BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin

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

Serve in Snifter

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Amazing wood expression and detail yes itiswarming.roasts are bright coffee roasts fantastic .better than expected

From botella, huge thanks yespr! Deep dark brown colour, no head at all. Whisky alco roasty malty smoky bit bacon aroma. Sticky pleasant mouthfeel. Very pleasant vinious whisky smoked alco roasty malty woody flavour. Long lasting whisky alco roasty smoky great finish. In reality more whisky than beer, but a great very different brew indeed.

Thanks Yespr. Bottle. No head. Very dark red brown body. Whisky alcohol dominated aroma with caramel wood nuts and cocoa. Smoke caramel wood whisky hops alcohol flavor with a vineous note. Low carbonation, long aftertaste. Very complex beer in which the alcohol of course is present but not in an unpleasant manner.

Bottle (shared, thanks Will!) 27th Jan 2010. Very, very dark brown and a bit oily. Nose is whisky alcohol. On the tongue, you get all the Paradox flavours amplified and intensified. Salty, dry finish.

(A 4 cl pour from an alreadey open bottle at Black Door, Helsinki) Poured very deep brown with red notes without any head. Aroma contained roastedness, vanilla, whisky, oak and alcohol. Palate was full bodied, very dry and warming with low carbonation. Flavours were roastedness, hops, vanilla, liquorice, cough mixture, oak, whisky, alcohol and ash. Aftertaste contained alcohol, ash and low bitterness.

ordered online from BrewDog - clear dark brown colour with absolutely no foam; very alcoholic nose with notes of bitter oranges, cognac and amaretti; very viscous and sticky, powerful malt body, chocolatey and nutty with solid alcohol notes; strong bitterness and roasted - very good

very viscous. big whiskey aroma blast. lingering burn all the way down. peat taste to it. bit of sparkle on the tongue. surprisingly easy to drink. you can debate if this is beer or spirits all night. i fall down on the "not beer" side.

Ok, so I don’t really go for Islay notes, let alone whisky. But this was intriguing. Whether I would have got this myself or it was on the radar at work, I don’t know. Packaging and marketing was excellent. Took this to good friends 40th Birthday with plenty of very "dedicated beer people" - so much to say that it was served in little goblets, for about 12 people. That was about enough for me. I honestly believe that congratulations are deserved for this, the attempt and delivery of this truely out there style. Hell, I rarely rate, and this is the longest rate that I have written in years. This "beer" is more akin to a spirit, so I think I will be treating it that way, small serves, shared at desert with coffee, perhaps.

UPDATED: JUL 22, 2010 Bottle generously shared by Nick3 on BA - thanks, Nick. *COUGH* gimmick! *COUGH* I’m glad I got to try what was briefly (before the release of Schorschbräu Schorschbock 40%) the world’s *COUGH* biggest gimmick! *COUGH* strongest beer. Wow, I really seem to have a terrible cough today. In all seriousness though, this "beer" is definitely interesting, although overpriced and overhyped. I liked it more than others at the tasting, but make no mistake, it will floor you. I feel weird calling this a beer, as it was a lot more like a liquor. Pours very dark brown with a small tan head and great legs. This is a thick one for sure. Aroma is very hot and boozy, like a rough scotch. Sweet caramel, roast, oak, and vanilla poke through the intense alcohol. The most prominent flavor in this beer is BOOOOOOOOOOOZE! I didn’t add all those Os for the hell of it. You’re going to taste every bit of that 32% ABV. Bud Select 55 this is not. Definitely too hot. Someone else at the tasting commented that they should have eised and then -bal aged this, not the other way around. I agree. 10 years or so of age might do this beer good. Once you get past the booze though, it’s a nice beer. Roasted malt and caramel malt, toffee, oak, and mild peat smoke. Like a Scotch, this needs time to round out. Poor execution there on BrewDog’s part in my opinion. Hot and boozy on the palate with good carbonation, unlike most other beers this strong, and fairly full body. Crazy beer overall, just crazy.

UPDATED: JAN 30, 2010 33cl bottle from the brewery. Batch 001. Best before 2019-11. It was with great anticipation I poured this beer from the bottle and into a Delirium Tremens glass. I thought the glass was appropriate as this beer is almost guaranteed to give you Delirium Tremens (the condition that is, not the beer). The colour is pitch black with no visible head. Suprisingly there was some carbonation in the beginning. Don’t know why, but the texture seemed a bit thin. The aroma is, not suprisingly, massive and laden with alcohol. Some smoke, oak and roasted malts as well. The first impressions of the flavour is smooth and balanced, but it doesn’t take very long for the flavour to go nuclear. Massive alcohol of course, but also liqorice, smoke, rye, roasted malts and tar. The flavour lingers in the mouth a long time. This beer has received a lot of attention and not without merit, although I’d classify this more as a fun experiment than a very good beer, but the whisky-crowd would probably appreciate it more. Since this was the first batch it could be interesting to see if the second batch is different.