Can you dig it?

Logan Plant of Beavertown proud
with his newly canned Gamma Ray

Canned beers have long been associated with mass-market, "stack-em high, sell 'em cheap" beers and often have connotations of low quality, metallic tasting beverages for cheap home drinking only. Yet 2014 saw the installation of canning lines at some of the UK's foremost craft brewers (Camden Town, Fourpure and Beavertown) with Roosters online in 2015 and Magic Rock Following hot on their heels with a line ordered for the new brewery. Brewdog are also moving their canning in house. So what's changed people's perceptions?

Craft beer in America has seen the can treatment for more than decade, with Oskar Blues leading the charge in 2002 and many other breweries following suit in the years since. The confusingly named Cask Brewing Systems (the supplier of most of the new UK systems) started off supplying brew kits to customers in Canada. They saw an opportunity to help brewers in the US differentiate themselves from competitors in the oversupply crisis of the late 90s and came up with the canning solution:
"These brewers were looking for creative and economical ways to increase sales“and we’ve always prided ourselves in finding solutions for our customers.  We knew that consumers were ready for cans if someone would just provide that option. So our solution for struggling brewers was to help them utilize the aluminum[sic ;)] can.” Peter Love, Founder

Cask have been there since the beginning and have done a lot of the ground work (along with the brave breweries who took the canning plunge!) debunking the canning myths and much hostility from established brewers who offered only bottled product. In the first year, Oskar Blues' (later at cask) employee in charge of can promotion (Marty Jones) even received a letter stating “I look forward to the day your company fails for attempting such a ridiculous idea.” charming!

Once these myths were put to bed however; any rational person could see that canned beer had numerous advantages over bottled beer and often preferable to draught dispense methods.The obvious one is that obviously cans are lighter than bottles; so not only easier to lug around once you've bought them, but cheaper to transport from brewery to stores. This also makes them more environmentally friendly and the life-cycle of aluminium from ground through smelting to finished product and numerous recyclings is less carbon intensive than glass manufacture.

Once you've got the can's home its easier to get them in the fridge and they cool more quickly. Its easier to drink them surreptitiously and you can take them to places where glass is banned (sports events and festivals).

In addition to this the beer actually tastes better, well all know about light strike, the process by which UV light reacts with hop compounds in bottled beers to produce a "skunky" aroma and taste. Yes, brown bottles slow down the process but canned beers eliminate this completely. Another less well appreciated issue is oxygen pick-up in the packaging process, often lead to a stale or papery tasting beer. Oxygen can also get in through bottle-caps but again cans are impervious. Modern canning lines can limit oxygen pickup to as little as 15-20ppb (that's parts per billion!). (For comparison purposes Brewdog's dissolved oxygen with all of their fancy kit is usually in the range 25-40ppb)*

Aesthetically cans look better too; giving the brewers more space to play with for eye catching visuals and they stack well creating a pleasing display in shops.

But I didn't start the post to expound the benefits of canning, I'm sure most of you know them already. No, today's post is to bring you news that the first Irish canning line has now been installed and will soon be producing beer with all of the above benefits for us to buy in the shops! From their inauspicious start Cask have gone on to work with hundreds of breweries and canned beer sales have grown in the US by >80% in the past year (whilst bottle sales grew by a mere 16%); no wonder the Irish breweries want a piece of the action!

"So who is it?!" I hear you cry; well those who have been paying attention to the Twitter sphere will already know but those of you who haven't the brewery is Metalman. As first adopters they'll have their work cut out but there are plenty of decent off-licences in the country that will stock them. Indeed the last few months of 2014 saw the arrival of some of the aforementioned UK brewers' products for sale over here. Look out for Camden Town IHL, Beavertown Gamma Ray and Fourpure Pils for three must-stock Fridge Beers

Cans being printed

 The fact that they produce decent beer (and unavailable until now in takeaway packaging) will of course see them through without any teething problems. As I type this Gráinne, Tim and the team are seeing their can designs produced in Wakefield ready to fill in to at the end of the month.

