Hemel & Aarde (Heaven & Earth) smells like the best smokebeer that I’ve had come from De Molen to date. As we continue tabernacle takeover month with De Molen Brouwerij and their host of beers that taste smoky, we find this beer, Hemel & Aarde offering a solid peaty, smoked imperial stout, that I had to open prior to the 25 year “enjoy by” expiration date. I think I just may buy this one again and stash it away for a quarter century and see what kind of sludge comes out… stay tuned for that post in the fall of 2043. And speaking of aging, SmokeBeerMinistry doesn’t promote this practice, in fact, we kind of think its silly, and yet we do it anyway in very limited quantities. Plenty of smoke, peat, and sweet rich malt notes wafting around, but then the taste goes and takes a left turn. The taste is peat forward, with a scotch highball chasing right behind. And I swear I taste barrel in this, which must be coming from the scotch and not a barrel, because this was never in a barrel, although De Molen does make a BA variant of this beer. This beer never wavers from a rich persons beer flavor with a touch of bitter tart and dryness on the back of the throat. I like it. Overall score = 5.85 smokestacks.
| Brewer | De Molen |
| Beer Name | Hemel & Aarde |
| Brewer’s Description | Hemel & Aarde is brewed with the most heavily peated malts we could find. Not for the fainthearted. This powerful brew overwhelms you with smoke, chocolate and coffee. Flavour indication: smoke, chocolate, coffee Translates as Heaven & Earth |
| Food Pairings | Pot roast, potatoes, desserts |
| Brewer Location | Bodegraven, Netherlands |
| Alcohol content by volume | 10.0% |
| IBU (International Bitterness Units) | 108 EBU |
| Beer opacity rate 1 – 7 (light – dark) | 5.6 (394 EBC) |
| Smell smoke? 1 – 7 (No – George Burns) | 6 |
| Smokepower taste: 1 – 7 Smokestacks | 5 |
| Sausage detection? Y or N | N |
| Beer thickness 1-7 (water – used motor oil) | 6 |
| Overall Happiness Rating: 1-7 (low – high) | 5.85 |
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