Rep & Roer BA
Brouwerij De Molen

 

A great beer, with lots of woody barrel notes, smoke, oranges, caramel, but not sweet, with a dry long lasting finish.

Got this one from the liquor guy in Maarssen

From a bottle into a snifter
24.1*P
EBC: 280
EBU: 31
Bottled 7 March 2019
Whisky blend BA Orange imperial stout

APPEARANCE: Clear dark brown, almost black pour yields a two finger, medium looking, slightly fizzy, foamy, light tan head with okay retention. Clear black body with next to zero carbonation evident. Head eventually recedes to a full, foamy cap. A swirly wisp remains leaving solid lacing down the glass as it empties. Average body at best but a nice looking cap.

SMELL: Whisky, wood and oak aromas, some leather and tobacco, roasted notes, as well as a hint of orange on the nose. A bit of chocolate in there too. The orange is noticeable but definitely faint.

TASTE: Much more present in the flavor, however. Orange and whisky up fornt. Fun combination. Wood, oak and some vanilla beside the orange zest as well. Some more booze at the swallow, moving into a decent finish of oak, whisky, milk chocolate and vanilla sweetness, tobacco, roasted character and some citrusy orange flavor as well. Decent amount of alcohol lingers on the palate.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Creamy enough on the palate, goes down fine and finishes a bit mouth-coating. Some heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is a fun one. The color was pedestrian, though the wisp cap was pretty, and the nose not quite forthcoming enough, but the flavor was interesting and enjoyable. Kind of like a decent stout with some orange liquor mixed in for fun. I can’t say it’s a must-find or anything like that, but if you like fruit and stout, this will entertain you for sure, especially with the barrel component in there. Cheers!

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a small, fizzy head. Smells of roasted malt, chocolate, orange zest, vanilla and just a hint of peat smoke. Taste is a great balance of roasted malt, chocolate and orange zest, with lighter notes of peat smoke, tobacco and just a hint of vanilla and whiskey-soaked oak. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some chocolate, orange zest and peat smoke lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and low carbonation.

This is quite a roasted, smokey, bitter stout with very little sweetness to it, which may be counter-intuitive to expectations, but I personally quite like. It has that orange chocolate truffle note to it, but without becoming overly sweet and boozy, being kept in check nicely by those peaty, bitter notes while the orange zest actually stands out quite a bit without becoming too overpowering. BCBS Midnight Orange is an obvious comparison here and while this cannot even remotely compete with its mouthfeel, I actually prefer it based on flavor profile because it's much less sweet and boozy. I do wonder what kind of barrels this was aged in, but my money is on Glenmorangy Scotch barrels which would just fit this beer perfectly.