For those of the more geeky inclination, the ACS model Metalman have chosen can can 30 cans per minute. That's 1800 an hour, or the best part of 5000litres in an 8 hour day; so there should be plenty to go around if they already stretched brewery capacity can keep up! Until recently Metalman brewed on the rescued kit of one of the early microbrewing pioneers in Ireland, Biddy Early, who unfortunately were ahead of their time. This investment should help Metalman to remain a fixture in the Irish beer scene for a long time yet. Their machine also has a small footprint meaning its not eating into space required for an expanding battalion of fermenters!

(L2R:Dave Fitzgerald, Grainne Walsh, Wayne Jacques,
Tim Barber, Adam Doyle, Jacqui Kelleher.)

The first beers will be shipped on February 1st,  I for one am looking forward to buying a case!

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*In itself a massive improvement on their 100ppb plus dissolved oxygen content at their previous brew house.

Proper Chrimbeers

Its December again which means we have the inevitable slew of Christmas themed ales upon us. Some breweries rebrand a regular, some release seasonal specials of common or garden bitters and blonde ales and some push the boat out with stronger, often spiced ales. I've lined up a selection thsis year, thoughts below. 

 

I received the same Box Steam "Big Big Train" press release that Pete did and I too ended up being sent their two Christmas beers. I'd had the Christmas blonde before and found it to be an enjoyable golden ale with thick white head.Fairly pithy aroma with grassy malt, a grapefruit tang and long sweet malt/bitter finish. Not at all Christmassy however. This recent bottle had lost all of the hop freshness and become quite dull because of it, can't really recommend it.

Where Box Steam usually excel are their dark ales; so was looking forward to a taste of Christmas Box Dark. This one isn't quite as enjoyable as some of their others but makes a better Christmas ale than the blonde. Spicey, dark berries aroma, lots of roast barley in this, becomes a bit astringent followed by rich blackcurrant, (bramling cross maybe). Its half stout/ half brown ale and worth a go if you find it.  

Also arriving on my doorstep recently was Shepherd Neame's Christmas ale. This 7% beer actually makes the best of Shep.'s house character to produce a rich and warming attractively copper hued beer. Flavours of sticky malt and jammy plums are hampered somewhat by a oxidised papery note on the nose which makes me wonder if my bottle suffered on the journey as other writers seem to have enjoyed it, but I really didn't.

What was much more enjoyable was Brewdog's hoppy Christmas, a single hop Simcoe IPA. Better than their recent batch of IPA is dead single hoppers this beer is packed full of fresh resinous and tangerine peel Simcoe aromas. Pithy hops, bitter yet balanced with deft malting for balance makes this a beer I'll certainly;y be returning to. 

Also new from Brewdog is Santa Paws, described as a Christmas Scotch Ale. Now I'm sure you're all aware I'm not a fan of malt led beers, but the heather honey added to this one adds an extra layer of complexity and puts it into mild/ brown ale territory. Certainly preferable to the rehash of dogma anyway.

So a bit of a mixed bag really, I'd like to see brewers put more thought into their Christmas specials, rather than rehashing regular beers to cash in on a Christmas market. I think some of these beers have achieved that whilst others haven't, make up your own mind.

Wiping those Blues away

Perhaps one of the beers I've heard  the most about but not had the chance to try is Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale. So when a range of Oskar Blues wares (in canned form no less) appeared on the Brewdog store I filled up my basket and here are the results:

 Mama's little yella pils is your typical pilsener at 5.3% Hazy pale golden blonde. White lacing Minimal dusty grain nose, fairly sweet, medium carbonation, dry grain and a touch of herbal hops. Ok but probably better on draught.

The buzz around Deviant Dales (at 6.5% a bit high ABV wise for a pale ale) is certainly justifiable in my mind. Hazy burnished gold with fluffy off white head and rich piney nose. Sweet malts balanced by fresh floral hops and a fairly bitter finish. Medium body and gentle carbonation. Really fresh and immediate hop impact.

