BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 001)

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

Thanks Tom for opening this rather challeging and interesting beer at the Weekend of Spont. Ferment. Pours dark brown colored with a fizzy head. Aroma is dominated by whiskey with some roastiness and coffee in there as well and oak of course. Flavor is whiskey and more whiskey and I can’t really find much else. Oak, tar, chocolate is noticeable. As said, interesting, but way too much whiskey for my taste. Makes this otherwise well brewed beer rather unbalanced and not as complex as I had hoped for. Still a fun experience.

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.

(Bottle) Black colour with ruby hints through light. Brief, frothy, pale brown head. Malty, tarry nose with notes of chocolate, liquorice, vanilla, tar and smoke. The smokiness of the whisky is evident, but doesn’t take over completely. Malty, tarry taste with strong black coffee, chocolate, liquorice, vanilla, tar and evident notes of Islay whisky. Nice puff of cocoa bitterness in the finish. Medium to full body, slightly oily mouthfeel. Rather sweet. Lovely balance between the imperial stout and the whisky flavours. Excellent example of wood finishing. Powerful and lovely beer

Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry, Blankboy, and GregClow, thanks to Harry for this rare treat from over the pond. Smells like Islay! Seawater and dirt, alcohol, and roast as well in complex and up front aroma. Taste - maybe the smokiest beer ever? Like drinking charred wood from a smoldering peat fire. Lots of Islay like whiskey notes, body is thin, some acidic notes in finish as well. Needs more body in my opinion. A rare unique drinking experience that I enjoyed but am in no hurry to repeat, if that makes any sense.

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.

12oz bottle. Pours a black body with a small tight bubbled beige head that fell to a thin wispy covering. Very medicinal and peaty nose with some dark roasted malt and oak. Smells more like whisky than beer. The flavor is like the nose, very much dominated by the peat and band aid phenols, overpowering much of what the base beer has to offer. Some roast and coffee are present, but they are clearly background accents. Mouthfeel is medium bodied but it’s a little thinner than what I’d like. Nice soft gentle carbonation though. Lingering Islay scotch finish. Overall, pretty decent, but only if you’re a fan of Islay single malts would you think that this was great.

Bottle: Poured a deep black color stout with a small bubbly head with limited retention and minimal lacing. Aroma is dominated by peat smoked malt which I did enjoyed. Taste is also dominated by loads of peat smoke malt which are very tasty. I never had an imperial stout with so much smoke notes before. Roasted malt and black chocolate do take a back seat in this one. Average body with low carbonation and no alcohol was apparent. Very well done and interesting take on the style.

330 ml bottle, at the Bon Accord, Glasgow. Black colour, ruby in the highlights. Large and lasting creamy head. Very strong aroma of tar and peat. Extremely peaty and tarry flavour, just too much of the good stuff.