Hemel & Aarde
Brouwerij De Molen

Hemel & AardeHemel & Aarde
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From:
Brouwerij De Molen
 
Netherlands
Style:
Smoked Beer
Ranked #10
ABV:
10%
Score:
90
Ranked #9,863
Avg:
4.02 | pDev: 10.2%
Reviews:
83
Ratings:
218
Status:
Active
Rated:
Apr 10, 2023
Added:
Aug 26, 2009
Wants:
  14
Gots:
  43
Hemel & Aarde is brewed with the most heavily peated malts we could find. Not for the fainthearted. This powerful brew overwhelms you with smoke, chocolate and coffee. Flavour indication: smoke, chocolate, coffee Translates as Heaven & Earth
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by wl0307:
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Reviewed by wl0307 from England

4.25/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
At 10%abv., coming in a slim 330ml brown bottle; bottling date 03/05/2012, served mildly chilled in a long-stemmed wine goblet. Notes: the beer label specifies the ingredients to include water, munich, cara, brown, bruichladdish barley malts, premiant and sladek (late hopping) and yeast.

A: pitch black in colour, coming with a 1cm thick creamy dark khaki frothy head with very good retention, on top of rather mild carbonation.
S: the dense and oily aroma upfront is dominated 50-50 by the peated malts and savoury-sweet black prune-ish notes; given a good swirl, the pronounced peatiness mixes well with bitter cocoa, gristy black beans, vanilla, plummy fruit esters, black cherry skins, and bitter-sweet root herbs as of licorice. Complex, but also strangely the aroma is uplifted by the lovely peaty edge of the malts.
T: smooth in carbonation, the foretaste is slightly metallic, savoury-sweet and robustly peated-malty, delivering lots of smoky and deep-roasted aroma alongside smoked longan-fruits, black prunes, licorice roots and bitter chocolate syrup, followed by a dry tinge of herbal bitterness as well as a thick body of lubricating Munich and brown malts with an aromatic bready touch. The bitterness retains its intensity towards the finish, where the peated-malt and smoked prune-ish aroma lingers with excellent earthy undertones to elevate an otherwise potentially heavy aftertaste.
M&O: the mouthfeel is excellent, lubricating and soothingly carbonated at the same time, while the fulsome body doesn’t go quite heavy at all. This is a successful, robust and yet very approachable Russian Imperial Stout that drinks so well alone, but can also benefit from different types of barrel-ageing. Highly recommended.
Sep 17, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.5 by FarmerF from Netherlands

Apr 10, 2023
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Reviewed by jkblr from Indiana

3.85/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
11.2oz bottle with a partial date code that could be 12/03/12 or 12/03/18 (at least 5 years old) poured into a tulip glass at fridge temp 10% ABV per label. The beer pours black, no highlights and minimal brown head. The head recedes to a thin ring and little else. The aroma is smokey peat and old leather. The taste is semisweet, peaty, oxidized malt with notes of pipe tobacco and leather. Negligible bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with low carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, interesting. Not sure I'd gamble on another dusty bottle at room temperature, but I'd probably jump on a fresh bottle just for the experience.
Mar 06, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by archero from Texas

May 21, 2022
Photo of jdhilt
Reviewed by jdhilt from New Hampshire

4.68/5  rDev +16.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Pours a three-finger brown head that fades slowly, leaving some lace. Black color, no highlights, some yeast left in bottle. Medium carbonation and medium-heavy bodied. Nose is a smoky caramel. Flavor has sweetness with caramel, chocolate. Higher ABV, 10%, not noticeable. Bottled Dec 3, 2016. $6.89 for 330ml bottle from Beverage Warehouse, Winooski, VT.
Mar 18, 2022
Photo of Fordcoyote15
Reviewed by Fordcoyote15 from Pennsylvania

4.78/5  rDev +18.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Looks incredible. Smells more like an islay whisky with notes of beer than a beer with notes of whisky, fucking love it. If Islay scotch isn't your thing I can already tell you not go buy this. Islay is my preferred scotch region and rauchiers/smoked beers are a favorite style so this has my attention where it may not have the mainstream.

"The smell of hospitals in winter", bandaids, iodine, and peat dominate. But there IS beer underneath. Char, oak, leather follow but I swear I'm still getting beer.

There's a not so dark maltiness in this smell that reminds me of a dortmunder or Vienna lager.

Okay enough salivating on the aroma... the taste is so ungodly well balanced between beer and whisky I'm at a loss. Bitter. Char. Roast. It's an absolute old school stout gracefully melded perfectly with scotch whisky. Amazingly the flavors take on a classic RIS with [heavy] notes of scotch whereas the aromas do leave you expecting the inverse.

