Fire, Flood & Plague
Brouwerij De Molen

 

Re-visited March 14th, 2021

Original April 12th, 2020 review ratings: 3.75 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0

The look is the same. The smell exudes more of dark pitted fruit quality; dates. The taste has less licorice or anise qualities, more of a sweet malt presence with heavy chocolate. The feel seems richer, creamier and smoother overall; leaning towards and sweeter mouthfeel than before.

Well, I perceived some sensory shifts this go around. I really enjoyed the slick, silken mouthfeel. All my original ratings remained the same except for a small uptick for the mouthfeel.
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Opaque dark brown body topped with a relatively thin yet lasting light tan, dense and creamy head. Rich smell of milk chocolate and cocoa and just a hint of aromatic spiciness. Sweet chocolate and muted anise greets the palate. Heavy body; slick and oily; heavy residual sugar presence; quiet alcohol heat; sweet yet relatively dry on the palate.

Another old guy I found hidden within my beer stash, but a great beer despite its age. Well-rounded and complex, having an almost chili pepper spiciness poking through the heavy sweetness. Most delicious...

 

 

L: Poured from a bottle to a pint glass. Had a dark brown color and a thick consistency. There was a small amount of foamy, tan-colored head that quickly dissipated. Below average lacing.

S: A decent aroma of licorice, malt, chocolate, hops, and caramel.

T: Tasted of a moderate amount of hops (mostly in the finish), light caramel notes, some roasted malt, a lot of licorice (not a bad thing), and some light chocolate. This isn't fundamentally a bad flavor, but it could have been a little more forceful and aggressive. Still, it's pretty tasty.

F: A fair amount of carbonation with a smooth, if a little thin, finish. Medium-bodied.

O: Not a bad beer at all, but a bit uneven in places. worth a try, though.

 

Poured into a snifter, the appearance was a mostly dark brown color almost black color with a thin rimmed white to off white foamy white to off white head. Dissipates fairly quick. Lacing seems barely there. The aroma leads with the black licorice more than the roasty and sweet coffee and cocoa tones. Subtle vanilla and allspice. The flavor mostly blends the licorice and allspice to the vanilla and roasty and sweet coffee and cocoa bean tones. Gripping semi-sweet and lightly bitter aftertaste leading into a subtle aftertaste and finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a nice sessionabiltiy about it. Carbonation feels good. Overall, not one of my top rated De Molen beers, still good for what it is and I could still have again.

de molen has more differentiation in their huge range of dark beers than anyone out there, and this is another strange one, a slightly smoky porter with licorice in it. it tastes just a bit oxidized to me, like its been resting a minute. lots of chocolate on the nose, big dark malt base with a fudgey cocoa profile and some lighter campfire smoke. i get earthy leather and unlit cigar here, but i dont readily get licorice on the nose, too much chocolate for it to come through i think. the flavor is more balanced, but still has a rich dark chocolate complexion to it, followed by a mild spice, a tea-like property, and the smoke. it has a vegetal hop bitterness to it too, which hasnt faded at all in the finish, and a coffee sort of depth from the dark grain. i really like the layers here, but could certainly take more licorice. with a strange ingredient like this, i really want to taste it more, but its lost a little here to the smoke and cocoa. not quite as highly refined as the other de molen stouts and porters i dont reckon, but cool beer that is definitely them with all these dark malts and their classic yeast strain. a little warming alcohol to finish, where theres smoke here, theres also fire. a neat brew, would have like to try it fresh...

As per label:
9.9% alc./vol. Porter brewed with licorice.
Ingredients: water, barley malts (pils, caramel, crystal, chocolate, brown), bitter hops (galena, amarillo), licorice, top fermenting yeast.

Review:
Moderate pour yields a 1/2 inch tan head over a dark brown body with some lacing. Nose of chocolate, caramel, and yes, licorice. Taste follows with a bit of spicy mint going on as well as the aforementioned aromas with the chocolate malts taking over. Decadently delicious! Nice, almost creamy, mouthfeel that coats the mouth fairly well. Overall, another interesting offering from The Netherlands!

 

 

 

Bottled on February 9 2016, enjoyed November 26 2016 in a tulip. Note that on the import label this was categorized as a porter. The label indication that it was made with liquorice.

Appearance: Pours with minimal creamy white head, lacing very little on the glass. Beautiful dark brown. 4.0

Smell: Roasted malts, dark coffee/espresso, notes of vanilla bean and liquorice. A wonderfully fragrant porter that I could smell the instant I popped the cap. 5.0

Taste: Mellow dark coffee flavour immediately followed by a lingering vanilla with very mild hop bitterness. Pleasant liquorice notes on the aftertaste. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Smooth and velvet, quite thick and chewy. 4.25

This was a lovely brew. Too bad they're only making it once. This is one I would go out of my way to find and enjoy again.

 

Initial sensation on the nose is chocolate fudge brownies and licorice. There's a hint of vanilla, anise, and that signature roasted malt aroma that seems to be ubiquitous with most de Molen beers lingering toward the back. Roasty espresso-like notes also emerge once the beer is given time to breathe and warm up.

Chocolate fudge brownie leads the way, accentuated heavily by the medicinal / root-like after flavor of licorice. There's also a hint of hazelnut and vanilla that follow the overall sweet-medicinal flavor, which is well wrapped up in the end by a medium-roast espresso-like bitterness. I just belched and the anise and licorice is a lot more pronounced in it than what I tasted on the palate. Weird.

Medium-full bodied, on the verge of being sticky, actually. It's got a nice velvety texture to it which is somewhat unusual for a Porter; it's also sports very negligible amounts of carbonation, which is quite usual for a Porter. Remind me to check the ABV before drinking anything from de Molen, because this was apparently 9.9% ABV.

A - Pours a very dark brown, borderline black color and a very thin dark tan lacing ring, no carbonation. Lots of legs and sticks to the sides of the glass like liquid syrup when swirled.

S - Dark roasted chocolate, char, light smoke, vanilla, and anise.

T - Follows the nose. This beer is deep with flavor: dark roasted chocolate, char, light smokiness, anise, vanilla, and oak. The vanilla is detectable but buried. Very roasty

M - Very thick and full bodied (oil thick), velvety, lots of sugar on the lips makes it very sticky, syrupy. Incredibly thick for a porter.

O - I like this brewery and this beer doesn't disappoint, worth a try. The ABV is incredibly well hidden so beware.

 

 

On tap at Monks cafe poured into tulip

Black liquid , thin ring of taupe bubbles

Aroma of dark fruits , raisins

Taste of dark fruits , tobacco, roast malts , raisin

Slight carbonation, smooth , syrupy , taste lingers in the tongue, 9.9 abv well masked