BrewDog And A Tale Of Two Stouts

This is the first in a series of posts about BrewDog beers. Yes, finally BrewDog beers are available in my area. I can't help but think that this is due to BrewDog's recent association and collaboration with Stone Brewing Company in California but I don't know nor do I care. I'm just glad I've finally been able to sample some of their beers to see for myself what all the fuss is all about.

However, this particular post is not solely about one of the BrewDog beers but also about a much more local (to me) recently introduced Stout from Southern Star Brewing Company, a great new brewery here in Texas.

If you haven't heard of BrewDog, I'm very surprised. They are a relatively new brewery in Fraserburgh, Scotland in Scotland's northeast not far from Aberdeen. James Watt and Martin Dickie, the founders of BrewDog, have been making a lot of noise in Britain of recent getting themselves a lot of press for some of their more radical ideas and products. To say that they are an unconventional British brewery - Scottish or not - would be an incredible understatement. They are a whole lot more like an American micro than a British one, without doubt.

Anyway, enough of that. I bought a few samples of different BrewDog beers at my local beer mega-mart (Thanks for the term, Alton) and will be giving my impressions in the next few posts.

First up, only because I'm more in the mood for it today, is "Rip Tide", described by BrewDog as a "twisted merciless stout". Well, it rings in at 8.0% ABV so maybe that has something to do with the "merciless" but frankly, I think it is incredibly smooth and enjoyable and so flavorful that it masks the ABV level. As I like all of my ales, it is not heavily carbonated, pretty much perfectly I would say. Although very dark and roasty, it has a very smooth silky texture with more chocolate and slight toffee notes than a number of other stouts that are more in the Dry Irish category. This is a brilliant, highly drinkable stout with what I'd say is medium body. It has a wonderful aroma of roasted malts with almost espresso notes. This Stout is a winner and I'll be picking up more of this one, for sure.

Now, a different kind of Stout. Southern Star's "Buried Hatchet Stout" is indeed quite different. If you've not had any Southern Star beers, they are all packaged solely in cans. I'm not stating this as a negative and indeed, it is a positive, especially here in Texas. Their beers are perfect for the lake, camping, whatever and wherever you can't take glass and the beer does not suffer in any way proving once again that great beer can come in cans. I digress...

The label of Buried Hatchet says it is "...brewed with a large quantity of brown malt reminiscent of a traditional pre-Industrial Revolution malt profile". Without doubt, the Brown Malt lends a very different flavor to the beer and, in my opinion, helps to separate this stout from other "American Stouts" which Southern Star classifies this beer as. They use a bit of Rolled Oats in this beer so it has a really nice creamy head. The aroma is of the Brown Malt, much like Dark Chocolate, rather than the typical Roasted Barley or Black Malt smell. This is also a very "stout" beer clocking in at 8.5% ABV. The Brown Malt lends a very roasted nut flavor like a more heavily roasted Nut Brown Ale. It is medium bodied with a very burnt-roasty element both in initial flavor and in finish, the latter of which is quite dry. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was not around in the "Pre-Industrial" era, but from what I know of classic London Porters, Scottish and English Brown Stouts and Double Brown Stouts, I think this beer would fit in perfectly. Maybe I should send some to Ron Pattinson for some further verification? I encourage you to try it if you are a lover of Porter and Stout style beers. Well done again, Southern Star, another winner!

What's to come? I have 3 more BrewDog beers in the 'fridge so more on the way...

Yours Aye!
Neil