BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 001)

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

3rd LCRBM. Oh yeah. This stuff rules. Aroma has peated whisky malts. Black coloured with a thin off-white head. Taste is sweet, peaty, smoked with whisky malts. Medicinal. Bit dry. Superb beer.

Re-rate Note: My original rating one year ago was 3.3. It was then an interesting mix of impy stout and single malt flavours. Major re-rate for this fucked-up batch. Avoid the batch best-before 03/03/10. In short: Cigarette butt and old coffee filter. Drain pour.
How: Bottle 330ml. Consumed relatively fresh one year before expiration date
The look: Brown-black body with no head
In long: Repulsive nose of old coffee filter and a smoky touch reminiscent of burnt rubber. Taste is even worst. If you’ve ever chewed on a cigarette butt (I have) then you know what the main flavour of the beer is. Also present is a flavour of old coffee filter that was lest moist for many days. And burnt rubber of course. Flat lifeless body. I know this is a fucked-up batch and it shouldn’t taste like this. Holly crap this is bad. Drain pour. Like hotdogs at a gay picnic, it literately tasted like shit.

330ml bottle, bb. 01.06.2009, bought at a whisky store in Rose street, Edinburgh. Peaty stuff that has got a brown, ruby body under a beige head. Malty sweetness in aroma accentuated by a strong peaty touch. Roasted, rugged grain in the taste sustained by smoky malts, with an underlying notch of black coffee and spices. Enjoyable, but maybe too rough at times [15.11.2008].

Bottle. Very dark brown, almost black with a small, tan froth. Smoke, peat, iodine with a somehow softening malty sweetness as a backdrop. Islay cask shines through. Flavours show more of the underlying beer, providing the espresso of the Riptide stout, but in the end Islay whisky character prevails. Soft and full-bodied for sure. A wonderful blend, though Islay casks get the upper hand. Blending the best of beer with the best of whisky in my opinion.

12-oz. Thanks, Rene! Pours black with caramel highlights. Thin but fairly sturdy tan head and lace. Big enormous seaweed and peat nose. Creamy medium body. Roasty, salty, briney. Peaty and seaweedy. Tons going on here. Gets a little phenolic at the end, along with being a little bit bitey and boozy. Very powerful but even some of the odd bits all seem to work together. Then again, I’m an Islay whisky freak, so I probably expected to like it.

Bouteille de 330 ml obtenue via Importations Privées Bièropholie. Arôme: Légère odeur de café, de petits fruits et de vernis. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Présence d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Léger goût de fruits et de venirs. Longue durée de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est mince avec une texture huileuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Légère présence de vernis en arrière goût. (Rating #2170)

Bottle, batch 006. Gorgeous blackish pour, no head other than a fine brown patina of bubbles. Amazing aroma of smoke (like corkboard), leather, whiskey, and peat. Rich burnt malt, chocolatey, smokey, peaty, but then a sweetness reveals itself mid-palate that lifts everything up and adds a slightly fruity element. The finish is long and bitter, and the alcohol is completely unobtrusive and nearly undetectable. Despite the size of this brew, it is compulsively drinakble. Truly outstanding!

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.