BrewDog Riptide

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

Serve in Snifter

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12oz bottle from 16th St. Liquor. Pours a murky coffee brown with thin head than vanishes quickly leaving only a ring of lacing. Aroma is viscous and inviting with treacle like malt and some caramel. Taste is less complex than promised by the nose with slightly smoky coffee notes and more caramel. Alcohol is reasonably integrated and the overall impression is positive but not overwhelming. Imperial stouts are tough because there are so many excellent examples available...makes it harder to give this any higher than a 4.

330 ml Bottle. Dark brown color with ruby some ruby highlight. Medium sized, creamy brown head with good retention. Aroma of dark grapes, black currant with some smooth roasted or slightly smokey edge. The first impression is a very vinous, port-like chacacter. After then it shows up its roasted, dry, coffee/cocoa bean character. The aftertaste seemed really smokey to me. The alcohol is well-hidden, the body is a bit light for the style, the texture is also a bit watery. But i have no reason to complain, it was a very tasty imperial-stout.

Reviewed 7/23/2009 (bottle BB 12/12/09): Pours a very dark brown/blackish color body, clearish. Small frothy whitish head. Strong sweet aroma, dark grape and malty. Not too strong. Alcoholy taste, with chocolatey, coffee aftertaste. Somewhat watery palate.

Thanks to my sweetness kaggie. A little thin. Flavor is whack. I wish he would have just given me his love juice instead.

Poured from bottle into a snifter. Opaque dark brown with minimal head but has nice lacing lines down the glass. Aroma of chocolate, licorice, alcohol, roasted malts. The smell becomes very subdued after a couple minutes. Dark chocolate and licorice backbone, with some fruitiness (BrewDog says cherry, I’ll go with that). More bitter and smoky than sweet. Especially bitter at end, likely due to both burnt malts and hops. Very low carbonation, full body, very smooth, and very dry for an Imperial Stout. Not syrupy or oily as some big malty beers are, but way too flat. Very nice, late evening sipper. Overall, much more bitter than typical for the style, but that is part of the appeal.

possibly the worst poem i have ever read and the only poem i have ever seen on the side of a beer bottle. actually reads more like manowar lyrics or something, but being on a beer bottle i can’t be sure of the irony. brewers are pretty earnest. this beer is an american style imperial only watered down, much like the punk IPA - a more drinkable and approachable version of US microbrew so as not to scare the scots who never knew about hops apparently. grapefruit and chocolate and alcohol, thin finish leaving alcohol and rough high AA hops. a bonsai version of the west coast stouts everyone on ratebeer [except me, silktork and ernest] loves. in fact i just read silktork’s rating and it is hilarious.

CASK!!! not much aroma, but the flavor is a very strong dark black roasty malt that lasts for about 15 minutes after each sip. This tastes much higher in alcohol than there is. Cask at The Pub, Naples.

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.

Bottle: The aroma consists is loaded with chocolate with lots of dark chocolate and cocoa powder and some light roasted nuttiness. It pours a dark brown with red highlights that borders on transparency when held to the light. It has a moderate beige head with good retention. The flavor starts with some light cocoa powder. The finish turns to moderate dark chocolate, roasted nuts, and just a hint of fruit. Medium bodied with mild carbonation. This really seems like more of a stout than an Imperial Stout.

Poured a black body with a small white tan/gray head. Light chocolatey nose, malty notes. Sweet, soft taste, coffee mostly, roasty, clashing with a strong hop bitterness found in the end and going long into the aftertaste. Alcohol very well hidden. Not too complex but nice.