BrewDog Paradox Grain (Batch 007)

Brewed by BrewDog
Style: Imperial Stout
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

(Bottle) Very dark brown, almost black, with ruby hints through light. Frothy, brief, brown head leaving lacing. Roasted, malty, woody nose with oak, dried fruit, strong sweet coffe and vanilla. Malty, roasted, woody taste with notes of strong sweet coffee, dried fruit, raisins, cocoa, liquorice, vanilla and vinous hints of port in the finish. There is a decent bitterness lurking beneath everything else. Full bodied, rather sweet. Very nice and warming beer in almost perfect balance. In short: strong, sweet coffee with vanilla and a splash of something stronger.

Bottle from Corks, Bristol. Near black with a hint of red and a big tan head. Aroma of dark fruit, large amounts of vanilla and some toffee. Flavour began with some sweetness, a hint of peaty whisky, more vanilla and a warming alcohol finish. A different, Scottish take on an imperial stout, which proved enjoyable.

Bottle: Poured a deep black color stout with a small bubbly head with limited retention and no lacing. Aroma is a mix between some barley malt with some fine whiskey notes but not as much peat as in the Islay stout. Taste is also a very well balance mix between some barley and roasted notes with some fine whiskey notes though direct alcohol was noticeable. Very well done but I prefer when more peat is noticeable.

Aros Ølfest, Aarhus, DK. Bottled, 241008. Dark brown with off-white head. Aroma of malt, toffee, whisky and hop spices. Flavor is coffee, chocolate, alcohol, vanilla and a touch of smoke.

Courtesy of Magic_Dave. The aroma is foremost whisky accented, but chocolate, vanilla, toasted and roasted malt and a very mild smoky note are also present. The body is mostly black, but there are dark ruby highlights. There is little head to speak of. The flavor starts with the whisky then goes chocolate followed by vanilla, mild hints of oak, some almost brown ale nutty notes and even hints of caramel. Tastes pretty nice and I can see that is where the buzz comes from on Brewdog beers. However it seems a bit thin and under carbonated, at least for my personal tastes and that has an effect on my enjoyment of the beer.

Bottled. Black with a medium sized brown fluffy head. Very nice with notes of malt, liqourice and chocolate. Body a bit too thin.

Near black, thin dissipating tan head, no lacing.
Aroma is very alcoholic, bourbon, chocolate.
Flavour is very sweet, watery, thin, bourbon, lots of alcohol, some chocolate.
Hot mouthfeel, light body, moderate carb.
Finishes thin, watery and hot.


BrewDog is 0 for 3 in their imperial stouts that I have had of theirs. Alcoholic, thin jumble.


330ml bottle obtained in a trade with TheCheeseMan, thanks Dan.

Opened on March 29, 2009.

Best before December 30, 2008.



Bottle thanks to Bu11zeye. Smell is vanilla, fig, alcohol, sweet, and whiskey. Look is dark brown to black, not too much head. Medium body but sort of sticky. Taste is sweet, alcohol, borboun, and wood.