De Molen Rasputin

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

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle, 33cl. Pours black with a lovely tan head. Smells fruity, with lots of coffee, and malt. Tastes of a heavy sweetness, medium bitter, and some tartness. Espresso bitterness, tangy fruity sweetness, and lots of malt. Creamy texture. Soft carbonation. Finishes tart and bitter, with a medium duration. Excellent.

330ml bottle. Extra dark with a head like the best of the trappist beers, leaving lacing and a creamy cap as it diminishes. Aroma is stunning yet subtle, with perfume and spices riding atop chocolate and dark fruit. Taste just about lives up to the nose with the same features. Palate has the thickness of a quadrupel, with alcohol heat kept at bay for the most part. A really excellent imperial stout.

Bottle from Vinmonopolet in Valkendorfsgate, Bergen. First of all, I have to comment the bottling: while I think this is one good-looking bottle, I still think wax + wired cork is a *little* overkill. Wax is cool, and wired cork is cool too, but the two of them combined meant that I had to spend around 3 minutes opening the damn bottle. Which is not so cool. I mean, seriously, one of the two must surely be enough? I can deal with the lambic people having double corks on their brews (which has to do with the potentially super-high carbonation levels in some bottles because of the yeast acting up) but this is an imp stout. I had to watch out for falling wax debris to enter my beer. Give it a break. :-P Ok, now for the rating: pours a near-black super deep brown body which looks pitch black in the glass but gives off a brown-red shine if exposed to light. Big beige head that sticks around for quite a while. Nice. Nose is salty licorice, dark chocolate and soy tones, hints of pine, wild strawberries (unusual but very nice) and wet, freshly cut grass. Complex and original. Taste is a mellow and very solid blend of licorice, grain, sweet malts, herbs, grass, hints of wild strawberries and vanilla. Quite sweet, but with a nice bitter (wet) grassy finish it’s all good. Delicious, lactic-creamy full mouthfeel with a soft carbonation. Really tasty and with lots of character. I think this is one of the best imperial stouts I’ve had from De Molen. Now, if they could only quit that wax-on-top-of-wire-stuff in the future... :-P

12 oz. bottle, pours black with a head that explodes out of the bottle (maybe due to shipping). Aroma dark roasted malts, chocolate, espresso, hops and burnt caramel. Flavour brings out the strongest of roasted malts and pungent hops, with a little licorice and maybe some liqueur. Wonderfully complex on the palate. Alcohol is well-worked though there is a little burn on the finish, combined with the hops and intense roastiness. Most delicious.

Brewed in December, bottled in January, opened in September. I think this is the best time to open it. Some sweet fruits, licorice and roasted malts. Quite light for an imperial stout but really really well made. Great balance and amazing flavor. More awesomeness from the Molen.

An excellent imperial stout from De Molen. I’m really imprssed with this. I bought it on import from Cracked Kettle. I am drinking the 33cl bottle. There is a 75cl and a 33cl respectively. A powerful complex aroma of caramel malt; leather, vanilla and oak. Alcohol prominent. Can taste caramel; chocolate, vanilla on the mouth. An awesome beer. Worth the cost too. I think it could do with a few more hops and or an add of spices then it would be that much more awesome. Please seek out when you can. Limited release.

UPDATED: SEP 27, 2010 Deep black colour. Sweetness of cherry and hops. Heavy malts, coffee or even liquorish. Long bitter aftertaste. Amazing flavour. (On tap at the brewery.)

one of the most delicious beer I’ve ever tasted. magnetic and intense as Rasputin.

Draft Disputin at Max’s on Broadway in Baltimore, MD. (you gotta love the name change!) Pours jet black. Nose of sweet chocolate and licorice. Taste of sweet chocolate, crunchy coffee and licorice. Really blown away by the strong taste. A world class stout from my 100th’s imperial stout rating.

UPDATED: OCT 26, 2011 2010 bottle #62/960. Pours a very dark brown with a huge creamy and porous head. Aroma: chocolate, roasted malt, perhaps some cream, some kind of fruit or berries. Taste: dark chocolate, cacao, licorice, alcohol/vinous, maybe liqueur, dark berries, dry finish. Pretty full-bodied with soft bubbles. Smooth and balanced for the ABV.
Draught: as good as the bottle, I think, but feels a bit different. Licorice, chocolate, ashes, honey, creamy, pretty sweet and medium bitter.