Hel & Verdoemenis - Bunnahabhain BA
Brouwerij De Molen

Regrettably brief notes below:

BOTTLE: 33cl brown glass bottle. Standard De Molen minimalist black & white text-only label. Branded black pry-off crown cap. Bottled: July 9th, 2013. Purchased at Plan B in Rotterdam.

HEAD: Thin - .5cm at best in terms of width. Khaki colour. Shining complexion. It's a shame it lasts all of 10 seconds. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.

BODY: Not an opaque ink-black, actually; it has a schwarzbier-esque brown-black colour, redolent of cola. This lends it a weak appearance. No yeast can be seen within.

Looks somewhat subpar for an imperial stout, actually. How did such a good base beer result in this appearance merely by being aged in a Scotch barrel?

AROMA: Marvelous peat. Scotch is obvious in this aroma: peat, faint smokiness, wood.

But what isn't obvious is any base beer character of any interest. Generic dark malt and brown malt sweetness barely emerges. Where's the Hel & Verdoemenis base beer character so many know and love?

Aromatic intensity is average.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Boozy, dry, hot, and rough. The peat really made this coarse; it drags on the palate, lending the texture a scratchy parching feel (a characteristic which, unfortunately, has been obvious in De Molen beers for some time now). This mouthfeel really doesn't serve the taste well at all. The dryness in particular makes it harder to drink, and it's already a sipper with its high ABV. Really scrapes the palate. I love the peat flavour, but it shouldn't come at this cost.

The taste suffers from the problems the aroma nodded towards; the barrel drowns out the base beer. Who knew Hel & Verdoemenis could be eclipsed so easily? Peat, wood (not recognizably oak), smokey Scotch notes. I find no dark malt sweetness or chocolate malts at all - let alone any intricate or interesting notes from the base beer. This comes off painfully simplistic as a result, with the base beer providing next to nothing in terms of flavour. Shallow, reticent, and disappointing.

The highlight flavour-wise is the Scotch peat, but then that seems to be the source of the problems this beer has texture-wise.

OVERALL: There's no harmony of texture and taste here, and the barrel fails to accentuate anything the base beer provides; indeed, the base beer provides seemingly nothing at all. Why not just drink Bunnahabhain? De Molen makes some lovely brews; this is unfortunately not one of them. I wouldn't buy it again at its ~6.50 euro price point, and I'd advise others avoid even a first purchase (go with the Wild Turkey variant instead).

Something of a disappointment coming from a brewery as accomplished as De Molen. Nevertheless, above average - if only for its peat presence.

C+ (3.18) / ABOVE AVERAGE

Ratebeer tasting at Dick's.
Dark brown body with a small beige cap. Huge campfire smoke aroma. Smoked sausage, fire, malt. Aggressive char and smoke character. One dimensional.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours tar black, very very tiny lace, lasts for the whole ride though.
Smell of smokey roasted malts, strong coffee, spices and dark chocolate, some peat barrel (that certain burnt rubber kinda smell), soy sauce, dark fruity esters and wood.
Quite a bit of complexity, not much, but far from being bland: taste starts with juicy plums and figs, sweet strong coffee and cocoa powder, losing its sweetness for rougher bitter notes, like dusty barrel, oak (nice hint of vanilla alongside the woody dark spices and the faint licorice), smoked wood and lots of peat, which really stands out. Quite a bit of booze in the finish, charcoal also.
Low carbonation, almost flat, smooth (maybe a bit watery sometimes), sipper-ish enough.
Nice BA with a clear peat single malt scotch note, very dark and quite flavorful beer.

330ml bottle 110,% Abv.
Served chilled in a wine glass.

Appearance: The beer appears pitch black in the glass, but as with most recent H&V variants, a back light shows a generous slice of deep red along the edges of the glass. A rough pour generates a small dark tan coloured head that actually lasts fairly well and even leaves a few small patches of lacing.

Smell: Wow, I didn't expect the Bunna barrels to impart this much peat - the initial nose is almost all Scotch with notes of campfire, earthy peat, dried seaweed and a certain saltiness. After a few minutes the base beer slowly starts to emerge with notes of chocolate, brown sugar, roasted malt and a touch of tartness (cherries?). Further warming yields a fruity character (again slightly tart) with notes of raisins, plums and black cherries.

Taste: The fruity tartness from the nose is again present in the flavour (could this be the early signs of an infection?), but thankfully it doesn't detract too much from the flavour. The barrel is again very prominent, offering a ton of peaty goodness, however there is a substantial dark fruit character and some roasted malt. De Molen's signature bitter char is however notably absent.

Mouthfeel: There is actually more carbonation than I expected - medium-low level (I expected the beer to be virtually flat) and fantastically smooth. The body is medium.

Overall: Another solid BA imperial stout from De Molen, the barrel character is fantastic however the slight tartness detracts a little from the flavour.

330 mL bottle poured into a snifter.

Appearance - Black with a decent khaki head. Faint surface wisps. Chunky collar.

Smell - Peaty scotch. Smells like a briny scotch. Deep roasted malts. Dark chocolate.

Taste - The scotch is so intense that it tastes like the poured salt water into it. Very briny and peaty. Dark chocolate. Bitter.

Mouthfeel - Seems thin. Bitter. Boozy. Salty.

Overall - Overwhelmed by scotch. And not in a good way.