BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 001)

Formerly brewed at BrewDog
Style: Imperial Stout
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy & and tupalev - HogTownHarry’s bottle. Rating #2000!!! (OK, I’m cheating a bit - the first beer we drank this night is technically #2000, but this was the most interesting thing we had by far, so I’m doing some rearranging...) Deep brown with a small tan head and very still body. Aroma - peat, sea water, smoke, deep roasted malt, just fantastic. Medium body. Flavour - my god, this is good! Smoky as fuck, like a peat fire in my mouth, but in a very good way. Charred malt, smoke, iodine, salt - as I type all of this, I know that it probably doesn’t sound too appealing, but trust me, it was. Very intense, very big, and perfect to split four ways - much more than that would’ve just been too much. A fantastic milestone beer - thanks to Harry for sharing, and the rest of my usual posse and others who I’ve shared so many with over the years.

Bottle (330ml). Shared with blankboy, GregClow and tupalev, my bottle from UtoBeer, Borough Market, London. Clear deep brown-red, small bubbly beige head. Served at cellar temperature. Aroma - wow; hardwood smoke, peat, iodine, seasalt, background roast malt and mild herbal hops. Taste - double wow! (Jer, this would KILL you ...) - like chewing a charred log out of the fireplace - ash, peat, heavy smoke, light hops and malt, iodine and a salty linger - oh yeah, this is an Islay. Light body, incredibly astringent/acidic (duh - the cask?) - not much carbonation, but who cares - a long, smokey bitter salty finish. Not for the faint of palate, but if you love a good malt, this is a must. I must say, not all that "stout"-y. But I don’t care about that, either. Astonishing, but I’ll be happy to go a long time before having it again.

33 cl bottle. Batch 006: Pours pitch black with a off white bubbly head. Aroma and taste is of roasted malts - smoke, chocolate, coffee, wood, oak & ashtray. Medium bodied. Oily & creamy. Close to flat carbonation. Heavy whisky smokey notes. I PREFER AN IMPERIAL STOUT WITH LESS SMOKE & MORE HOPS .

Bottled. Batch 006. Pitch black coloured. Light brown fluffy head. Tart, cordage, light cocoa and heavy smoke. Is quite balanced and has some oaky notes. Flavour is dominated by the cordage and tarty notes. Is heavily smoked and has some fruity and oaky notes. Alcohol notable. Again a nice balance. Is smoky and tarty in the end. Dry. Some alcoholwarmth on the palate. Funny one.

Bottle. a Black beer with a small beige head. The aroma and taste is of roasted malt and smoked whisky. Medium body with a sweet dry smoked finish.

this was batch 006 and not 001, but according to ratebeer, it’s an alias. The roma is full of oak and smoke, with a bit of hops in there too. The appearance is dark and with a brown head. The flavor has oak, smoke and liqourice to finish it off. There is also a tint of whiskey note in the flavor, but I doubt that I would discover it if it was rated during a blind tasting. Then I would just have concluded it was different than normal oak.

(Bottle 33 cl) Courtesy of Myrup. Comes as Batch 006. Clear, dark, reddish brown with a small, rough, off-white head. Distinct aroma of peat smoked whisky. Surprisingly only medium-bodied with lightly sweet, hard roasted malt and then a somewhat sharp whisky note. Plenty of peaty smoke and tar and then an ashy, burned malt finish. 291107

33 cL bottle (batch 06). Pours dark brown a with a lacing chocolate brown head. Vanilla and chocolate smooth aroma with a distinct note of whiskey. Flavour is smooth at first before a heavy roasted malt flavour kicks in. Has a dark liqourice note before the finish. Has a strong roasted and slight whiskey note lingering into the far finish.