BrewDog Atlantic IPA (Old IPA)

Brewed by BrewDog
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

330ml bottle at home with tashi, 10th Aug 09. Copper with a thick magnolia head. Perfume, clean linen, warm biscuit aromas waft up as the bubbles subside. Toffee & doughy sweetness with vanilla oakiness as you take it into your mouth and then a tongue tingling bitterness. As it glides down your throat, a gentle warmth fills your cheeks. Great lasting dryness after a few mouthfuls. Smooth & rich. Doesn’t take like its true strength either. Doesn’t bash you over the head, just beautifully seduces you.

Bottle shared by Jay at Paul’s tasting. I’m glad I got to try this, the idea was certainly novel and interesting sounding, but I wasn’t going to spend $30/12oz on an old IPA, and that is exactly what this is. The aging has added much less to this than it has taken away. Skunky, cigar smoke, sausage and flower aroma. Hardly IPA anymore. The flavor has milk chocolate, plywood, salt water. Decent, just not exciting nor is it particularly difficult. I’d say "what will their next gimmick be?" but we already know that was to make the strongest beer ever and then sell it for an outrageous price.

Looks like everything a beer should. Strong floral hoppy and biscuity aroma.Slightly mellower hop flavour than some of Bredog’s other IPAs, but the bitter aftertaste is short. A good beer, but not as enjoyable of some of Brewdog’s other, less expensive and less gimmicky beers.

Pours a dark burnt orange/amber color with golden orange/peach hues when held to a light source and a frothy two finger off-white yellowish head that has excellent retention, only slowly fading into a thick lasting cap that leaves chunks of soapy lacing in it’s path. Toasty malt aroma with hints of caramel, rye and biscuit. Subtle hops but they seem to have faded considerably during the journey. Oak is fairly prominent in the nose with a healthy dose of vanilla. Subtle pine and citrus notes. Slightly resinous medium body with a good bit of dry bitterness up front followed by a slightly toasty malt backbone and dry piny finish. The hops have held up better in flavor than in the nose with some dry piny and sweet citrus character. Hints of grapefruit, mango and orange peel. The bitterness lingers throughout but is well balanced by a roasted caramel malt backbone with hints of sweet caramel and rye. The oak aging is evident but is subtle and not very earthy, resulting in a lot of vanilla character. Very well balanced and maybe a bit too sweet but this is an interesting experiment that worked out pretty well. Kind of gimmicky but definitely unique and flavorful. Not worth the outrageous price tag but I’m glad I had a chance to try it.

What I won’t do for my IPAs...and that includes spending $22 on this 330ml bottle. Neat idea and cool label, fingers crossed it is not just a gimmick beer! Poured a deeper and hazy orangish color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of floral hops, wood, earthiness, and caramel. Tastes of wood, caramel, pine, vanilla, and some lighter funkiness. Different tasting for sure...

POurs a hazy orange. Nose is musty, some oxidization, old noble hops, malts. Flavor is dull hops, big malts, bready, biscuity. All around boring, nothing IPA about it at all. English Pale ale at best. another disappointing beer from brewdog.

330ml Bottle: Aroma of malts, cocoa, light hops, light toffee, and light wood. Not the typical IPA aroma at all. Poured orange in color with a large, rocky, beige head that diminished a bit but lasted throughout. Cloudy. Slightly sparkling. Several medium-sized particles. Flavor is lightly sweet and light to medium bitter. Tastes of malts, chocolate, hops, pine, wood, light toffee, slight vanilla and a hint of alcohol. Medium body. Average texture. Average carbonation. Malt, wood, hops, slight chocolate, and slight toffee finish is very slightly dry. 8.5%ABV is quite well hidden.

12oz bottle @Pauls Gathering Thanks Jay/j12601-pours a thin off white head and hazy gold color. Aroma is funky, herbal/pine hops. Taste is light/medium malt-caramel, herbal/pine hops. Oxidation.