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Brew Dog Paradox Macallan

Today is a bit of a special post with a very special brew. I found this brew on the shelves of The Four Firkins months ago and though it was quite expensive I couldn’t pass it up. Paradox is a limited series of  Imperial Stouts aged in various whiskey casks by the fine Scottish folk of Brew Dog. This particular bottle is part of batch 11 that was aged in a 1987 Macallan sherry cask and is the perfect brew to commemorate this  website’s 1st anniversary which occurred on Saturday as the cask is of the year of my birth. I was unable to enjoy this brew on the proper anniversary as I had planned because I was out of town completing the MS150 charity ride for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Minnesota which was a blast. This beer pours a completely opaque mat black and produces just over a finger of attractive toffee colored head that remains for a few minutes. As usual this beer has been sitting out for quite some time, about an hour now and is just the right temperature to enjoy its complexities as the bottle encourages as I do not live in an igloo. Aroma is of subtle creme and toffee hints as well as more obvious coffee notes, a bit of roasted malt, a nice hint of sherry and a dose of strong but not overpowering alcohol. Flavor is complex. Flowing from sweeter malt flavors that create toffee and creamy hints to a robust sherry flavor with moderately alcoholic scotch notes finishing smoothly with roasted malts that linger in your mouth until the sherry comes back just in case you forgot about it. When swirling it in my glass the body of this beer appears quite heavy though it is not too hard to drink having a very clean and smooth mouthfeel. The more I drink this beer the more the sherry wood notes come through and the more the roasted malt becomes subdued, quite interesting. Because of the sherry and scotch notes of this brew you will probably be aware that what you are consuming is rather alcoholic and at 10% ABV this brew fits the bill though it is not over the top. I always enjoy seeing people experiment with brewing and this is definitely an interesting and tasty brew but for the price tag of over $10 for a 11.2 oz bottle it is doubtful that I will be experimenting with much more Paradox in the near future, that would be if I could find it (thank you distribution laws, limited production and shipping expenses). If you are looking for something fancy and are a fan of Imperial Stouts and oak aging I would encourage you to check out the Paradox series, if you can. Give it a shot and ride your bike.

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