August is tabernacle takeover month for Brouwerij De Molen starting with Heaven & Hell. This boozy, dark, and thick (too thick) monster grew into something well beyond the intentions of De Molen. “Smoked” seen in the ingredients listed on the bottle was all it took to bring in this beast which was supported by the added comfort that the De Molen brand brings with all of their concoctions. De Molen is one of the very few organizations that SmokeBeerMinistry allows to continue to employ the scatter gun technique when delivering beers to the market, and with this beer in particular, they seem to have switched up the formula at least 3 times. This behavior makes me wonder, “How happy was De Molen with the first attempts? and Why did you sell it to the public if it wasn’t good enough then?” Their informative website shows a long list of just about every kind of beer under the sun, and typically, De Molen delivers products that are top notch. Now in this case, they weren’t so successful. Upon opening this beer, slight smoky smells wafted out on the backs of sweet berry scents. And speaking of berries, four or five blueberry sized globs of what I hope were congealed beer plopped down into my glass as well (was gelatin an unlisted ingredient?). I have enough respect for De Molen to drink this beer anyway, no matter how unappetizing this occurrence was; respect, it was respect, not alcoholism. And the lack of depth that my light can penetrate this fluid is enough to garner 7 out of 7 smokestacks of darkness, and of course, thickness was a 7+. The taste was of a musty, ashy, coffee beer with redeeming milk chocolate flavors in there, and a touch of smoke. And that’s about where this review is going to end. This particular rendition of this beer earned 3.5 smokestacks out of a total of 7 possible smokestacks, a glob below average. I’m eager to experience a redemption beer.
| Brewer | De Molen |
| Beer Name | Heaven & Hell |
| Brewer’s Description | Although hard to comprehend for many, this is the big brother of Hel & Verdoemenis. With loads of dark malts in both back and foreground, supported by strong but smooth bitterness from hops and roasted malts. Flavor indication: chocolate, coffee, toast |
| Food Pairings | Pie |
| Brewer Location | Bodegraven, Netherlands |
| Alcohol content by volume | 10.2% |
| IBU (International Bitterness Units) | mass spectrometry suggests 92.5 EBU |
| Beer opacity rate 1 – 7 (light – dark) | 7 (494 EBC) |
| Smell smoke? 1 – 7 (No – George Burns) | 4 |
| Smokepower taste: 1 – 7 Smokestacks | 4 |
| Sausage detection? Y or N | N |
| Beer thickness 1-7 (water – used motor oil) | 7+ |
| Overall Happiness Rating: 1-7 (low – high) | 3.5 |
They have a useful website nowadays, and a label that indicates a 3rd change to the formula of this “same” beer:
http://brouwerijdemolen.nl/beers
The Shelton Brothers say that this beer will last 25 years, and also show an ingredients list neglecting smoked malts:
SmokeBeerMinistry 