Deviant Dales (the 8% IPA amped up version of the aforementioned) is equally good.Amber with cream tinted head with dank herbal nettle aroma. Medium carbonation, full bodied, sweet at first followed by pithy citrus bitterness, juicy orange and lime peel with dry finish.

Collaboration with Sun King The Deuce is a 7% brown Ale. Murky chestnut with beige head. Piney hops with some simcoe orange. Medium carbonation and body, fairly sweet, orange sherbet, pithy hops, dry slightly chalky finish.

Gubna Imperial IPA wasn't quite as enjoyable however. Clear burnished gold with lacing of white head. Digestive malts light tangerine and a suggestion of tcp on the nose. Full bodied with light carbonation. Sweet, higher alcohols, slightly acrid, highly pithy. Not as hoppy as expected but 6 months old so may have dulled somewhat.

G'Knight is an Imperial Red IPA at a whopping 8.7%.
Attractive ruby brown with tan lacing. Rich pine needles, forest floor and sweet toffee. Medium carbonation, dry rasping bitterness well balanced by sticky toffee malt and a slightly astringent warming finish. It was enjoyable enough but perhaps overcarbonated.

Ten Fidy is the Imperial Stout weighing in at 10.5% with 98 IBUS.
dark brown with muddy tan frothy head which collapses to a lacing. Rich savoury dark malts, slight Marmite and coffee. Full bodied, rich savoury malt, slight tobacco, sweet caramel, dry ashen finish. Slight alcohol as more drunk, dry slightly meaty barley, long malt led finish.

Old Chub 8%

Dark ruby chestnut with tan lacing rich sweet malt, caramel, ripe fruit,sweet, rich malt,touch of milky coffee, prunes,cola, soft carbonation. Fairly rich. As usual, I'm not a fan of the malt led beers; so I don't like this "Scotch ale"

I also tried obliterator doppelbock 10.5% on keg at brewdog Bristol. It again confirms my suspicion that doppelbocks are not for me; with the majority of my third going to a member of staff. Dark brown, very sweet, minimal aroma, malt led. Caramel and milk chocolate. 

Oskar Blues also came over and collaborated with Brewdog to produce Shipwrecker circus, a 10.5% barley wine. Dark ruby chestnut with fluffy beige head. Hop driven resinous aroma with Orange pith. Full bodied, pithy citrus assault, sweet caramel, some higher alcohol notes then a long orange bitter finish. Moderate carbonation Like someone tipped a bottle of orange bitters into caramel sauce. I quite enjoyed it but is very heavy going and perhaps one for sharing. £5.99 is quite reasonable for  a strong beer too, though does equate to over £10.31 a pint if you like to get bang for your buck, this is not it.

So were they worth the dosh? Certainly the deviant dales and dales pale ale were brilliantly fresh, no doubt helped by being canned and the ten fiddy is a decent enough imperial stout, but we now have enough good beers in the UK that we don't have to look abroad for something decent to drink. With my shareholder discount these weren't too extortionate but cost effective, I'm not sure...

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@OskarBlues

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Whisky in high places: Arran tweet tasting

Time for some island whisky's again brought to me (and therefore you in words and pics) courtesy of Steve Rush at the Whisky Wire in the form of a Tweet Tasting. This time we get to spend some time with relative newcomer Arran distillery.* Four whisky's of varying ages and strengths, the free keyring and "Enjoy!" label were a nice touch & great size samples...if I'd been more organised I could have invited others around to join the tasting, still plenty left too! So without further ado...the thoughts.

The regular 10 year Old was up first. To me this felt slightly young or perhaps the wood used had an effect but there's fairly fresh woody aftershave up f forest glades, cobwebbed sheds musty apple lofts on the nose Its fairly fiery, sweet, peppery perhaps. A touch of water brings out spicy sandalwood. Fairly dry with woody spice. Not one I'll drink again soon.

