BrewDog Paradox Islay (Batch 008)

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

Serve in Snifter

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Penetrable ebony. Grayish foam slowly disperses but maintains a fine collar. Phenolic, briny, tarry aromas are joined by hints of sawdust, peat smoke and chocolate fudge. Whisper of prunes and claylike oak. Soft, airy carbonation. Extremely dull, lifeless and oxidized from the get-go, with a fudge-saturated body that further deadens any lurking brightness. Raspy alcohol clashes with the graceless, slightly astringent roastiness. Oak is quite flabby and poorly defined, as are the esters which lie buried beneath the weighty residuals. Center is devoid of depth and comes across as entirely hollow and gritty with minerals, paper and a metallic twang. Delayed emergence of smokiness lends an ashen dryness while the tar notes bring some richness to the fore. Brininess accentuates the dryness as it lifts the sweetness from the palate which generates a black licorice effect. With the exception of some minor charred malt which echoes the smoke, oak and papery oxidation are all that remain in its wake. Finishes with medicinal touch, along with a flabby mix of charcoal, tangy peat and stale chocolate. Does have a somewhat pleasant and delicate nose, but all is downhill from there. I sincerely applaud BrewDog for such an ambitious undertaking, but this project is a huge disappointment. Not only are the beers oxidized, and dull as a result, they severely suffer from the excessively high levels of filtration, which has literally stripped the life and body from the beer. And force carbonate them on top of that??? No thanks.

12 oz. bottle, sent from Glouglouburp (thanks Dany), pours black with a small ring of tan head. Aroma of islay whiskey, smoke / peat, wood, earth and some sweetened chocolate malt too - sweeter than batch 001. Flavour has some fruitiness to it surprisingly (cherry), with the expected whiskey barrels, wood, earth / dirt, peat, and some slightly sweet chocolate malt. Superior to Batch 001 with a nice subtle fruitiness and mild sweetness to tone down the intense islay / peat qualities. Quite nice.

In short: A very peaty, earthy/dirty and moderately smoked whisky-flavored dark beer with a nice fruitiness. Good stuff
How: Bottle 330ml. Probably 2+ years old
The look: Typical BrewDog Paradox look, see-through black body with almost no head
In long: Nose is peaty, a bit smoky, earthy moist wood, whisky barrels. That thing smells dirty. Taste has plenty of smoked peat, earth, dirty old woody whiskey barrels, grainy burnt malts, cherry wood. But there was also a refreshing fruitiness buried under that dirty peat that reminded me of tropical fruits, or maybe even raspberries. As usual with BrewDog Paradox, the carbonation was sparse and the body was a bit viscous. I didn’t care for it on my first few sips but the more I drank it the more the unexpected fruitiness was coming trough and by the time I finished my bottle I could have liked to open another one. You want a good Paradox? Here you go: Ban censorship!!!

Paradox Parallel tasting (with 001), bottle 2 years old
Black color; generous head. Nice whisky aroma, smokey, but it seems to come from the malt; roasted malt and dark chocolate too, and liquorice. Medium body structure, with an excellent mix of caramel, roasted malt and chocolate flavor, duly complemented by a thin and pleasant smoke line. Light liquorice too in the final, still some sweetness (not present in the other batch), light alcohol. Very nice.

Black color with no head. Sweet malt aroma that is quite smokey. Slight bitterness in the taste, stale malt is predominant. Ashy smoke character.

From notes: Pours a pitch black color with a thin bubbly yellowish tan head that quickly fades leaving only minimal spots of lacing behind. Nice peaty aroma with lots of bourbon/whiskey in the nose. Hints of earth, oaky wood, roasted malt and sweet alcohol. The booze kind of overpowers the stout notes but it still smells pretty amazing. Hopefully it’s not a complete bourbon bomb. Thankfully this beer taste more balanced than it smells. Very smooth and quaffable with a nice amount of roasted chocolate and caramel maltiness balancing out the boozy heat. Hints of earthy oak and lots of peat to go along with the sweet alcohol and bourbon notes. Medium bodied and creamy and a nice balance of wood, roasty malt and booze with a slightly dry finish. The ABV is decently masked making this very drinkable. This should age pretty well. Not bad.

Aroma- The Smokey smell has a light sweetness too it. Appearance- This beer has characteristics of looking like coffee. it is something that you cannot see through but the head gives it the frothy look. Taste- it has a heavy taste too it along with a mild bitterness I also feel that it has a slight sweet salty taste along with it. Palate- the body is a full feel to it. The texture is a creamy thick feel to it. Carbonation is soft and not really noticeable. Finish- it is lingering but has a bold flavor after it goes down. Overall I would buy this beer again! it is definitely a sipping beer while sitting around reading or doing work at home

SÖF 25 year feast at Haket 2010-11-13 Göteborg AP: pitch black, dark beige head stouty head AR: smokey, coffey, chocolate (bitter) F. chocolate ( a bit metalllic), medium + bitterness, loads of carbonation, roasted malt, vanilla, a bit oily concistence, round flavor 3,6 Room temp: sprity, richer chocolate flavor 3,9

Bottled. A deep red-brown beer with a thin brown head. The aroma has notes of islay whisky, roasted malt, and wood. The flavor is sweet with notes of alcohol, whiskey, smoke, roasted malt, and wood, as well as light notes of vanilla.

Bottle. Pours black with light tan head. Nose of chocolate, motor oil and whiskey barrel. Taste of chocolate, vanilla coffee, roasted malts and light whiskey finish.

7/30/10. 12oz bottle. Black pour with red on the edges. Sweet malty aroma followed by peaty smoke and a good dose of alcohol. Sweet grainy flavor with a nice smokey finish that’s almost dusty and chocolatey. A little more one dimensional than I was expecting, but pretty good.