BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 001)

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

A deep dark stout with almost no head, of white. The aroma on this is quite intense and interesting: tobacco, leather, phenolics, wood essence, bitter chocolate, whiskey barrels and tar. In mouth, a nice sweetish and peaty chocolate, with light sweet fruity notes, intense yet subdued, complex yet almost quaffable. Bieropholie import, BB 03/03/2010.

bb 01/01/10 # 001 pours dark brown, mocha head. aroma was reminiscent of a previous Brewdog, lots of smoke, char ashes in the nose that seemed almost too much, thin whiskey. flavor, lots of wood, burnt ashed to the max, char overly present. Interesting beer but the overall mouthfeel turns this experience in something that wasn’t for my palate. As the beer warmed up, the whiskey became a little more present with some chocolate malts though everything was ruined by this overly dry ash/wood/tobacco.

Bottle : Batch 001 Best Before 03/03/10 Pours a dark brown with orange hue and virtually no head. Complex nose, peaty at first, than biscuit, chocolate milk, seaweed. The attack is smooth, medium bodied, no carbonation at all, wich is not distracting in this brew, than grainy in the end. Long aftertaste with the sweet warming of the 10º alcohol bringing back the scotch flavors. This is a great night cap! Altough I think it’s not made for every palate. IMO it’s the absolute opposite of any big american Imp.Stout, nothing is big in this beer, everything is subtle, and it’s nice and good! I want more...

12oz bottle. Pours a black body with a small tight bubbled beige head that fell to a thin wispy covering. Very medicinal and peaty nose with some dark roasted malt and oak. Smells more like whisky than beer. The flavor is like the nose, very much dominated by the peat and band aid phenols, overpowering much of what the base beer has to offer. Some roast and coffee are present, but they are clearly background accents. Mouthfeel is medium bodied but it’s a little thinner than what I’d like. Nice soft gentle carbonation though. Lingering Islay scotch finish. Overall, pretty decent, but only if you’re a fan of Islay single malts would you think that this was great.

12oz bottle from Liquid solutions batch 001 best by 01/01/10. Let me know if I have rated the wrong beer, all these different batches get confusing. Pours a deep coffee brown with a small beige head. Nose was very smokey and full of peat, more noticeable than the Port Dundas version. Finish was also very smokey with some underlying chocolate notes, finish was a little watery.

330 ml bottle from Bieropholie, served at cellar temperature in a tulip glass. Batch 001, BB 03/03/10.

App.: Deep black with a surprisingly frail, small light tan head. Aroma: Great Isla scotch smokiness, quite peaty with some iodine, the deep, fruity malts work in harmony, some licorice and molasses, chocolate, some very light tangy notes, a very inviting nose. Palate: Medium-ish body and almost no carbonation, a bit powdery. Flav.: Similar to the nose with a nice blend of oily scotch peat with deep fruity, chocolate malts, a bit of iodine; somewhat sweet with a fair bit of warming alcohol and a slightly metallic Scotch-like finish softened with a little dark malt.

The body was lacking but this was still a very enjoyable brew.

(Bottle, batch 006) Pours very dark brown, black in the glass with a small brown head. The aroma holds peat smoked whisky up front with undertones of tar, wet cigarette/ cigar, toffee, wood, salt water, soy, salt liquorice, burned caramel and burned chocolate. Light medical with hints of throat lozenge and numbing mint. The nose is quite sharp and the whisky tones are too present. The flavour is light to medium sweet, light bitter and light acidic with notes of smoky whisky, salt liquorice, tar, wood, earth, tobacco/cigar, dark chocolate and maybe a whisper of toffee. The finish is quite dry with a notable touch of old bitter hops. The beer is just too medical and herbal to be enjoyable. The mouthfeel is light oily, empty and hard with a light carbonation. Numbing whisky notes lingers. Near medium bodied. I hope that I will be the last one to mention this - oak aged beers are ok as long as the wood blends well with the rest of the beer. As we say in Sweden: nej tack.

Bottled sample via and shared with oakbluff. Brownish black in colour with low carbonation. Huge aromas of peat, iodine, and sea air with backing notes of mint, dried fruit, and a hint of roast. More over-the-top barrel elements in the mouth with lots of wood, smoke, and spirit, with the caramel and roasted malts creeping in on the back end. Only medium bodied. Quite unusual, as there’s so much Islay scotch influence that it’s hard to draw the line between the beer and whiskey.