Much more complex on the nose the 14 y/o (also 46%) Pearskin, vanilla, cardamom, freshly made paper. Finishing in sherry and bourbon brought a good range of flavours to the table. Its quite subtle - handled well it'd make a nuanced cocktail. Much gentler to taste than the 10 y/o, more rounded rich grape flavours, vanilla but still plenty of fire & oaky swwetness followed by fruity pear. Adding water brings out honey drenched egg custard tart with a subtle orange blossom water finish, nice. Available for a not unreasonable £40 at MoM (with free glass!).

The 12 y/o cask strength (53.9%) is completely different, robust earthy spices,meaty umami notes - could be the 100% sherry hogshead aging. Juniper berries & sea salt encrusted old tarpaulin appear on airing. A rich velvet mouthfeel, plenty of heat, some lemon pith, more of that meaty note from the nose. Rich sweet deep woodiness,leather as it opens up that apple strudel others got on the nose comes through, especially sultanas. Its complex but ultimately rewarding.£50.55 @MoM

The new millennium cask release 53.5% is fairly subtle on the nose, sweet crème caramel and white pepper. Pretty fiery adding water really opens up the nose...Turkish delight, rosewater and oak smoke. Perhaps slightly pricey at £70

 
A really interesting range of similar but different whiskys, the14 y/o pips 12/yo cask strength to the post for me,with millennium cask worth a taste but I was't keen on the 10 year old. Thanks as always to Steve for organising and Arran for the freebies!

But that's not the end of the post. Whilst we're in an Arran frame of mind its time I opened my Brewdog Arran aged Paradox. Its a bruiser of a beer at 15%. Dark ebony brown with Orange tan head. Sweet caramel, vanilla and booze on the nose which I recognise from the whisky. Sweet vanilla, umami, full bodied, medium carbonation. Quite alcoholic but well done.A good digestif!

*Arran being thought to mean "high place"...hence the post title

Hunting Gromit

(Or a stealth pub crawl in Bristol.) 

Wake up, sweltering heat not entirely all there from the night before

Long wait for packed bus courteous shirtless belying stereotypes

Dog disguised as a dinosaur, dog in drag

An old new bar, welcomed by staff

An old old pub, welcomed by staff

Beers supped in each, great quality

Roadside jerk chicken, don't mind if I do

Clocked location of new new bar, will return soon

Semi-expected deluge miles from anywhere

Cake and coffee in a garden centre

Wet feet, harbour side gravity stillage, don't mind if I do*

Floored drunk revellers eating peanuts from a wok

Stuff face with excellent Tapas

Return to new new bar, salivate, drink new wheat beer.

Spectacular fireworks, then home for a nightcap.

See you again soon Bristol.

*An unexpected find, Siren on cask in Bristol, was impressed, hope to see this London Brewery out and about more.Also on offer: tynebank, harbour, magic rock, hand drawn monkey a well chosen, none too common selection, well done to the venue in question.

IPA is dead Part 3

In what is now becoming an annual tradition, Brewdog have recently released a batch of single-hopped IPAs. I bought a set of four bottles but also managed to snag a couple of one-offs in Brewdog Bristol, which I'll comment about in here too. This little lot took my Brewdog sample rate to a round 100, still 75 yet to try!
2012 reviews plus some mixed drinks last year.

First up: the four pack. Dana, a Slovenian Styriandescendent, Golding a UK hop that needs no introduction, Waimea an antipodean tropical workhorse and El Dorado a new proprietary US variety.

Dana was nothing to write home about. Nettles, melted plastic and cheap perfume on the nose not a particularly auspicious start. Medium carbonation, cloying sweetness, higher alcohols, herbal. Just not well balanced. Astringent notes but mostly sweet bready malt.

Golding (PDF)behaves as it should  peppery hops and citrus on the nose, balanced by a sweet caramel from the malt. It just doesn't have the power of the US varieties. Full bodied with a herbal hop bitterness, malt sweetness, slightly cheesy hop and dry finish. A solid UK style IPA in the realm of Marston's Old Empire. 

