phenolic sharpness here (it seems to almost play the role that hop bitterness usually does) that adds a touch of burnt / curing plastic notes; this seems to also be from a touch of wild yeast and / or Brettanomyces, but it could just be all from the Peat smoked whisky malt. I do like how the dark maltiness combines with the peat smoke in this beer, it really reminds me of a rich, smoky, very dark chocolate at times. There seems to be a fruitiness to this beer, often overshadowed by the smokiness, but still hinting at notes of burnt prunes and, perhaps even a touch more-so, notes of smoked berries. There is a touch of nuttiness to the flavor, deeply roasted nuttiness, but an almost roasted peanut like character is here. The roast character provides a rich, espresso like edge that pairs well with the smoky character.

This is still quite tasty, I am not sure it will last 25 years, but it is still quite tasty; if there really is a slightly wild thing going on here, all bets are off, this may age wonderfully or may just decline from here on out. For right now though, this beer is quite complex and drinking quite well. Exceedingly enjoyable, and I am glad that I “mistakenly” purchased two of these.

Pitch black brown with a 3" brown crown floating on top. Aroma......smells like a two day old camp fire pit a brick of dark chocolate melted in it, did I mention the fresh rubber boot. So much peat so little time. Big heavy malt bomb with chocolate and some much campfire I’m scared. So high quality. My burp was metallic. Blueberry like sweetness but oh so smokey. No alcohol at all in the flavour. So very dry, oh so smoky. Coffee is really coming through when warm. Man this is good.....I got nothing ells to say.

Bottle. Dark brown / very dark cola pour with a smaller white head. Big roasty nose with rich licorice. Medium palate (for the style). Taste is rich roasty malts, chocolate licorice, and a touch of sweet lactose. This is terrific.

330ml bottle. Dark chocolate, coffee, roasted aromas. Pours really dark, with thin tan head, vanishing, and some lacing. Full body and soft carbonation. Taste is intense coffee, chocolate and roasted malt. Really dense brew, a bit saturating. Long finish.

750ml bottle verey dark Fair brown head. Dark smoke or burnt aroma with some sharpness to the back end. First sip was shocking and I am not sure if I will finish the glass much less the bottle. Second big mouthful and I tell myself that this is smoke and good and then my tongue asks what the sourness, sharpness and disagreeable finish is to which my throught squeezes with assent. Perhaps it is off but I find too much of an off bitterness that now also tastes burnt to really enjoy.

12oz bottle. Thanks to alex for sharing... Pours a tootsie roll deep brown, lesser intense at the edges and topped with a light wispy khaki head... Smoke, charry, cocoa, light in the paper, and peat to go along with the aformentioned... Fluffy mouthfeel with a peaty charred oaky chocolate flavor profile. Smooth and easy going without being overbearing. Tasty.

Bottle @ Home Pitch black with a large frothy light brown head the aromas of roasted malts and smokiness attack you even before you put your nose over the glass once you get there your welcomely surprised by a sweet alcoholic smell that blends excellently with the rest of the aromas and adds a hint of chocolate in the mix now the flavor is dominated with roasted malts and smoke, heavy on the biter side but ends sweet leaving you with a light spicy aftertaste carbonation is soft body is full texture is creamy excellent brew!

Bottle from Davis Beer Shoppe. Pours dark brown with an attractive tan head and a smoked treacle aroma. There is a heavy smoked malt flavor with chocolate and dark molasses. A lot smokier than I expected, but still pretty tasty.

Bottle from marcus. Has a black color with almost no head. Has a chared ash tray flavor. Smokey.

750ml brown bottle, corked. 7 Dec 2011. Deep brown pour, almost black but some ruby showing through. Seems clear, but hard to tell. Deep tan head, small in size but creamy. Smoky nose, peat, light bacony note, roast, dark chocolate. In the mouth the beer is smoky with liquid dark chocolate behind it, earthy. Finishes drier, smoky and roasty, peat and hops attack the throat after swallowing. Not as heavy or thick in body than I was expecting, carbonation is lively and propels everything across the tounge in the right way. Alcohol is not perceptible to me, I’m sure it will hit me later, but this is very easy to drink. Luxurious.

Love this brewery. They don’t play it safe and this beer is quite extreme. Initially the foamy brown head releases the strongest smoke aroma I’ve ever experienced. Reminded me of a smoked eel that my local fish store stocked last summer that would take over my fridge despite the layers of plastic. But the nose and taste settled down and it became quite drinkable. Can’t say I really enjoy it and wouldn’t go out of my way to try it again.