BrewDog Paradox Grain (Batch 007)

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

Black in color with a small beige head. Aroma is of vanilla, fig, coconut and marshmallows. Taste is roasty with fig and dark fruits.

330 ml bottle, best before 2/12/08? Dark brown with some tan froth. Nose is chocolate, molasses and oak with a touch of whiskey. Medium light, faint carb; comes off a bit watery. Taste is chocolate, raisin and anise finishing with vanilla, greens and sour mash. A smooth sipper that benefits from warming. Hard to believe it’s 10%.

Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Nose is toasted coconut, booze, dark fruits. Nice dark mahogany colored pour with no head. Tastes like dark tree fruits. Thick mouthfeel, with faint smoke and loads of tasty dark rum cake. Sugary and delicious.

Bottle, at Fin’s excellent UK Imperial Stouts tasting, sampled with Fin, Loz and Traci. Thanks mate! (The Paradox part of our tasting done blind.) Dark brown, a bit of scattered open tan bubbles. A lovely fresh baked brownie aroma. Some wet wood and vanilla. Cedar running around in the background. Caramel sweet milk chocolate flavor, warming and comfortingly soft. Just a little mineral in the finish. In a lot of ways this has more dopplebock charm than imp stout charm, but stylistic nitpickings aside, a very nice beer.

Bottle: Black colour, with a creamy head. Aroma of lots of malts,raisins, dust,vanilla,cocos,and alcy nose in the end. Flavor is almost the same, lots of malts and vanilla. Big body, long smokey,raisins finish. Complex beer. Nice

Black body, beige head; Incredible nose, super smooth with very fitting alcohol sharpness; A little to whiskey sharp body, bitter and slightly sweet; Alcohol in finish mixed with very smooth whiskey aromas. Not perfectly composed or balanced, but super interesting.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown with a small brown head. Aroma of roasted malt, oak, chocolate, vanilla and whiskey. The roasted malt dominates the flavour and well balanced with the sweetness of the vanilla, whiskey and chocolate that also comes through. Smooth and creamy on the palate. A roasted and bitter finish. Another good beer from these guys.

Pours a somewhat thin black, totally opaque. A mid-sized light tan head recedes very slowly, fat bubbles and oils emerging from under it. The aroma is chock full of vanilla and vibrant Scotch-infused wood, signs that the barrel employed was used for a great while before its ultimate demise at the hands of the Brewdog crew. Alcohol is potent but never overwhelming, an integral part of a superb aromatic demonstration. Mild notes of licorice root and coffee permeate the air just inside the glass, but a long whiff from afar reveals soft vanilla, alone and tempting. There is quite a bit of caramel and moderately roasted grain apparent too, but it’s secondary to heavenly spice and barrel influence. These aging remnants do not deluge the base beer, though they do seek to displace it somewhat. This doesn’t have the power of the other Brewdog imperial stouts, but is does have the elegance showcased again and again, the element that’s most important in my enjoyment of these magnificent creations. Vanilla reigns supreme in the flavor, a grainy addition that veers nowhere near the additive characteristics of some beers that aren’t naturally infused with this flavor. The taste, other than alcohol and the continual propulsion of barrel accents, isn’t really that imperial at all. It is delicious though, easy to quaff and without apology for its predisposition. No flaws are noted, thus the integration of wood and whiskey is expertly laid out and easy to revel in. Chocolate that was just a footnote in the nose is almighty now, sweet and layered with caramel and leathery spice. Sweetness is medium overall, bitterness is mild and just steady enough to cohesively join moderate acidity and keep things lively. These traits join steady, cola-like though sparse carbonation in a medium bodied mouthfeel that is slick and oily. The finish is lightly bitter, sweet chocolate, vanilla and tannins lingering. Lovely, understated but for the barrel character but still remarkable, balance peering in from a distance. A true delight.