BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 001)

Y’a pas à dire, cette bière rappelle les beaux moments qu’on a peut-être déjà eu à boire de la Corona double cuillerée de sel. Visuellement, c’est noir, aussi noir qu’une stout doit l’être afin de respecter certaines conventions d’usage, ce qui me permet d’être jusque là satisfait. Par contre, le corps est étonnamment mince et le col manque pour le moins de tenacité, ce qui me rappelle un café noir bien froid, bien aqueux, oublié depuis quelques jours sur la table de la cuisine (survenant un double meurtre sur Wellington). Là où ça fait mal, c’est quand on pose ses narines au dessus du verre. Y’a pas à dire, le double meurtre a fait très mal, ce qui n’est pas pour m’empêcher de me rappeler les inoubliables morceaux de bravoure de Breuguel (si seulement Breuguel pouvait croiser le fer avec Christophe Lambert et Sean Connery). Disons que le croisement de percolateur, de caoutchouc brûlé et de liquide baignant dans la poudre d’aspirine n’est pas le parfum que l’on recherche le plus souvent. Au goûter, c’est diaboliquement mauvais, ce qui laisse croire qu’on a oublié la bière peut-être trop longtemps dans le cask: ça goûte Christophe Lambert. Un belle importation privée, idéale désormais pour s’initier à la pratique du trading.
Pas mal. J’ai été en mesure de diminuer la moyenne de cette bière d’un point. :-)

Aros Ølfest, Aarhus, DK. Bottled, 241008. Dark brown with off-white head. Aroma of malt, smoke and coffee. Flavor is chocolate, coffee, smoke, whisky, wood and earth.

Bottle shared by tronraner at the Pre-Brewers’ Jam Warm-up. Pours red-black with a small off-white head that settles to a ring. Aroma of smoke and earth. The flavor has lots of scotch, some wood. Medium body, tasty.

Bottle, brought to the 2008 pre-Brewers’ Jam warmup. Pours mahogany with very small beige head. The aroma is Scotch, smoke, peat, and not a whole lot else. Flavor is dry, woody, and smoky peat. I gotta say I’m a little disappointed in this one. The Scotch-aging comes through very well, but it seems that the base beer is lackluster and unable to support such strong flavors.

Suttree’s 2008 Pre-Brewer’s Jam Tasting. Sample from a bottle thanks to tronraner. Quite clear ruby black pour with a thin frothy light tan head. Potent peat, smoked aromas but light briney scotch tastes overpower all stout flavors.

Name: Paradox 001 Islay
Date: 10/02/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Green’s, Atlanta

Appearance: black, thin beige head, bits of lace,
Aroma: big scotch aroma with a strong woody and smokey character, dry dark roasted malt,
Flavor: rich roasted malt flavor, lots of bitter dark chocolate, complex wood character, lots of smokey scotch, the dark chocolate and scotch combine with the wood for a long bitter finish,
Overall: a bit over the top with the scotch

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **4

Blackish red or reddish black, no head. Big aroma of smoke, peat and earth. The Scotch pretty much dominates everything, which is good if you like Scotch. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

Bottled, $10.50 (ouch). Wow, this is unreal. Smells like the richest, stinkiest, briniest scotch you’ve ever encountered. There really isn’t much beer left here... I think I’d rather just drink scotch. However, it is still pretty interesting. Aroma is salt, brine, seaweed, some smoke. Flavor is all Islay scotch, except at the very beginning and very ends... up front there is a touch of thick, stoutiness, and in the back there is a dry, chalky, clean finish, though that is also covered by some slick, moldy rocks and brine.

The intensity from the scotch barrel makes this incredibly difficult to drink. Though I like much of the flavors here, they are too intense, and don’t blend well with the beer at all, unlike the batch 003/Glen Grant cask, which I found to be extremely balanced and wonderful. I would like to try more Islay cask examples, however, at $10.50 a bottle, I doubt that will be happening any time soon.