Waimea (vy-me-ah) (PDF) was the star of the 4-pack for me not so much with the saponic citrus hops nose redolent of fairly liquid but the lightly acidic sweet citrus juices, lime was very refreshing, overcoming the heavy malt sweetness that plagues some in the range. The result is a deceptively easy drinking IPA that could pass as a session beer if the ABV wasn't 6.7. See here for an Allgates brewed session beer using Waimea.

El Dorado is a really interesting hop. In keg aromas of kaffir lime and green tea abound. Its fairly herbal to taste, with tea tannins and some licorice notes, creating a very dry finish. In bottle its more of the same really, though some more traditional passion fruit an dpine on the nose, the tannins, kaffir lime and licorice are all there in abundance.

Simcoe single hop was snagged in bottle form on a trip to Brewdog in  Bristol last November. This American hop needs no introduction from me, Even at six months old it was one of the better offerings, pouring dark amber with white head collapsing to a lacing. Pithy orange on the nose. Orange peel and juice, bitter, medium bodied, medium carbonation and a sticky finish.

I was able to try Amarillo on keg in Brewdog Bristol. Hazy amber with off white lacing. Sticky pithy Seville orange, caramel and orange juice, medium bodied, fairly pithy dry finish. My favourite of all single-hop efforts to date, possibly helped by the freshness and perfect carbonation in the keg.

Not a bad showing this year then, I wonder which four we'll be treated to in 2014. This year's 4-pack is still available for £9.50 on Brewdog online and at other usual suspect outlets.

An Abstrakt Concept

The big day is finally upon us; the beers are lined up and ready to go, the beer buddies are here and the tasting glasses are clean. Yes, its time to drink the Abstrakts. There have been ten beers released in this experimental "small-batch" range; so decided to try them all in one evening in reverse chronological order. They have nothing in common bar being brewed by Brewdog. I know people may find this post a bit redundant and fanboyish because they're all sold out, but as I've forked out the money I want to get a post out of it!

Beers one to ten.

Myself, Reuben (Tale of the Ale) and a couple of CAMRA friends sat down after a hefty curry to work our way through the bunch.

AB:10 is an 11.5% Imperial Brown Ale aged in Red Wine Barrels and was released in July 2012. As the most recent beer this could probably do with ageing for a bit longer, I have a bottle left in any case. It has a vanilla-scented port nose  with fizzy chocolate limes on the tongue leading to a dry red fruit, vinous finish.

AB:09 is Cranachan Imperial Stout (17.1%), released April 201. Thanks to Ghosty for sorting this bottle for me. Pours thick black with slight fizzy tan head. Tart raspberries on the nose. Leather, tobacco, chocolate, thick bodied. Alcohol on swallow. The flavours individually are good, but they don't seem to meld very well, making the final product less than the sum of its parts.

AB:08 is a Deconstructed Blonde Imperial Stout (11.8%), released December 2011. I've had this beer on a few occasions now. Its never tasted as good as the draught version on keg in Brewdog Camden, though whether it was the place made the beer great is to be debated. Its started to get rid of those vegetal notes and give coffee and chocolate again. Roasted coffee and chocolate on the nose, thick in the mouth with delicious fruity coffee finish with a balancing sweetness and well-hidden alcohol.

AB:07 is Whisky Cask Aged Imperial Scotch Ale (12.5%) , released September 2011.Another one I'd sampled before. Peaty brown with a ruby tinge. Aroma of caramel, liquorice toffee and vinous fruits. Medium mouthfeel with gentle carbonation and lots of red fruit character plus a warming, slightly burnt finish.This time around it had a slightly unpleasant acirdity in the finish but overall still a good digestif.

AB:06 is an 11.2% Triple Dry Hopped Imperial Black IPA released May 2011. When fresh, I wrote; "Very dark brown beer with a fresh hop aroma with pineapple at the fore and piney undertones. Lively white head disappears in short measure. Rich and thick palate with legs and a lively alcohol kick. Sweet and fruity with a lot of aggressive hoppiness but quite restrained bitterness. Sweet finish with alcohol and lots of umami." Its mellowed somewhat over the last year and a bit, with marmalade and some chocolate coming through. Still a favourite thus far.

