BrewDog Paradox Longrow (Batch 018)

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

330ml brown bottle, my bottle appears to have been intended for Japanese export, since half of it is in kanji (?) Opaque, deep, deep brown to black colour, when held up to light some deep brown highlights appear. The head is modest but leaves behind some pleasant sheets upon the surface of the glass, no real head left on the surface of the beer. Whisky cannot be ignored in the aroma, but isn’t powerfully intense, rather it is pleasant and warming, revealing a soft peat character. The base imperial stout is underneath there as well, roasty with very light chocolate note. To me, this does not seem very phenolic, as other raters have noted. Flavour is quite peaty, salty, warming alcohol,whisky notes play off this. Beer finishes roasty, dry, earthy, some woody tones. Full body, moderate carbonation level. Really quite drinkable for 10%, if you enjoy the base componenents, and I do.

Poured out a thick looking black brew with a small dark brown cap, just a bit of spotty lacing. Beer cover stays as a skim all the way through to the bottom of the glass. Nice aroma! Chocolate, lots of chocolate, butterscotch, green apples, cooked carrots, toasted malts, grain, dusty hay. Overall the mix of chocolate and scotch is very good. Lots of chestnuts throughout. The taste is very nice. Chocolate... bitter bitter chocolate with excellent roasty bitterness, dark fruits, alcoholic anesthetic, light coffee is found at the finish with grain, dust and earth. Smooth with endless bitterness and chocolate and now weak coffee with a touch of alcohol burn blended in well. I love this type of beer.

Bottle 33cl. @ home.
[ Trade by cgarvieuk ]. Clear medium to dark black brown color with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to beige head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, caramel, chocolate, saltwater, peat - smoke, wood, medicine notes. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and heavy bitter with a long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20090206]

Holy scotch batman! This beer smells and tastes like a glass of islay scotch poured dirty. Big smoke, oak and peat permeate the taste aroma and palate. My only complaint is that is all i can and taste, the stout is drowned out by the intense flavours given from the barrel aging. Of course that’s a very mild complaint as i still rated this beer quite high. This beer is fantastic, and if they were going for what they got out of this, then well done sirs! I can’t wait to try this after it ages for a couple years. ----I retract what i said earlier about the aroma... after this warms up and opens up a bit, you can get red fruit and licorice. There is definitely some imperial stout behind all that smoke and peat.

Bottle, from the brewer. There are appropriate times for sampling such a beer. Having a belly-full of Camembert, steak, Cabernet Sauvignon and champagne may not lead me to a fair review. But, guess what? I don;t give two shits tonight. My wife has enjoyed immensely her birthday meal, lovingly prepared by these Punk IPA-stained hands, and now I have David Gilmour and Paradox Longrow to see me through the wee hours. You wanna know? This w-o-r-k-s; even I forgive the ersatz Islay approach and give up that the malted peat finish in the cask imparts an edge that’s so gluggable. I’m still shocked that I like this mucky puppy so much. It’s so close to Islay lite - just enough salty sea spray and old hash yet not enough stones to hail from the isle itself - but ... feck me if I’m not going to now go and open another. Here was I craving a malt tonight and foresaking them all in favour of a Paradox. Now I have to drink more. Damn you/love you, Brewdog!

Bottle from cgarvieuk, thanks Craig! Deep dark brown color. Iodine and peaty smoke in the aroma, pushing away the obvious caramelly and chocolate aromas. Malty sweet caramelly flavor with iodine, peat, smoke, whisky. Alcoholic, almost boozy, but a lovely balance and oozing the quality of a good Longrow malt. I just miss a bit of chocolate.

A Mes rate. Bottle from BrewDog. Standard 4 for appearance gets it off to the usual good start. In comparison to the others this has a lot more tobacco and dried fruit than other versions. I wonder if this is down to variations in the base beer or if this is something that has been imparted by the whisky. Fairly peaty, slight seaweed and salt. Nice tobacco in the finish. Well balanced and enjoyable but not the best Paradox.

Bottle. Pours a very dark brown with a thin light brown head. Exceptionally peaty aroma and flavour, with campfire smoke, caramel, chocolate all hovering at the edges of the palate. Medium-bodied despite the 10% ABV, and no sign of any intrusive fusels or harshness. I agree with Saavy1982 that this comes across as more of a scotch ale (imperial scotch ale?), but is still very tasty and enjoyable.