BrewDog Riptide

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

Bottle. Creamy off-white good mostly lasting head. Black colour. Moderate hoppy and malty aroma. Moderate bitter flavor. Bitter finish. Moderate bitter average finish. Creamy palate.

Milk chocolate in the nose with plenty of underlying fruitiness. Opaque dark brown body is topped by a low tan-brown head that recedes to a partial cover with some lacing. Raisins,roasted malts and hickory suffuse the chocolate sweetness with a lingering interplay between bitterness and sweetness in the aftertaste. Medium full body with moderate carbonation that is pleasantly effervescent. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature. Bottle purchased at Brewery Creek in Jul-09.

Nearly black body with a pretty garnet edge. The large head is dark tan with lots of large bubbles. The aroma is at first quality roast coffee with some sweet pancakes. There was also a note of almonds. The taste is brash with strong coffee and dark chocolate. The finish has prunes and some bread crust. The body is nicely balance, but has a little bit of rubbing alcohol in the aftertaste along with a strong bitterness. Well made, but I would like a touch less roast.

Bottle from Johns Marketplace in Portland, OR. Pours a very dark ruby brown with a good tan head. There is a rich dark fruit aroma along with toasted/burnt malt and coffee. A pleasant aroma. Full bodied with near chewy carbonation. Flavor is a bit of tar, very, very smooth burnt malt, and coffee. With time chocolate is detectable. Then it all coalesces into a well balanced and sturdy stout. Soft and smooth it is. Also very tasty.

Bottle and served in my Stone IRS snifter: Basically opaque with an initial frothy tan head which fades and leaves okay lace upon the glass. The aroma has notes of plum, prune, chocolate, anise, coffee, and charred malts. The taste is quite balanced with sweet malt, acidity, bitters, and some ashy and spicy notes upon the finish. While the mouth feel could use a tad more thickness, it is still smooth and very drinkable. Overall a very solid Impy.

Thin black colour, a touch of roast malt on the nose, smokey chocolate, little smokey and a little bitter inlinger.

tk2 cask Aberdeen Beer festival 07 ... Deep solid black ... lots of roast malts ... good depth and good balance. 3.2->3.7

Bottle. Not sure of the reason for the high ratings - and like Rastacouere I’m surprised at the amount of two line high scores. I’d appreciate people saying why they liked it: "Colour is black, aroma is coffee, flavour is strong, I liked it." seems a bit shallow. It’s a strong stout for sure, and people like strong stouts, but this is really not one of the best strong stouts I’ve encountered - and considering how easy they are to make, and how home brewed strong stout can taste really nice even from kit, I’m perplexed at the scores (can’t say praise as nobody has really praised it) this beer is getting. The aroma is not exciting. It’s an indifferent slightly fish-tinged chocolate. The taste is strong, but not actually that pleasant - and I’m aware that people can get quite excited about intensity. There is a strong bitterness. It’s quite oily with a viscous and firm mouthfeel - and a firm mouthfeel is often rated highly. For me the beer is not good. Given that a strong stout is baby school easy to impress with, the brewers are revealing themselves as inept with this garbage. It smells unpleasant, tastes unpleasant, is boring and unadventurous, is too bitter, too oily, too fishy, and lacks character, This is simply a badly designed and brewed beer. Crap.

Bottle. Low but lasting creamy light brown head. Clear dark ruby body. Coffee choccolate aroma with a bit of hops bitterness in the background. Sttrong and lovely coffee flavor with choccolate. Very nice palate. Can almost feel the coffee beans. Strong but still smooth and nice without alcohol taste. Low carbonation and a very long aftertaste.