Eiken Hel & Verdoemenis
Brouwerij De Molen

Eiken Hel & VerdoemenisEiken Hel & Verdoemenis
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From:
Brouwerij De Molen
 
Netherlands
Style:
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV:
11%
Score:
93
Avg:
4.3 | pDev: 7.91%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
19
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Oct 23, 2015
Added:
Jun 06, 2009
Wants:
  21
Gots:
  3
Oaked Hel & Verdoemenis.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by baggio:
Photo of baggio
Reviewed by baggio from Sweden

4.32/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle@home

A: Pitch black with a very small head.

S: Wood, Chocolate, Whisky, Roasted grain, Vanilla.

T: Ripe fruit, Chocolate, Vanilla, Milk chocolate, Roasted malts, Dark caramel.

M: Quite low carbonation but very full body. Sweet malts are balanced up by a discrete bitterness at the end. Supersmooth.

This is the best brew i've had from De Molen so far. Very smooth and a perfect sipper. Harmony!
Jun 06, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by jrob21 from North Carolina

Oct 23, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by KAF from Iowa

Jul 05, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by BARFLYB from Pennsylvania

Aug 05, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by acurtis from New Jersey

Jul 27, 2013
Photo of Sean9689
Reviewed by Sean9689 from Illinois

4.27/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Bottle provided by me and split with some dudes.

A - Pours a reddish/brown color, khaki-colored head, thin film on top.

S - Roast, chocolate, oak, light toffee, and light char. Really nice and sweet with a nice balance of char/roast. Some liqueur notes in there as well mixed with some light vanilla.

T - Sweeter then the nose, and better. Caramel, toffee, chocolate, roast, char, and light peat. There's some slight oxidation, but nothing that detracts from the beer itself. Alcohol is barley noticeable at 11%, which is impressive. Finish is chocolate covered brownies with roasted nuts...delicious!

M - Medium to full body, light carbonation, creamy finish.

O - An excellent beer that I enjoyed very much. The sweetness, lack of booze, and roast work wonderfully together. This beer is a tough one to find, so I doubt I'll ever have it again. Good stuff.
Jun 07, 2012
Photo of MasterSki
Reviewed by MasterSki from Canada (ON)

4.14/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Thanks to Sean for this rare tick. Served in a Kuhnhenn goblet.

A - Thin tan foam settles to wisps, a thin collar, and minimal spotty lace. Very dark brown body.

S - Lots of oak and vanilla, with a nice sweet cognac note mixed in. Melted chocolate, dark fruits, cocoa powder, and not obvious alcohol. There's a mildly aged quality to this, but it's holding up reasonably well at the 3-year mark.

T - The taste has a heavier oak flavor, with an undercurrent of smoked meats, char, and burnt malts. Some raisin and caramel flavors provide balance, and there's a faint papery oxidation note setting in.

M - Smooth, chewy texture, medium-full body, lower carbonation, and absolutely not alcohol presence. Quite mellow for an 11% De Molen offering.

D - This is quite enjoyable, even with some mildly deleterious age influences. If it tasted as good as it smelled it'd be quite superb, but unfortunately it's merely good. Still - very easy to drink and quite enjoyable. Too bad it's stupid rare.
May 17, 2012
 
Rated: 4.25 by ohtheguilt from Georgia

May 11, 2012
 
Rated: 4.75 by HamJam from Spain

Apr 28, 2012
Photo of Evil_Pidde
Reviewed by Evil_Pidde from Sweden

4.41/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A: Pours pitch black with an almost no-exicting pale brown head that sets into no lacings.

S: Roasted malts. Vanilla, chocolate and faint coffee. Not very many smells, but man, this is well balanced.

T: Smoothly roasted dark malts. Vanilla and chocolate. Coffee on the milder side. Complex. Faint smoke.

M: Aftertaste is longer than usual for this style; bitterness and coffee. Body is full while carbonation is kept back - nicely.

O: This beer is a very nice example for this style. There's even some ripe cherries (well hidden - but anyways). De Molen should make all their beers this nice and true to style.
Dec 30, 2011
 
Rated: 3.5 by ygtbsm94 from Utah

Dec 30, 2011
 
Rated: 5 by jsnoek from Canada (ON)

Nov 22, 2011
Photo of rvdoorn
Reviewed by rvdoorn from Netherlands

4.69/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
Look: The beer pours a dark black color with no head
Smell: Oak, chocolate, coffee, fresh cream, vanilla, roasted malts and mocha
Taste: Very creamy mocha and chocolate, oak and vanilla. Roasted malts and some coffee bitterness in the end.
Mouthfeel: Medium-thick but completely flat.
Overall: Very nice smooth balanced and soft beer. No carbonation at all, but for this beer it doesn’t disturbs too much.
Nov 20, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by jlb502 from California

Nov 20, 2011
 
Rated: 4.5 by nmann08 from Virginia

Nov 15, 2011
Photo of ohoh
Reviewed by ohoh from Sweden

4.38/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bought this at Ölbutikken, Copenhagen, a few months ago. Yes, it apparently has incredible shelf life, but it's been really tough keeping it from my opener. Bottle number says 345 and 99.9 EBU (=IBU?). I love the labels from De Molen.

