Cuvee #5
Brouwerij De Molen

 

 

i love de molen, seriously one of my favorite operations, and its been a long time since i have had or seen anything new from them. this pricey little red waxed bottle was a sight for sore eyes! its nice and chocolatey colored on the pour, highly viscous and with a bigger head than a lot of these de molen barrel aged dark beers have had, an inch high, tan, and lasting only a short time. there is some fish food looking sediment in the bottom of this, but it settles quickly and doesnt distract much from the experience. the aroma is crazy, super peaty scotch, maybe some smoked malt too, and the de molen ale yeast i love so much. huge tobacco and molasses gunky sticky malt intensity, along with raisin and cherry fruitiness, port wine, musty old oak, and an odd slightly astringent tartness, past tannic, but not an off flavor to me, just totally overwhelms the nostrils as a whole, what a monster of a beer. the flavor is very scotch driven, boggy wet peat and dry campfire smoke, slight iodine and lemony acid, minerals, char, wet forest, lit cigar, melted dark chocolate, porridge, and roasted barley. its complex but cohesive, and the faint acidity here doesnt bother me. the peatiness is awesome, this is earthy and boozy and huge, with barleywine, old ale, and russian imperial stout characteristics. special beer, but to me they all are from these guys! nice to share this with an old friend, but a big one to crack before noon...

 

Sour and peaty. Yuck.

 

 

 

 

I am so sick and tired of wasting my money on $**ty infected beer. After having one sip I knew there was something wrong. This beer cost me $10 and I can't enjoy a single ounce. It is BS that they allow this to be on the shelves when it is infected. Sour cherries, chemicals, burnt rubber, and alcohol. Do no buy this beer and yell at any store trying to sell it. I wish I saw the reviews before buying this. What a joke.

I'd like to write an in depth review but I don't have much here.

It's a sour stout. There's some peaty scotch notes on the sour nose but it's doesn't come off well.

The flavor is the same failure the blend just doesn't work. It's like a kid making a suicide and doing a terrible mix. The sad part is I think there are two good beers here just mixed for no reason.

 

Bottle date 26-1-2016

Pours deep brown with modest head but dissipates quickly. Lots of sediment in bottle.

Mouthfeel is thin, which is disappointing for what it is.

Initial hits of astringent barrel sourness, heavily smokey. As it warms a bit of the roastiness comes out. Little to no chocolate notes. Chili peppers and sea salt bring a sharp but quickly lost bite being lost into the smoke and sour flavors going on. I don't get any scotch here.

Complex and confusing. Want to love it for what's going on but can't seem to feel like something went wrong with this.

 

10-27-16 - On tap at Monk's in Philly. This was my last after a bowl of Thai curry mussels....my dessert beer. Smoky, peaty, and damp taste and aroma - Like a fire that you just put out with a bucket of water. Of course I'm glad I tried it, but this may be my first "once and done". My palette hasn't matured enough to enjoy this one.

On tap at local option, chicago. I don't know what Acetaldehyde is but this does have a chemical smell and taste. Bartender claims they might be the only place in the US that has this on tap right now. So with it's exclusivity in mind, it should be better. Good thing this place has a stellar lineup of stouts on tap. I'm gonna finish this one and switch to one of the 3 different speedway stouts or the Prairie bomb. All of which I'll choose every time over this.

 

 

Appearance: Pours fudge brown with a very modest head that fades to a ringlet; limited lacing

Smell: Acetaldehyde

Taste: Acetaldehyde

Mouthfeel: Medium body with low carbonation

Overall: This beer needs to disappear from the shelves - it is infected

Batch was off.