DE MOLEN «Molenbier» (7,5%) 4/6

MolenbierSo, another one from De Molen is what we are faced with here. The actual beer has a smooth wooden-brown colour to it and pours a small creamy head on top. I am usually very fond of their brews, at least what I have tasted from this brewery so far. This one is a lighter type though, so there’s some degree of excitement “in the air tonight».

With regards to aroma: There’s a fruityness of figs/fig jam, some oak and quite distinct malt character. I find some nuance of coffee too, even more so defined in the taste, which enhances the previously observed wooden impression. There’s also taste of roasted chestnut here, very suitable for this time of the year, at which it’s consumed. Santa would’ve sled right down the chimney for a taste of this.

At first, it’s got a sweet malt-orientated introduction and dried dates, before evolving into more powerful, dark roasted beans and at the end, rounded off with a very hoppy bitterness.

There’s not much bubbly action going on here, but that’s not missed either in this type of beer. Nice one, De Molen!

(Photo: M. Brochs)

DE MOLEN “Haken & Ogen” (10,3%) 3/6

Haken & OgenWhat we got here is one of my favorite breweries, namely De Molen of Netherlands. I am extra excited when it comes to their beers, because more than once I’ve had a positive experience with several of them.

So what do we have at hand? Well, this time it’s the Bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stout. Colorwise it is very dark brown and pours a fine light brown head.

The Aromas in here are really exciting, spanning from vinous points in the direction of dried figs, ripe cherries, subtle sweet notes deriving from dark bitter chocolate, with a smokey touch… To almost rum-like, mature cognac/oak. Absolutely stunning, to say the least!

On the palate it kicks off with an intense feel of hard liquor, almost like a bourbon-drink infused with beer. Too intense for my taste, but I bet it’d do well with some more years of storage.

The alcohol taste in the beginning is a bit overwhelming, but eventually evolves into a sourdough and later sweet aftertaste. I was balancing on the edge here, on the brink towards giving it a 4, but the potential is big here- still worth mentioning.

 

(photo: M. Brochs)

SIERRA NEVADA «Oktoberfest 2017» (6,1%) 4/6

I’m always a bit exited when it comes to trying a new beer from Sierra Nevada. The brewery has since I first tried their «Pale Ale» and later «Torpedo» as well as «Celebration» + a few others, surprised me with a supreme quality in the whole selection, even though it’s a brewery of their size. At hand this time we have their «Oktoberfest», which would be their interpretation of this famous seasonal brew. Together with them on the team is the German craft brewery Brauhaus Miltenberger, in order to bring the level of expertice to an even higher level. Light and crisp with golden colours, this fine brew is pretty malt-driven with several layers, together with a quite complex fruityness from the hops and with a very fine bitter adjustment at the end. No dissapointment, pretty far from. A right beer for the fest!Oktoberfest2017

FOUNDERS «Doom» (12,4%) 5/6

Founders DoomAs I am familiar with some of their other brews, expectations would be reasonably high from the start here. Adding to that, the fact that this is an Imperial IPA from the brewery’s Barrel aged-series, stakes are dangerously high… First off; the label design is cool. There is a tipsy reaper lurking beneath the beer bottle, all barely visible in this dark artwork. So, let’s get down to the real deal, shall we? A fine, smooth golden look, pouring equally esthetic head in the tulip glass- just a tad mirky… Like watching a still flame. Nose is an incredible blend of hops, resulting in foresty smells, including flowers, spruce and almost caramelish notes of sweetness. I’m incredibly eager to drink this! When the first drop comes in contact with the tongue, there’s maturity fusing with an incredible bitterness, vanilla hints comes into play in the background. It’s quite strong, as one would expect from an imperial IPA to be. Still, very very nice balance of each of the elements featured. The taste lasts for an eternity, like a dark long catacomb from here to the underworld. Pretty astonishing stuff, as I thought.

 

(Photo: M. Brochs)

BROUWERIJ ‘T IJ «Natte» (6,5%) 3/6

NatteRubyred colour, subtle head when poured. A quite new brewery from the Netherlands, which gets promising hails from the bartender. Nose is hard to detect, but there’s a weak caramelish hint in there… some deep fruity notes, perhaps the matuerity. It develops a much richer aroma when temperated. As far as it goes for when the beer & taste buds collide, I find it to be very Belgian tasting, starting off sweet without much bubbles at all, before evolves into dry figs, lightly hopped on the tongue, followed by toffee high end.

This angle is also affected by letting it achieve room temperature and provides even more depht to it, mainly of dried fruit, tickling the tongue. Very rustiqe albeit modern beer, could do well with barrel-aging for a bit.

CRAZY MOUNTAIN «Creedence pilsner» (4,9%) 3/6

Golden light colour with lightly hopped, fruity nose. Pours great snowy white head. Mouthfeel: it is mild in taste-a little fruity (citrus) before it turns hoppy. Aftertaste is where the malts comes into play. In total it is a bit week in taste and a bit metallic in aftertaste. All in all; not bad.IMG_1792

SUNTORY «Tokyo craft pale ale» (5%) 4/6

Tokyo craft pale aleThis beer is the first one to be reviewed here following last month’s Japan tour. The fragrances are flowery fruity and by looks it is a bright yellow beer which shows rather great degrees of carbonation. More nutty fruit-like with a hint of pears, underlying notes at least. So; what does it taste?  The land of the sun here brings us a fresh crisp pale ale with definite traces of pear and chestnut, boosted with the hefty carbonation. A great representative for Japan’s passion to the art of brewing, this one. It also maintains a quite heavy malty power throughout  the whole mouth feel, leaving a subtle caramelish postludium.  Another reason to love this exiting country!

LERVIG «Perler for svin» (6,3%) 3/6

Dark yellow on the verge of orange by looks, and quite mirky. Pours little head, looks like a pale ale I’ve seen many times before… Anyways; As far as aroma goes, this is a highly tropical infused one (which interestingly is) combined with 3 different types of hops, creating a fruity tease. Let’s get to the actual taste: A very tasty, hoppy IPA with lots of pine-hoppyness, combined with grapefruit, pineapple and with a somewhat sweet undernote. The bitterness lasts for eternity though! Perlerforsvin

CARLSBERG «Non Alcoholic» (0,5%) 1/6

IMG_9898Looks like a proper lager… a bit weak Head. The nose is malts, subtle as one can get it… hard to find much more here. (As expected) taste? Pretty foul. Weak is an understatement, smells and tastes more metallic than beer, and that taste is barely detectable before disappearing into wateryness. Luckily, the white month I’m on is soon to come to an end…