It pours very black, but also a little brown. Head is light. It smells from charcoal and coffee and you can sense a very hoppy presence. Nice.

Taste is very interesting. There is definitely a lot of imperial stoutness about it, but also fruity and bitter notes. I get notes of oak, coffee, both dark and exotic fruits.

Some reviewers have complained about lack of carbonation, but I find there's plenty. The bubbles are soft and lovely, this adds to the drinkability. It's certainly not a traditional russian imperial stout, but it's a really good one.
May 14, 2010
Photo of daledeee
Reviewed by daledeee from Iowa

4.07/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
I am told these beers are made in very small batches after collaboration between several European brewers. I don't have the bottle with me due to the fact that I did this at a beer tasting, but it had some insane shelf life stated on the bottle like 13 years!!

This beer pours absolutely black with a pretty light head for the beer type. Nose is smokey, charcoal and coffee.

Taste is nice with charcoal, oak, coffee, chocolate, hop bitterness and spice. The only down grade to this beer is that I like heavier bodied stouts. This one had a rather watery mouth feel and that downgraded the taste for me as well.
Dec 06, 2009
Photo of ricke
Reviewed by ricke from Sweden

4.07/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
A: Almost black, but with apparent reddish brown hues at the edges. No head development, just some disparate big beige bubbles that quickly fades away.

S: A big smell. Lots of hardly roasted malts, bitter chocolate, licorice and molasses. Some notes of alcohol. I also pick up something that reminds me of finer spirits (like a fruity note of cognac). Aging Hel & Verdoemenis on oak chips seems to have made the almost edgy roasted character significantly rounder and smoother. The smell is quite heavy and seems to suffer from the lack of carbonation, but still a very impressive smell.

T: The taste is very sweet with malts to the fore (lots of roasted aromas, dark bread and burnt caramel). The taste of sweet spirits (cognac, liqueur or something like that) is noticeable from start to finish. Distinct notes of chocolate and dark fruits, and hints of vanilla, oak, licorice and coffee. By and large, the taste is quite vinous, sweet and round but still very complex. The finish delivers more molasses-like sweetness, some alcohol, a faint salt note and lingering malty flavors.

M: Full bodied with a creamy smooth texture. There is basically no carbonation at all, and this gives the beer a rather interesting an amusing character. But I'm wondering if a little carbonation wouldn't have done this one godd, despite this. Some bubbles would have lightened up the heavy flavors and made the aromas a little more lively, I think.

D: A very impressive beer. It's nice to see a beer like this can keep everything together with such a balanced composition. It drinks very easily considering the ABV and lack of carbonation.
---

A short additional comment based on sampling a bottle from the same batch, that actually was carbonated:

The carbonation didn't do as much as I had hoped for. It lifted the smell, but unfortunately revealed some chemical aromas while doing so. It also accentuated the brandy character, both in the smell and in the taste. The body was lighter. Thus, some differences between carbonated and flat bottles are evident, but in the end it's the same beer.

Grades: A 4,5; S 4; T 4; M 4; D 4. Total: 4,1 (A-)
Aug 31, 2009
Photo of steeltown71
Reviewed by steeltown71 from Pennsylvania

4.79/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Purchased this bottle at the Cracked Kettle, Amsterdam. Bottled Apr. 9, 2009. Label reads: "This beer will be good for 25 years if kept cool & dark ..." This is the oak aged version of Hel & Verdoemenis (as per Dutch dictionary online "eiken" translates to "oaken.")

A: Very slight carbonation upon pouring; color is very dark, very opaque with Guinness-ruby highlights at the edges when backlit.

S: Chocolate, coffee, Irish cream

T: Again, chocolate, coffee, butterscotch, almost no trace of alcoholic heat. Subtle oak on the finish with very slight malt/roasted bitterness. Aftertaste is akin to having just eaten a 70% chocolate bar.

M: Almost flat but somehow comes across as lively.

D: Can't remember the last 11% abv so devoid of heat. Ridiculously drinkable.

This is my first contribution to BA - decided to make the 1st review something that doesn't already have 100s of reviews. De Molen has done very well with this RIS. It doesn't taste overwhelmingly oaked but the addition adds another layer of complexity over the standard H & V without unbalancing it. I have no idea how widely available this is but if you find yourself in the Netherlands, I'd qualify this as a must-try.
Jul 19, 2009
Eiken Hel & Verdoemenis from Brouwerij De Molen
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 19 ratings