BrewDog Riptide

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

Dark brown color with a smaller hot cocoa head. Lightly toasted and roasted malt in the aroma. A touch of salt water toffee. Not a strong scent, but nothing askew. Light sweet licorice in the start. Quite enjoyable for a professed licorice hater. Middle is full of sweetened coffee, Toasted, hearty whole grain bread, blackberries and a hint of pencil eraser (resin?). Very light carbonation. Finish is lightly sweet and linger is of sweet roasted malt and some mild honey roasted nuts. I find no trace of alcohol. A very enjoyable stout.

Bottled. Near black. Striking roasty licorice aroma. Salty with solid, dense malt, notes of tar and coffee. Almost full bodied with tarry salty finish.

Bottled 330ml. -Courtesy of and shared with Doggythedog (thanks!). Batch No.164
Almost black with reddish glare, small tan head, notes of chocolate and cocoa in the nose. Roasted coffee, chocolate and some hops with notes of dark fruits. Alcohol is well hidden. Bitter finish and pleasant long-lasting aftertaste. Enjoyable stout.

Bottled. A deep red beer with a brown head. The aroma is sweet alcoholic combined with notes of roasted malt and citrusy hops. The flavor is sweet with notes of roasted malt, and hops giving it notes of grass and grapefruit, as well as an alcohol note, that burns in the throat.

Bottle. Poured black with nothing but a watery gurgle of to top it off, a disappointing start. But the manly aroma gets me reinterested and on the first sip I’m completely turned into a fan. Rich with flavor, this is a delicious brew -- full of dark fruit, coffee, and a nice bitter finish. (#3596, 11 July 2009)

This is not the kind of in your face imperial stout that most american beer nerd palates have come to expect, which is why I’m surprised it’s still rated so high - it’s more like a slightly more aggressive take on the traditional british version of the style - dark brown, with a soapy, lasting lace - aroma of lactose, chocolate, coffee, intense roast, a tiny bit of alcohol - very smooth mouthfeel - the flavor is extremely roasty, with a lot of coffee character - some sweet chocolate malts ride through the middle, with a bit of plum and dark berry fruitiness as well - but a strong bitterness comes from behind that, making the other characteristics aside from the roastiness disappear from the palate pretty fast - the bitterness lasts quite some time through the finish, and the alcohol becomes fairly evident, adding a warming character - the dryness and bitterness work well in this one, and I kind of find it refreshing to have an impy that isn’t so over the top.

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.

Bottle. Very dark/black with small beige head. Licorice aroma with notes of coffee, roasted malts, a little chocolate and a little smoke. A slight hoppy note can be detected as well. Surprisingly smokey flavour. Not that it resembles a smoked beer, but it has a very nice touch of smokiness to the flavour already consisting of burned malts, licorice, coffee and a decen amount of bitterness in the end. Not the best impy I’ve had, but I like the fact that this one has character to seperate itself from so many others. I really enjoyed this one and would definitely drink it again even over other impys, that I’ve rated higher. I like smoke in my beer and especially in my whisky, but so far the Paradox series have been way to un-balanced for me. The element of smoke in this one could be slightly more significant, but this is probably overall the best and most interesting beer I’ve had from BrewDog. Also the first entered rating...