Bat Out Of Hell
Brouwerij De Molen

Shared by Richard on 1-14-12.

 

 

 

 

Huge thanks to MeadMe for sending this to me.
Pours a solid black with a decent sized bubbly mocha head that persists forever. Aromas of chocolate and roast with hints of earth burnt molasses, dark fruit and caramel with just a touch of cardboard. The flavor is rich sweet chocolate and burnt sugar with a solid earthy flavor to counter. Light smokey molasses and burnt flavors. Medium to thick body with a light to moderate level of carbonation and a sweet almost syrupy mouthfeel. I didn't enjoy this right away, but as I sipped on it for a while it opened quite a bit with some fruit molasses and burnt qualities. Nice brew.

 

 

750ml bottle into a matching De Molen snifter. BA Jeffo sent me this one some time ago (has it really been a couple of years already, wow.) The cork and cage is wax dipped and to be on the safer side, this was thoroughly chilled before opening because the cork and cage was tight with a gap in the wax clearly displaying how the cork has attempted to remove itself. The brew streams dark brown but rests in my glass black with a huge brown froth 3+ fingers strong. Pretty solid retaining powers with patchy lacing effect. A swirl revives a finger back to the surface.

The aroma is roasty and earthen with a slight mineral to carbonic quality suggesting a bit of over-carbonation like you might expect based off the looks alone. Some milky chocolate to bitter baker's cocoa emits blending with a hint of burnt sugary quality like molasses. Towards the back of the nose you can pick up on molasses, tobacco and hints of saline character faintly like soy sauce. The last character I notice is some raisony alcohol coming forward as it warms up.

The flavor is unexpectedly more in line with milk chocolate than the roasty bitterness you might expect. Roast is still present but it takes a few sips and then more of an earthen to mineral and carbonic quality take over the center stage. As it warms up, more flavors akin to anise, molasses and mild smoky appeal start to form with a hint of soy, tobacco, brown sugar and raisony alcohol just like the aroma suggests.

This is a medium to lighter bodied brew with plenty of carbonation almost to the point of fault. It is quite complex but the mineral/carbonic quality admittedly distracts. I found it to be quite peculiar that at only 2.5 or so years old, this brew is showing signs of age. Arnt most De Molen stouts seemingly braggingly touted as being cellerable for 20+ years? Still quite enjoyable and something I would drink again. In comparing my experience to the notes of others, I would say this brew is not getting better as a cellar dweller if you know what I mean...

 

This one was a part of cmrillo’s 40 Beers* @ 40 Birthday Bash! Shared by Beerverage! Served from bottle into a Mikkeller taster flute. Poured a dark brown with a half finger tan head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained phenomenal lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, roasted malt, dark chocolate, wood, and sweet alcohol. The flavor was of sweet malt, smoke, dark chocolate, wood, and sweet alcohol. It had a medium feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a good brew. I really enjoyed what I found in this brew. Based on the aroma I knew I was in for something quite nice, but upon my first sip when the smoky character hit me I knew I was going to like this one. The smokiness mixed with the chocolate bitterness and alcohol mixed really well together. Really glad I got the chance to try this one and I suggest you make an effort to do the same.

 

Bottle from Jeffo. Shared at the De Molen visits West Lakeview Liquors event. Served in a Glunz taster.

A - Voluminous tan foam that has great retention but minimal lace - only a few stray splotches. Very dark brown body, with some transparency at the edges of the glass. A very particulates of sediment are suspended in the solution.

S - Dark fruits, semisweet chocolate, molasses, perhaps some dark candi syrup? Perhaps some faint notes of smoke and earthiness. Alcohol isn't perceptible.

T - The taste is surprisingly earthy, with lots of residual hop bitterness. Far less sweet than the aroma suggests, with more of the signature European char and smoke flavors.

M - Smooth, medium body, with a chewy texture and an exceptionally dry finish. Carbonation is on the moderate-to-low side of things. There's a touch of residual stickiness to remind you that this is a stout, but this comes off a bit more porter-esque.

D - A solid and largely enjoyable beer, albeit a tad lighter in alcohol and heft that I expect from De Molen. This was pretty easy to drink, and the entire 750ml was consumed fairly early in the party.

Thanks for sharing this one, Richard.

Nearly black in color with a small tan head. Smells heavily of roasted malt and coffee. As usual with De Molen beers, I get a bit of ash and char character to it. There's also some burnt sugar and a hint of vanilla which is nice. The flavor is similar to the nose, but a bit heavier on the char and ash notes, it's also a touch spicy? Coffee, dark chocolate, and roasted malt flavors are still prominent as well. Medium bodied with low to medium carbonation.

 

11/7/2011

Bottle shared by Tim, thanks!

A: Black with a small tan head. 

S: Black strap molasses with light caramel. Vanilla blends with grape and plum. There's a strong roasted malt presence with a whisper of molasses. Smells really good. 

T: Dark chocolate in the flavor with a dash of smoke. Lots of ash and roast. Moderate earthy bitterness. 

M: Full body with upper moderate carbonation. 

Overall: Really good aroma but the flavor doesn't match. Definitely worth a try, though.

Shared by claaark13 at a tasting in Dublin (thanks Sean!). A rare De Molen beer that I was very happy to get a shot at, luckily a large enough bottle (750mL) for sharing.

The beer pours dark, a nearly black color with a tan foam. Earthy hops in the aroma, dank and wet smelling. Beneath the hops I get a lot of roast character, maybe a little bitter cocoa.

Wow, I enjoyed the flavor of this beer, the hops are more present in the aroma than the taste, maybe showing up in the extremely dry mouthfeel though. Roasted malts and cocoa, very little sweetness (maybe this is a contribution of the hops as well), with a lasting ashy aftertaste that was addictive.

Not exactly full bodied, a little light compared to the Dark Lords we were drinking prior to this, but still it matches the flavors in an appealing way. So happy to get a chance at this, I definitely appreciated it.

Pours a dark brown clearish. Yellowed head. 4.5
Smells metallic and boozy. Smells off to me. 3.5
Tastes sharp and light. Boozy, not overly malty. 3.5
Thin? Not sure... Not very flavorful. Overall I'm not that impressed. 3.0 3.5

Everyone else seemed to like it better than I did

(Served in a snifter)

A- After the red waxy mess of opening the beer, it pours a jet black body with strands of microbubbles boiling to the surface of the edge of the glass. There is a thick creamy cinnamon head that sticks to the glass slowly sliding back down after each sip.

S- The dark graham notes have some caramel and permanent marker aromas to follow and a mellow black roasted flavor. There is a note of prunes and dark raisins with the dark raisins starting to dominates as the beer warms. The finish has a hint of cinnamon spice to it.

T- The light tar roasted black malt has some dark pot caramel flavors with cream and licorice hints coming through. There is a bitter tar malty finish that has a touch of inky bitterness that lingers after each sip.

M- The medium-full mouthfeel coats the mouth and has no alcohol at all. Some alcohol heat would be welcome to balance or cut the rich flavors.

O- This beer is big with lots of subtle depth and is like a meal in a beer. There are some barrel hints, Thai coffee qualities, dark candy and even eisbock qualities to this beer but it is hard to pull all of those things apart.

Look: The beer pours a very dark color with a thick light-brown colored head with perfect retention
Smell: Nice roasted malts, hops, chocolate, sweet molasses, plums and some liquorice
Taste: Medium sweet and bitter. Roasted malts and chocolate again, coffee and sweet molasses. Quite a lot of hops in the aftertaste, nice.
Mouthfeel: Thick and very well carbonated
Overall: Very nice de molen beer, happy I still have a bottle to age.