De Molen Tsarina Esra Imperial Porter

Brewed by Brouwerij de Molen
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Bodegraven, Netherlands

Bouteille de 330 ml obtenue via un échange avec Chouffegnome99. Arôme: Odeur de torréfaction avec une pointe d’anis. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Saveur: Goût de chocolat et de caramel avec une pointe de petits fruits foncés. Longue durée de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est plein avec une texture sirupeuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Alcool en arrière goût. (Rating #1624)

My Bottom Line:
The controlled sweetness of aniseed and vanilla swims in warming alcohol until an abrasive finishing bitterness provides plenty of roastiness and hoppiness for this atypical Baltic Porter.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam barely surrounds the brown-sleeved black; even if I swirled the beer in the glass, it could not muster any decent head.
-The aroma was not really inviiting (nor intense); I really had to dig into it to find a few objects of interest.
-The mouthfeel is slick and rather loose, not helped by the nearly dormant carbonation.
-That spicy sweetness is almost minty at times.
-There aren’t too many residual sugars in here, which is nice, but I didn’t find lots of mindblowing maltiness either. The body is rather slender for a beer this size.
-This tasted like it needed a lot more time to become more cohesive.

Bottle; thx Marc et Éric!

12oz bottle shared at west lakeview this past weekend..... poured a dark brown, considerably darker than de molen’s impy stout, with a wispy head.... aroma of black licorice, chocolate, and a little roast that was followed up with dark, roasty smoked chocolate which was semi-watery but ultimately went down well.

33cl bottle. pours black with no head. aroma of bakers chocolate. flavors are loaded with baker’s chocolate, coffee roast. really smooth around the edges. alcohol is very well hidden. yummy!

Bottle thanks to kramer17801. Aroma is a really intense, complex individual character. There’s an interesting depth that comes as unique, bready mature yeast character, but nothing bad. It’s just so fragrant, delicate and nuanced. Mature, chocolately, bright and crisp. It has that extra edge of something I can explain that puts it in an upper echelon of unique quality. I think the high level of hopping contributes to the beauty of the aroma, but it melds really well. Pours a dense oily black, with very little head. Flavor continues in the vein of the nose. There’s some warm spiced bread, dark fruit jams, then a good run of chocolate and coffee. Immeadiately, I’m reminded of Mikkeller X Imperial Stout, for having the faintest edge of funk. Dense, nutty and sweet. I’m not overwhelmed by stickiness or alcohol, which makes this really special. There’s distinct fresh roast character that originates from Cashews, toasted breads, and caramel. Finishes clean and long drawing. I could sip this for hours. Dense and packed with flavor. A really nice example. Worthy of its status.

Sampled by bottle at West Lake View Tasting. I’m glad I got to try this, especially since I’m told this won’t be coming to America at all. Pours brown black with almost no head. Nose is strong and rich. Chocolate, roasted malts, and molasses. Sweet chocolate flavors. Caramels, alcohol, dark chocolate, and anise. Charred and toasted grains in the finish. I’m not blown away, but overall its a really good beer.

Name: Tsarina Esra
Date: March 22, 2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Words: number 40
Appearance: dark brown, scant head, thick viscous layers on the glass
Aroma: rich dark chocolate aroma with a winey sweetness
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, sweetness comes in with wine and dark caramel, lots of bitter dark chocolate to balance the sweetness along with an almost smokey earthyness, lasting bitterness rises out of the earthyness
Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ***+ /4

12oz bottle, courtesy of kramer17801. Thanks, Jason! Pours an oily, dark chocolate color; solid viscosity; mostly headless. Gorgeous aroma: oily peanuts, roasted malts, a touch of salt, and maple syrup in the aroma; all beautifully integrated; loads of roasted chocolate and salty/sweet oiliness. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: lots of oily peanuts, roasted / charred malts, and lots of dense, gooey chocolate; minimal carbonation; loads of dark chocolate, dried fruits, and chewy, oily peanuts; nice citrus and general bittering hops to balance things out; very oily, very full of chocolate; impressively dense, with very little alcohol showing through. Lengthy finish, showing oily chocolate, cocoa, and plenty of nuts and peanuts; cocoa and dry toasted grains.