AB:05 is a Belgian Imperial Stout Aged on Toasted Coconut and Cacao,  released in February 2011. This was a bit one-dimensional, a shame. Ruby tinged black. Slight acetic note on nose, quite sweet, chocolate, light toast, long sweet finish.

AB:04 is a 15% Imperial Stout with Coffee, Cacao and Chilli, released October 2010. This is the highest rated of all the Abstrakts and its easy to see why. Chocolate coated orange bell peppers are prevalent on the nose. Very thick, sweet, chocolate runs down the throat, chased by chili heat, with more chocolate and toasted marshmallow for afters, leaving a slight alcoholic warmth in memory.

2nd edition of a one-off?!

The beer was actually re-released as Dog A for Brewdog's 5th Birthday Party. I sampled this at the AGM, but acquired a second bottle for everyone else to try. Dark and unctuous with an enticing sweet chocolate nose. In the mouth there’s more chocolate, coating the whole tongue, then comes the chili nipping at the back of the tongue. On the swallow its all about the coffee.

AB:03 is a 10.5% Imperial Ale aged for 2 years in Whisky Casks with Raspberries and Strawberries released in September 2010. Strawberry and raspberry nose. Tart light red-brown, sweet, fruity, sucrose, artificial sweetener, slight medicinal note. This one brought mixed opinions, but I actually quite enjoyed it, perhaps one which would have been better fresh.

AB:02 is  an 18% Triple Dry Hopped Imperial Red Ale released in June 2010. (no photo of this one, sorry!) Rich vinous fruity nose with some alcohol and fudge. Pours a murky brown with light carbonation. Rich fruityness and chocolate quickly gives way to strong alcohol and some coffee bitterness and a sweet/marmitey yeast finish. Very little hop character remaining. Legs obviously in attendance with a fairly heavy palate as could be expected for this strength.

AB:01 is a 10.2% Vanilla Bean infused Belgian Quad,  released April 2010. The final beer! But unfortunately a bit of a let down. Scarlet tinged, noble hops, sweet honey,heather,toffee, sweet, long finish. It was just too sweet, with not enough bitterness to balance all the sweet elements and the vanilla had long since given up the ghost.

I think it would be difficult to rank them in order, but you can probably see I enjoyed 08, 06 and 04 the most, with AB:10 looking promising. Perhaps the even-numbered beers are better? AB:11 is aging as we speak. According to James it is: "an imperial black barley wine brewed with ginger, black raspberries and chipotle peppers. An 11.9% rollercoaster of ginger zestiness, chipotle smokiness all bound together with dark berry tartness and the decadent residual body of a black barley wine." A great range of ingredients again, it remains to be seen how it turns out. Well done if you've got this far, was a bit of a slog but on the plus side I have some cupboard space freed up again!

Dogfighting

Shiny-beers pre-supping

You've probably heard about this by now, a great idea but, in my view, with disappointing results. The "International Arms Race" challenge set before Brewdog by Matt Brophy of Flying Dog was to brew a zero IBU IPA using a number of alternative bittering agents, among them spearmint, bay leaves and juniper berries. Both beers were duly made and bottled with had-designed labels from Johanna Basford and Ralph Steadman respectively.

Flying Dog's attack

The labels are both real winners, with Ralph's depicting a literal dog fight and Jo's taking the more mythical route of a battle owl. The latter is the winner for me, after all, I'm rather fond of owls. 1-0 to Brewdog.

