De Molen Barrel Aged - The first of many

It’s always a good day when a new De Molen Barrel Aged beer arrives on your doorstep! Their Balcones BA Imperial Stout is the first of many to emerge from the brewery this year, and it’s an earthy, understated start.

This beer may not be one for barrel aged diehards as it has a lot more balance than someone like me who guzzles overly-aged sherry BA beers with reckless abandon may wish, but I’d consider it a very good entry-level beer for those new to these matured brews, or just for people who still have their tastebuds intact!

Rollercoaster of flavours

At 11.4% the stout has an excellent body and light creaminess which counteract any overwhelming flavours the whiskey barrels could have imparted. The underlying bitterness also reads almost as peaty which, combined with the bourbon sweetness results in some very pleasant fruity flavours and light bubbly acidity. On this note I’d even go so far as to say that it resembles the recently released Cran & Berry.

Although the full taste ripe with coffee, chocolate and cream can make it feel a bit like a beer version of an Irish coffee (or a jumped-up Guinness) it goes down very smoothly and doesn’t make you feel like you’ve stuffed yourself, especially with the addition of a liquorice tang and freshness at the end. 

A word of warning, thus, needs to go out to those who are not fond of the typical ‘hollandse drop’! If you don’t know what ‘drop’ is and have five minutes to have a giggle, please google it, there are some funny videos of people trying this treat for the first time! Not being a huge fan of the sweet myself, the aftertaste wasn’t for me, but I do appreciate the art of putting this at the end of the beer to leave you with a fresh feeling after the rollercoaster of other flavours.

Rollercoaster? But didn’t I say that this was an understated beer? Yes and yes again! While not being in your face, the beer has a lot of complexity- De Molen got a lot done in a small package! I’ll be looking forward to the others joining the 2023 BA range in the future, expecting some booziness and bold flavours, but this beer is the perfect jumping off point for a time of year when everything is a little bit pared back after the sequin excesses of the recent festive season.

Enjoy!