BrewDog Riptide

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

Serve in Snifter

No head. Low carbonation. Subdued aroma. Aroma is pretty straightforward-mostly chocolate with some toffee. Some raisin in there too actually. Flavor is richer, especially the chocolate. Pretty rich chocolaty caramelly finish. Very smooth. Some off cherry esters, but not much.

Cask at the Leicester Beer Festival. Very dark and rich, this stout has a velvety chocolate quality to it, lots of roasted coffee flavour, earthy malt and hop bitterness. It’s also got a real boozy kick, giving an effect not unlike Scotch whisky. After this one, I knew it was time to head home.

Bottle. Very dark brown with big light brown head. Flavour is roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, liquorice and hops.

Bottle. Pours reddish-black, with almost no head, just a skim of tan foam across the surface of the beer. Poor/spotty lacing. Nose is appropriately roasty, with loads of dark fruits nearly running to flowers. A very feminine Imperial Stout in many respects. Coffee and chocolate begin to come out as the beer warms, and it slowly becomes more assertive. Chocolate cake, dark malt, and a bit of smoke emerge with time. Palate is soft, slightly sweet, and mouthcoatingly earthy. Mushrooms, dank cellar, wet leaves, nice roast, some dark fruit, milk chocolate, coffee, which slowly turns quite ashy in the finish. Booze is nicely hidden, and it has a certain port-like character to it.

Bottle from Vinmonopolet. Pours dark brown, almost black with a small light brown head. Aroma of roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, dark fruits and hops. Nice stout with a good balance. Dry and a bit bitter finish.

Bottle. Pours black with little head. aroma is dominated by a strong chocolate aspect accompanied with caramel, roastyness, and citrus. Tastes fairly sweet, very sour with slightly bitter finish.

The nose was rich with bittersweet chocolate, dark coffee, prunes, and an occasional punch of a strong liquor that I’m not familiar enough with to identify. There were undertones of pine. The finish was long and bitter, full of hops. The sweetness came lightly upfront. The palate was soft, creamy and quite flat, but there was a spark to it because of the hoppy bitterness. I’m a newbie with stouts, but I think it was a complex one, not a starter.

pours black with a thin tan head and minimal lacing. aroma is chocolate malt, and heavy red wine. The taste has notes of chocolate malt, currants, blackberries, and a dark red wine such as malbec or zinfandel. finish is more traditionally stout-like than the taste. a very interesting, unorthodox beer.