Its on the pour that you sense something is up. Though both brand spanking new brews, neither is able to hold up much of a head, with Brewdog's effort an instant flop. It doesn't get much better in the nasal department either, with a sweet frankincense and Turkish delight combo with perhaps a hint of pepperiness underneath in both beers. 2-1 to Brewdog

Brewdog's retalliation

The Flying Dog pulls ahead in the tasting department with  sweet crystal malt, cardamom, honey, slight medicinal taint and some (not unpleasant)  vegetal astringency.Its let down by some kind of mini-jellyfish floaties hanging around mid-glass. Brewdog seems to fall over with a whimper with quite spiky carbonation, a big flurry of unidentifiable spice then quickly fades to bready sweetness. There's a touch of what could be cardboard oxidation or a similar flavour from the herbs which I don't like at all. 3-2 to Flying Dog

In all Flying Dog wins the day and whilst interesting to try I certainly wouldn't have them again and plan to give away my additional bottles (bought a six-pack). Disappointing from two of my most-enjoyed breweries.

If you'd like to try the beers yourself then they'll be available on the Brewdog online store shortly or you can head along to one of their taste-offs over the next few days.

Tokyoing

I enjoy whisky barrel-aged beers (there, I said it!); so when Brewdog announced the release of Tokyo which had been aged in respectively a Highland and Lowland cask ("Tokyo Rising Sun") my interests were piqued and in the interests of science *ahem* purchased them* to report back.

I also decided to compare the beers to a representative whisky from each of the regions to see if I could discern any of the flavours transferred. I'd also have liked to compare to original Tokyo, but this has long since sold out and fresh (now 18%) Tokyo* will have to suffice.

Lowland up first then (only one cask of this). Pours unctuous pitch black with a temporary cola head and steady stream of effervescence. Caramel, molasses, tobacco, chocolate, cocoa, whiff of peat. Thick in the mouth, some definite tcp and smoke, sweet malt, apple cigars, cold hearth. Sweet in the finish, almost distracting from the stout richness.

Medium golden Glenkinchie in comparison smells very one-dimensional and quite grainy. Taste wise there's grass, beechwood and a fairly fiery finish. I'm not sure this was the cask used, though there's only a few lowland distilleries so the probability is quite high!

Highland Tokyo Rising Sun pours oily black with a fluffy cola head that soon collapses to a lacing. Oily legs and big aroma of peat bogs, sour cherries, campfires and mead. Slightly more carbonation in the mouth and a lot more charred wood and cranberry than the lowland. A touch of cola, less residual sweetness soon leaves the tongue but long finish around the mouth and down fruit. Warming but not noticably alcoholic. I’d say people may find this a bit more of a struggle to drink.

Dalwhinnie** this time and with a mouth full of smoky beer the woodsmoke notes overpower the honey nose i usually get from this. It almost smells like new make spirit. Its extremely sweet in the mouth with pineapple up front, vanilla and some applewood smoke. Very fiery again, something the beer seems capable of accentuating in the whisky.

To finish things off nicely I've a bottle of Tokyo*. This 18% beast is a souped up version of those aged above but should still be an interesting comparison. Last time I tried it however I wasn't too impressed, it was a tad oxidised with an unpleasant acetic nose. Dark Brown with fluffy tan head, cranberries and chocolate malt on the nose but still a touch acetic. Thick body, rich, tart cranberry, chocolate, coffee, caramel, vanilla. This is much better than the previous bottle! Long sweet and boozy finish with a touch of roast barley and malt astringency. Jasmine comes in late with more malt sweetness.


I preferred the Lowland aged Tokyo to the highland aged one, by some way, but both are good beers in their own right and up there with the best Paradox brews. If someone offers you to share a bottle, I'd accept! But in terms of buying for yourself you're better of with getting the Tokyo* and drinking a glass of whisky alongside, its just not worth £25.

*Although aided by my 20% shareholder discount, they're still among the most expensive beers I've purchased. I can understand why though, the base beer wasn't exactly cheap with cranberries and jasmine added, then there's the purchase of the whisky casks, 3-4 years storage time, limited label run and of course beer geek tax.

**Yes, I am aware of the irony of picking two Diageo owned brands of whisky. For those of you who aren't see #DiageoGate.