Brouwerij de Molen + Sound Ball & Chain

This beer is a collaboration brew between De Molen and Sound Brewery from Washington State in the US (just below the Canadian border on the West Coast).

So what type of beer do you brew when you bring together the best brewery in The Netherlands with a US west coast brewery? A typical german style dopplebock ,using smoked Bamberg malts may not be the first style you’d think of; but that’s what we have here.

From the dopplebock we can expect a big malty, reasonably sweet body. With a bit of smokiness from the Bamberg malt. And that’s exactly what we get.

Crack open that cap and you get the sweet sweet aroma of bacon! It is both enticing and confusing coming from a beer if you haven’t had one like this before.

The flavour is at first sweet with dark fruits combining with caramel malts. Then a dry earthy hop character joins in, as the smokiness comes to the fore. The smoke isn’t over-the-top at all, and the sweetness seems to fight back as the beer finishes. A very interesting creation, and a decent take on a very German style beer.