BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 001)

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

Bottle, as #006. A beautiful looking beer, black and clear-looking, topped by a tan head. Licorice, smoke and peat dominates the aroma, but also the alcohol is quite evident. Peatish flavor with salty licorice, smoke and a coffee-like bitterness. Full-bodied, still with an almost watery feeling. The finish lasts forever, with the same flavors found initially. Are there some bandaid too? A lovely beer, dangerously easy to drink. (081128)

Brown bottle, 330 ml, best before 03/03/10, via Importations Privées Bièropholie (directly from the brewer’s personal reserve as we had ordered too many cases!), savoured on January 9 2009; eye: black, opaque, tiny ring of cappuccino head, slight lacing; nose: lots of peat and smoke, powerful, roasted almost burnt malt; mouth: peat, smoke, roasted almost burnt malt, light wood, slight hops, light pepper, light saltiness, very long finale in peat with a good presence of smoke, medium-full body, inky feel, lightly bitter, light astringency, lightly oily texture, not much carbonation; overall: quite good FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 330 ml, meilleure avant 03/03/10, via Importations Privées Bièropholie (directement de la réserve personnelle du brasseur car on en avait trop commandé!), savourée le 9 janvier 2009; œil : noire, opaque, très petit anneau de mousse cappuccino, très légère dentelle; nez :beaucoup de tourbe et de fumée, puissance, boisé, malt rôti presque brûlé; bouche : tourbe, fumée, malt rôti presque brûlé, léger boisé, très léger houblon, léger poivre, léger salé, très longue finale en tourbe avec une bonne présence de fumée, corps moyen-corsé, sensation d’encre, légèrement amère, légère astringence, texture légèrement huileuse, peu carbonatée; en résumé : très bonne

(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

Beautiful near black body with a deep red shine, medium sized bubbles in head with alright duration; Very special nose, at first it seems like the beer has a fault with almost chlorine notes, really fast you realize it is very clear Islay notes mixed with malty beer notes, tone of tar, sea water, dried dark seaweed, behind it a fine layer of chocolaty malty notes; Quite big (perfect) amount of soft carbonation, quite balanced on the sweet side, slightly bitter as well; Quite long very warm finish, actually also a bit sharp and burning, lots of Islay aromas, more settled aromas then in nose , tar and smoke are the most apparent elements, actually quiite hoppy bitter as well, but no hop aromas at all. Very special, almost more like a whiskey then beer. A thin malty sweet Islay whiskey: To be honest I dont know if I have rated this beer right, it is a bit to strange. Thanks Tom.

Pours a thinner near black with fast disapating small bubbled head. Lots of scotch aroma, some smokey peat, dark fruits, and sweet malt, also alcohol. Very scotch forward, peaty, some creamy chocolate, lots of roast. huge dark chocolate/barrel finish. Off dry but still kinda sugary in a distracting way. Medium bodied, fuller mouthful, very subtle fizzy carbonation.

[To celebrate my 2000th rating] Pitch black with medium beige head. Aroma has roasted malt, smoke and whiskey notes. Sweet flavor with fairly hard roasted malt, caramel, smoke, wood and Islay whiskey notes.

cheers tom (magic_dave6) for allowing me to join you on the paradox vertical tasting was incredible! the islay poured dark black like old engine oil, and retained its head a bit better then the other two. The nose is overwhelmingly similar to the islay whiskey. petey, smokey lots of earthy aromas. still smells sweet and fruity but mostly earth. tastes a million times more intense then the aroma. smoked bacon, or ham, and islay whiskey. almost put me on the floor. After a few ounces, you can really define the other notes that are in the other editions. its really complex. not my favorite of the 3, but quite good. RErate CASK CONDITION at blackies- pours nearly opaque with a beautiful foamy (sea foam) beige head. smells strongly of whiskey, peat smoke, and leather shoes. tastes peat smoke and lite citrus backing it up. really smokey in a intense yet restrained manner not overwhelming. coffee and incredible length. still a 4.

Bottle from lithy, thanks bro! I ended up with an extra bottle thanks to an erroneous shipment from liquidsolutions. So I decided to give it a try. Wow, what a cool beer. Black pour with a small head that barely lasts 20 seconds. Aroma is pure peaty malt. Some might think it smelled of sausage, but to the scotch drinker this is all scotch. Flavor is more scotch than beer, but the beer certainly there. The two are harmoniously blended in this beer. Bravo!!