It's so extraordinarily charred, roasty, bitter and peaty. Its a reminder of just how fucking far "beer" has come. Milkshake slushies and 28 adjunct pastry stouts are a different beverage than what this is.

This is one I dont even want to write about further as a first experience. I just want to enjoy it. I already know ill be back to revist and will add for better or worse further impressions and notes.


Mouthfeel maybe perfect.

Overall best beer of 2022 no doubt. Maybe best beer ive had in 2021 and 2022 (but that probably puts it up against hel and verdomenis i had in 2021).
Mar 09, 2022
 
Rated: 3.8 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Feb 24, 2022
Photo of kitch
Reviewed by kitch from Hong Kong

4.17/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
A 330ml bottle, bottled on 28th November 2014, and with a best before date of 28th November 2039. Poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: Black in colour with no head and no lacing.

Aroma: Smoky, bacon, roasty, chocolate, coffee.

Taste: Roasty malts, smoke, peat, bacon, chocolate, coffee, light ash, and slight bitter finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Overall: A nice peaty smoked imperial stout like beer. It’s a good sipper, and one for those that enjoy peat.
Jan 20, 2021
 
Rated: 4.3 by DvdP from Netherlands

Dec 13, 2020
 
Rated: 4.09 by desint from Belgium

May 01, 2020
 
Rated: 4.3 by beerrat from Virginia

Nov 17, 2019
Photo of puck1225
Reviewed by puck1225 from Texas

4.28/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Found a bottle at Susan’s Fine Wine in Santa Fe, NM. Bottled in 2012, so nicely aged.

This beer, as far as flavors and feel go, is smooth as silk; probably helped by the aging. Pours very dark brown with a cream beige head and excellent lacing. Smokey, earthy smell and taste. Herbal, dark wine flavors mixed in. Very interesting array of flavors, nothing really dominant. Like an imperial stout. Some dark chocolate as vanilla he beer warms. Nice, comforting beer!
Oct 13, 2019
 
Rated: 3.64 by Chuckdiesel24 from Illinois

Aug 15, 2019
Photo of pdavis7465
Rated by pdavis7465 from Maine

3.71/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Found it in my collection. 7 years old. It still had a strong coffee flavor and the peatiness of a single malt.
Jul 20, 2019
Photo of janubio
Reviewed by janubio from Spain

4/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Served in a balloon glass at Las Buenas Pulgas. Pours a black colour, medium beige head with short retention. Small lacing. Aroma is smokey, with tobacco, leather, vanilla, chocolate. Medium to full body, sticky texture, normal carbonation. Dry finish. Smokey taste, also with tobacco, leather, some chocolate and vanilla. Good one.
Apr 30, 2019
Photo of josanguapo
Reviewed by josanguapo from Spain

2.94/5  rDev -26.9%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
De Zombier. En copa Teku. Viendo Umbrella Academy 2x01. Le echo en falta mayor cuerpo y menos presencia del ahumado, que satura, aplanadlla y tapando los matices propios de las imperial stout
Mar 10, 2019
Photo of Radome
Reviewed by Radome from Florida

4.22/5  rDev +5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 300 ml bottle into a snifter.

L - Deepest brown color and opaque, as expected for the style. Impressive head is light brown in color and piles up several inches high on initial pour. It is sticky and moussey and lasts almost immovably throughout the drinking experience.

S - Aromas of roasted malt include espresso, chocolate and slightly burnt coffee beans. Blended in are the aromas of the barrel, with a strong peat and smoke that immediately makes me think of Islay single malt whiskies. It even has the sharp "medicinal" note of Laphroaig or Lagavulin.

T - The flavors are amazing if you like Islay malts. The peat, smoke, salt, medicine and scotch whisky characteristics pop right out, somewhat overshadowing the Imperial Stout flavors. Those are there as well, with chocolate milk and espresso, but they take a back seat to the barrel character. That's just fine with me, but might turn off some.

F - Thick body with low carbonation, but the effect is silky, smooth and velvety. (I wonder if there are oats in the grist to provide the silky feel?) Strong hops bitterness is evident, despite the lack of overt presence of hops in the flavor or aroma. Alcohol shows a presence, especially in the finish and aftertaste, where a single malt-type bite lingers.

O - Some of the base beer characteristics get subverted by the strong barrel-derived flavors and aromas. But, if you like Imperial Stout and you like peaty, smoky Scotch whiskies, you'll love this like I did. Bravo!
Jan 01, 2019
 
Rated: 3 by Fettpopps from Massachusetts

Dec 19, 2018
 
Rated: 3.74 by BlueSpader from Washington

Aug 09, 2018
 
Rated: 4.08 by Boone757 from Virginia

Jul 29, 2018
Hemel & Aarde from Brouwerij De Molen
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 218 ratings