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.
May 14th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
So I just found your blog (did a Google search for ‘t Smisje Plus), and I’m going back through your old posts.
I have not tried this batch of their Paradox series yet, but I have a bottle of it, and I’ve tried some of their other batches. It is a very interesting series, and I think it’s fun to see how the scotch casks influence the beer. Batch 9 was aged in an Ardbeg ’91 cask, and as much as I love Ardbeg and Islay scotches, the Ardbeg really overpowers the beer. Batch 8 (a Bowmore ’87 cask) is much more balanced. Batches 16 (a Smokehead cask) and 13 (a ’66 Port Dundas grain whisky cask) are also fantastic. I currently have 6 different bottles (a Batch 5 ’92 Glen Moray as well) and will be doing a side-by-side tasting sometime soon with a couple friends to see how they compare.
The bottles tend to be a bit expensive, I’ve paid between $10-12 for mine, but as a person that doesn’t like stouts, and loves scotch, I find these all to be very drinkable so far.
May 15th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Glad to provide some entertainment. Thanks for all of the comments. It is certainly a fun series, particularly if you have the opportunity to try so many! Prior to buying this bottle I tried a sample of another batch (unsure which unfortunately) at a liquor store and found it to balance with the scotch much more smoothly. Regardless it is a lot of fun to compare and contrast. It further illustrates how every part of the process has an important impact. Cheers!