De Molen Rasputin

75cl Bottle bought at the brewery, from 2008. Deep dark brown colour, big light beige head. Aroma of roasted malts, coffee and hops. Flavour is sweet at first, sugar and chocolate, then roasted malts, a hint of coffee, some earthy bitter hops. Combined roasted and hoppy bitter finish. Almost fullbodied. Lacks a bit of edge, maybe a bit too sweet, but that’s just being picky. Really good beer.

Bottle. Dark brown colour with a pale brown head. Aroma: Only a light rostiness, more of dark fruit, belgian yeast, barn yard, hops and a bit of alcohol. Taste: Initially sweet, then more roasted. Dark fruit, yeast, cocoa, earth, hops, saltiness/licorice and alcohol.

Corked, caged and waxed (!) bottle. #403 of 428
Pours dark brown (almost black) with a fine head. Sweet liquorice and hop aroma. Flavour starts really roasty and ends really hoppy. An Imperial Stout for hop-heads.

bottle at the Pre-ZBF pours black with a tan head. Roasted dark malt aroma. Flavors are smokey and dark fruit with a earthy wood kind of finish. Nice and enjoyable stout.

Bottle at PreZBF at Alvinne. Black coloured with a mediuum sized beige head. Light roasted aroma of caramel, dried fruits and liquorice. Light roasted flavour of caramel, liquorice, chocolate and dried fruits. Roasted finish.

Bottle #54/524. Rich mahogony beer with a tan head. Rich malt and caramel aroma with yeast and light spice. Rich toffee flavor with malt, roast, and light berry fruit. Fuller bodied. Toffee lingers with light burnt sugar, yeast, and light dark fruit.

Very much a belgian royal stout according to my senses. A great, multylayered one though. Light and easy to drink as often with De Molens imperial stouts, still complex and generous with plenty of yeasty fruitness, roasted malts and roasted bitterness.

I just realized this is my 100th Imperial stout rating. It’s taken this hop-head a while to get here.
It’s also my 2nd Impy named "Rasputin." I picked up this 750ml bottle (Number 49) at the Binny’s in Orland Park, IL. It has a mahogany bottle, clear around the edges, with a yellowish tan head that coats the glass with slippery lace. It has an aroma of burnt molasses, roasted malt, anise, thin chocolate syrup, and some dark fruit. It tastes of sweet dark malt, charred wood, dark fruit, Iicorice, and has a light hoppy bitterness. Although it leaves the lips sticky, the finish is surprizingly dry. The alcohol is also fairly well hidden throughout. Quite nice.