Tag Archives: brewdog

Horizon Tokyo* Black – Nøgne Ø (Mikkeller, Brewdog) (Aged 3 Years 7 Months)

by Mike

Brewed at Nøgne Ø in Norway in collaboration with Brewdog and Mikkeller comes their “Horizon Tokyo* Black” a collaborative version of all three breweries huge beers Dark Horizon, Tokyo and Black.  The beer pours a oily black colour that is opaque with a small brown head.  The aroma consists of chocolate, smoke, dark fruits, cranberry, treacle, syrup and some alcohol.  The flavour is of chocolate, caramel, toffee, molasses, treacle, cranberry, ash, smoke, burnt malts, leather, earth and only really a hint of alcohol.  The alcohol content comes in at an insane 16% with an IBU of 100.  This beer is insanely smooth for a beer of 16% let alone 8% and has all the making of an amazing stout.

Commercial Description:  Horizon Tokyo Black:  On a cold, windy and rainy day in November 2010 we visited  BrewDog together with world famous beer merchant Mikkeller.  Our plan was to make a beer, which would be close to an interpolation between our individual brews Tokyo, Black and Dark Horizon.  This beer should in turn be brewed by us and also for Mikkeller.  It was called Black Tokyo Horizon.   Unfortunately we have been very busy, but it is now time to make the second celebration of this great collaboration:  Please welcome Horizon Tokyo Black!

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Tokyo* (intergalactic fantastic oak aged stout) (Aged 2 years+) – Brewdog

by Mike

From Brewdog out of Aberdeenshire, Scotland comes the “Tokyo* (intergalactic fantastic oak aged stout)” aged in my cellar from March 2013 to December 2015. The beer pours an opaque black with a brown head.  The aroma consists of roasted malts, toffee, chocolate, cranberries, oak and sweetness. The flavour is of cranberries, oak, chocolate, toffee, caramel, dark fruits, sweetness and some booze warmth at the end. The alcohol content comes in at 18.2% with an IBU of 90. This beer is epic in all ways. I wish I could get more of it but it no longer seems to be sold in BC. This is only a 330ml bottle but it should be shared or drank over two days unless you want to have a bad morning!

Commercial Description:  This imperial stout is brewed with copious amounts of speciality malts, jasmine and cranberries. After fermentation we then dry-hop this killer stout with a bucketload of our favourite hops before carefully ageing the beer on French toasted oak chips.  It is all about moderation. Everything in moderation, including moderation itself. What logically follows is that you must, from time, have excess. This beer is for those times.

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Sink the Bismarck – Brewdog

by Mike

Brewdog in Scotland is known for making seriously strong beer.  I have had Tokyo* at 18.2% and Tactical Nuclear Penguin at 32% but my latest score was the strongest beer in the world in 2010 when it was released.  “Sink the Bismarck” is considered a quadruple IPA as it has 4 times the hops, 4 times the bitterness and 4 times frozen.  The beer pours an amber colour with no head and really no carbonation.  The aroma consists of booze, huge caramel, floral hops and maybe a hint of fruity citrus.  The flavour is of booze and lots of it with caramel, toffee, resin, intense hops bitterness, hops oils.  The alcohol content comes in at a whopping 41%!  At stronger 9% stronger than the next strongest beer I was surprised it was still quite tasty.  This reminds me of a hopped spirit but still tastes like and IPA.

Commercial Description:  Sink the Bismarck! is beer, amplified. With the volume turned full up, it is important you that you be careful with this beer and show it the same amount of sceptical, tentative respect you would show an international chess superstar, clown or gypsy.  Sink the Bismarck is a quadruple IPA that contains four times the hops, four times the bitterness and frozen four times to create at a staggering 41% ABV.  This is IPA amplified, the most evocative style of the craft beer resistance with the volume cranked off the scale. Kettle hopped, dry hopped then freeze hopped for a deep fruit, resinous and spicy aroma. A full out attack on your taste-buds ensues as the incredibly smooth liquid delivers  a crescendo of malt, sweet honey, hop oils and a torpedo of hop bitterness which lasts and lasts.

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Check out the video they made for the beers release.

Sink the Bismarck! from BrewDog on Vimeo.

Jack Hammer Ruthless India Pale Ale – Brewdog

by Mike

From Brewdog out of Aberdeenshire, Scotland comes the “Jack Hammer Ruthless India Pale Ale”. The beer pours an orange colour with a white head. The aroma consists of earth, floral hops, citrus and maybe a hint of alcohol. The flavour is of earth, citrus, grapefruit, tropical fruit, caramel, pine, resin and hops bitterness. The alcohol content comes in at 7.2% with an IBU that is theoretically hopped to 200+. Actual IBU is probably in the early to mid 100’s as it is not physically possible to get actual IBU in the 200’s. This is a spectacular IPA and I am sure it is even better back in Scotland as the hops will mellow while shipping from Europe.

Commercial Description:  Start with a colossal grapefruit aroma. Pile on bitterness after thumping bitterness, and ride the anarchy wherever it takes you. The caramel razor is sharp, but the resinous bite drills straight through your taste buds.  For blitzing the mediocre, raising hell and revelling in the aftermath, Jack Hammer is the end of the line. The hopped-up, pucker-mouthed terminal extreme of craft brewing. This beer is bitter. Very bitter. If you push that button, don’t say we didn’t warn you…

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Dead Pony Pale Ale – Brewdog

by Mike

From Brewdog out of Aberdeenshire, Scotland comes the “Dead Pony Pale Ale”.  The beer pours a golden colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of tropical fruits, floral hops and some malts but the fruit really shines above all else.  The flavour is of hops bitterness, tropical fruits, citrus, melons and malts but being a session ale it is understated.  The alcohol content comes in at 3.8% but with a pretty good hops kick.  I really enjoyed this session ale but I wish that I had more than one bottle brought back from England for me.

Commercial Description:

Get ready to gun it down the Pacific Coast Highway through a hop-heavy west-coast wonderland.  This ale is chopped, tuned and ready to roll.  Bright and bracing, Dead Pony* has been crafted from an insane amount of west coast hops to deliver massive citrus aromas. Dive in and the toasted malt base soon gives way to a huge box-fresh hop hit washing tropical fruit, floral hits and spicy undertones all over your palate.  This is a session ale with balls of equine proportions. Laidback, but hop-forward. California dreaming for the craft beer generation.

*no ponies were harmed in the making of this beer.

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