BrewDog Sink the Bismarck

Brewed by BrewDog
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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I had this beer at Churchill’s in San Marcos during the New Brew Thursday 1st Anniversary Party. I just didn’t enjoy this beer; it seemed tart, but not in a good way.

25cl from bottle at Brewdog Camden, London. Pours a deep orange color with no head or bubbles. Aroma is sweet: caramel, toffee, alcohol, red wine. Taste very similar, but with a hop bite to it: caramel, toffee, booze, hops, figs and plums. Some bitterness from the hops to cut through the boozy sweetness. No carbonation, thick oily body. Overall, very interesting as a liquor and enjoyable in small quantities. Definitely odd and off-putting as a beer. How to rate it? Hedonistically, I have to say I loved the drink and the experience, just don’t expect a beer.

Bottle from brewdog.com. It’s hard to rate this one because as the bottle went on I started to enjoy it more and more. For the strength there was a lot of flavour but I expect this was more a technical exercise.

Bottle at craig’s. Pours a nice clear ruby red, no head, flat. Alcohol burns my nose on the aroma, musty cheesy hops. Taste’s like a mouthfull of dust, horrible, musty, dusty, brutal. Big alcohol burn. A shocking beer

Bottle: No head, a clear dark amber colored beer. Smell hops, I really smell the (ipa) hops, citrus, sticky sweets, sweet corn, light sticky barleys and some hints of grapefruit. Taste is strong and alcohol spicy, molasses, light liquorice, dirty malt mytydo Iike dirty bitter but strong present spicy bitter, syrup, sticky barley malty mix. No carbo, soft oily mouthfeel, full body and an oily texture. Strange brew and a bit unbalanced.

Bottle. Deep golden color approaching amber. Hops mostly, alcohol (although it was really well masked, given the ABV). Sweet and malty backing. Syrupy body with low carbonation contributing to the effect. I was surprised that this tasted better than Tactical Nuclear Penguin, given the higher ABV and the fact that this is an IIPA.

Consumed sometime last year. From notes. Poured a ritzy orangey light amber-- almost honeycomb-- into, you guessed it... a shot glass! Performed minimal carbonation on every side of the rim, but soon enough depleted into nothing. Incredibly treacly. Smelled predominately of yard trimmings, spent grains, citrus, caramel, mold, and quite the olfactory assault: flavored distilled alcohol and hops, lots of ’em! Basically, the taste could be summed up by describing it as a quadruply dry-hopped Dewars. The citrus and piney flavors I was hoping for in the hops did not come out, so I was left with this strongish beer that tasted of generic scotch and hop pellets. Interesting experience but I’m not sure I’ll try this again...

Bottle with pat and sean. Poured a cloudy red orange, aromas of serious heat, peach, and other malt. Taste was apricot, honey mead. Much better then penguin but still impossible to drink in qty.

330 ml bottle, Batch 009, best before 16-08-20. I’ve had this bottle for at least a year so I know it’s not exactly fresh. Served in a snifter, the beer pours a mostly clear orange/amber color with a very small fizzy cola-like head that went away pretty quickly. No lacing at all. It also has legs like liquor does when I swirl the beer around the glass. Aroma is mostly boozy, it also smells like dried fruits, apricots, candied oranges, plums, caramel and some hops. Taste is similar to the aroma, it tastes like sweet booze, dried/candied and tropical fruit, pine hops, honey, and also an herbal/medicinal flavor. It’s weird, I can feel the alcohol burn going down my throat when I drink it, but the other flavors linger around a while in the finish so I can actually taste something other than the booze. Mouthfeel/body is full, it’s syrupy, slick and coating with low carbonation. I have to say it’s a unique brew, and overall I did like it. I’d try it again in the future, but next time I should probably split the bottle with someone instead of drinking it all myself.

Turn up The Night! Who needs Cognac or Whiskey when this thing excist in The World! What a mouthbomb. At first it had a mild taste....then it exploded in your mouth. It looks like a Cognac. Caramel colour with no head at all. Never smelled anything like this. Caramel, wood, hops and some fruits in the aroma. Very concentrated flavour. DIPA concentrate? Hoppy and fruity. Wood and caramel. I hope I can get a hand on a bottle of this!
[Tasted at Førtito Bar & Bowling in Sarpsborg, Norway 12 March 2012]

Pours a deep amber, with no head. The aroma is rather hoppy, amongst the fieryness of the alcohol, lots of dried fruits, apricot, prunes, caramel, treacle, and some yeast. Off-dry, full bodied, medium bitterness, no CO2, intense and fiery. The taste is likewise fiery, quite malty, lots of dried fruits (apricots), there something that reminds me of woody notes, even though I don’t think it’s been anywere near any oak, syrupy, treacle, very hoppy. The finish is almost burning, which is hardly surprising considering the ABV. A hoppy whisky? (2012-02-15)