BrewDog Riptide

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

It’s a stout so it’s dark.....VERY dark!! Bursts with clean crunchy roast barley, hint of bitterness and a nice malty sweetness. It’s not as big as I’d expected but still has a fair bit of body. Finish is superb, goes on for ages with the alcohol hitting after a few minutes. Very satisfying.

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.

Aroma is strong, oily and smoky with an undertone of fine roast coffee and a hint of molasses. It pours a dark-chocolate brown, opaque and nearly black, with a fairly thick and somewhat persistent head. Rich flavor fills the mouth with roast coffee, molasses, unsweetened chocolate, caramel and even a bit of hops. Texture is jagged, fizzy and lively. This beer is NOT for the timid!

Pretty black. Tarry, intensely roasty aroma though not that intense in terms of intensity if that makes sense. Perhaps I should say "extremely burnt aroma at moderate intensity"? Anyway... There’s also a surprisingly vivid floral aroma, coming from hops I presume. Certainly not the kind of thing you expect in a stout, but definitely not unwelcome. Beautiful round, rich mouthfeel - a touch alkaline - kinda like Old Engine Oil only with the roastiness turned way up. Bitter chocolate, burnt toast and hints of Jamaica flowers. Very bitter. Really good stuff, it seems to have made it over here in excellent nick. I want more.

Reviewed 7/23/2009 (bottle BB 12/12/09): Pours a very dark brown/blackish color body, clearish. Small frothy whitish head. Strong sweet aroma, dark grape and malty. Not too strong. Alcoholy taste, with chocolatey, coffee aftertaste. Somewhat watery palate.

Sampled at Chris_O’s Shindig; Aug. 2007: Dark fruits, toffee, port aroma; brady notes; fairly alcoholic; mocha maltiness; tangy finish; rather astringent. Not a fan.

Tasted 05/05/2008. 330ml bottle from Rumble’s. Inky black, as you’d expect, with a tight tan head that fades to virtually nothing. Very good but lacking a depth of character in the mouth. Fruity espresso on the nose - hints of berry couli, dark chocolate, caramel, burnt toast and alcohol. Subdued esters, American yeast? Roasty, toasty notes dominate the mouth front front to back, with a nice underlying caramel note and a very light lick of diacetyl. Medium weight, medium-low carbonation. Lingering astringency. A very nice beer but it lacks the finesse to incite poetic ravings...

Pours brown-black with a small light tan head of assorted bubbles that speak of low-ish carbonation. Aroma is dark chocolate, pumperknickel, sticks, raspberry, toffee, and a wee bit o’ smoke. Keeps changing, as it was fruitier at the start. Taste is weak when cold, so this MUST be drank warm. Flavors of dark chocolate, toffee, dirt, earthy slightly spicy/peppery hops, and wood. Finishes significantly hoppy, peppery, and burnt. A little too strong on the hoppy finish, especially considering that the rest of the beer is pretty mellow. Medium bodied, under-carbonated, but the bubbles still stand out a little more than they should, slick bodied, not too creamy. Though the flavor and aroma develop really nicely as the beer warms, it’s just too mellow and the mouthfeel makes the beer tough to notice. Worth trying at least.