I opened this to celebrate the wedding of my nephew and friend James to the lovely Natalie.
And what a celebratory beer it is.
De Molen’s already super Barley Wine aged in Bordeaux wine casks, this is an enormous drink, rich, viscous, sensuous, delicious.
Pouring a deep rich ruby red, the smell is honey and sweeties and wood lined drawing rooms finished with leather armchairs.
Bommen & Granaten was always a beer to sip, and aged in the way it has been, it’s now a beer to really savour as amongst the treacle and peppercorns, flower petals, tamarind, varnished oak and pine resin, there’s a subtly warm and altogether wonderful claret and port meatiness that quietly seeps in at the edges and washes across a bowl of apple strudel and brandy, taking what was already a tremendous beer and making it superb.
Here’s to James and Natalie.
Cheers.