BrewDog Riptide

Brewed by BrewDog
Style: Imperial Stout
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Dark almost opaque dark ruby, faint tan head. Good but mellow aroma of sweet malt and sweet dark chocolate, very light roast. Light slightly velvety palate. Sweet and crisp to start at the tip of the tongue. Roasty malt, carbon, dark coffee and chocolate gently settle along the whole palate after a brief interlude. Grapefruit from the hops is there if you look for it. Ends with bitter raosty and woodsy hops. Long carbon and coffee finish.

Bottle.
Pours a rich, void-of-light jet black with a nice cream head. Aroma is marshmallow, chocolate, cocoa, and a hint of roasted malt. Flavor is ta,e sweet peaty chocoloate powder and bitter roasted malt. Nice mouthfeel but it fails to leave a lasting impression. Not shabby, but could use some more assertiveness.

Blah blah. Dark pour, small head. Chocolate flavor and maybe a little roast and chalky...is any of this remarkable in any way? No, it isn’t. Not bad, not great.

330 ml bottle, at Olympen, Oslo. ABV was 8.0%. Dark ruby colour, nearly black. Minimal tan head, low carbonation. Nice aroma of roasted malts, sweetened coffee, chocolate and dark dried fruits. The flavour is fairly sweet with a distinct roastiness, notes of coffee, dark chocolate and liquorice.

330ml bottle, batch 123, best by 10/02/10, with thanks to Glouglouburp for the nice bonus! Pours dark brown with a minimal tan head. Aroma is mostly ripe dark fruits, with some caramel, chocolate and molasses. Flavor is also similar with dark fruits, caramel and a hint of chocolate. Alright, but not too exciting. Thanks again Dany!

On-tap. The Rover Gothenburg. Dark brown colour with a beige head. Light roast, chocolate, toffee, licorice, coffee, mint/menthol, the alcohol is a bit too noticeble. Decent, but not more.

Well, I hope I didn’t get a bad bottle, so I’ll give it a try if I see it again. Anyway, I found this beer to be a bit boring. It’s undercarbonated and fairly mild. It’s sweet like a Scottish ale with a relatively thin shell of stout flavors. The beer ends up somewhat watery. I’m not really sure what is twisted or merciless about the beer. The appearance is also underwhelming. There’s very little head. It’s just a very dark brown liquid. The dominant flavors are caramel, licorice and a touch of bittering hops. I had high hopes for this beer and it didn’t really follow through.

Wow! Great beer. Got this bottle at Sam’s in Chicago a few months ago. Poured with a nice light tan, medium head with lotsa lace. Color is an opaque dark brown to black. Aroma is very malty, cocoa, licorice, dark ripe fruit, roasty, and a bit of toffee. Flavor’s the same, but with the licorice in the finish, plus some hints of berry and lemon/orange. Great body and carbonation. Good rich finish. In spite of its robust strength and character, it’s still so good, it’s almost (but not quite) a session beer.