Tilting at windmills1 over here, dipping into my cellar to pull out this Dutch imperial stout made with peated barley malts from Bruichladdich (one of them Islay Scotch distilleries2). Not exactly the sort of thing that inflames passions, but appealing from a quixotic point of view, I guess:
Brouwerij De Molen Hemel & Aarde – Pours a deep black color with a light brown, big bubbled head that leaves some lacing as I drink. Smells of peated malts as well as the more traditional roasted malt character. Taste also features that smoky peat character, but it’s well balanced with a more traditional roasted malt character. Some chocolate and coffee are apparent, but that light peat smoke character is the big differentiator. Mouthfeel is full bodied, well carbonated, and relatively easy on the palate, especially given the strength. No real sign of the high alcohol here at all, well hidden. Overall, a solid, well balanced stout with a twist. B+
Beer Nerd Details: 10% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank out of a snifter on 3/3/13.
Not quite the revelation of the peat dominated Rex Attitude, but a more interesting take on a smoked stout than Vampire Slayer. A nice opening gambit from De Molen, and I’m planning on tilting at their Hel & Verdoemenis next… looking forward to that one.
1 – “De Molen” means “The Mill” and is located inside a historic windmill called De Arkduif, and I’m sharpening my lances so that I may tilt at them (also tilting at my cellar, ’cause it needs some pruning).
2 – Bruichladdich was mothballed back in 1994, but reopened here in the 21st century. This superb New Yorker article, courtesy of the Beer Rover‘s little Twitter Feed, covers the whole ordeal in glorious detail and is well worth a read, no matter if you’re a Scotch fan or not!
The revamped Laddie 10 is a really nice, well priced single malt, and pretty approachable. Bruichladdich, like Bunnahabhin, features mostly unpeated stuff.
These sorts of beers seem right up my alley, it’s just kinda rare that I drink a beer anymore. Whiskey kinda stole me away from sweet lady beer =)
Padraic! Good to hear from you, man! Hope all is well. Did you read that article on Bruichladdich? Apparently they did lots of stuff over the decade where they were aging that Laddie 10, including even making some Gin and the like. I wonder if selling peated malt to crazy Dutch brewers helped keep them afloat during that initial startup phase…
You might like this one, but I think you’d really love Rex Attitude (from a New Zealand brewer called Yeastie Boys) if you can find it – check out my review (linked above) for more info. Worth seeking out if you like peated malt!
I must admit, I’m slacking on my whiskey drinking. I did pick up a bottle of Uigeadail a few months ago and I really enjoy it, but not much else in that direction. I guess you could say that beer stole me away from sweet lady whiskey!