BrewDog launches Abstrakt AB:03
Cloisters on Brougham Street can be one of Edinburgh’s busier pubs – and last night it was standing room only there, pretty good for a Wednesday night. The reason of course was that some of the guys from BrewDog were on hand to launch their latest Abstrakt vintage, Abstrakt AB:03 – so a high percentage of the Edinburgh beer scene were on hand. Also on offer, raffled tastings of their rarer beers – including the much-hyped 55% The End of History, and some of their barrel-aged Bashah series. With another five beers on tap, there was more than enough temptation to get the punters in – BeerCasters included.
We started off with 5am Saint (5.0%), their two-malt, four-hop red ale. It’s one that always seems to divide opinion – as red ales seem to do in general – with some liking the hop bitterness and others thinking the dryness is just too much. I’m usually in the latter camp – I can see what’s trying to be achieved, but every time I try to like it something stops me. Maybe it’s the combination of hops (Simcoe, Chinook, Nelson Sauvin, Centennial), but once again the nice redcurrant fruit was dashed about by the intense bitter aftertaste.
Moving through the BrewDog session beers, we upped the ante with one of their stalwarts, Punk IPA (6.1%) – which also manages a hefty IBU count, judging by the bitterness. I usually drink this one bottled, from the tap it’s much more bitter and strong tasting – but is really great stuff. From there it was onto the Edge (3.2%), which can be a rare specimen on cask. As a mild, or a 60/-, it has a pretty refreshing lightness combined with a healthy thwack of espresso. There’s some fruit in there too, but it all takes a back seat to the coffee.
The final warmup was Paradox Smokehead (10.0%) – a dark, syrupy beer with an astonishing oaky medicinal aroma. BrewDog cask-age their Paradox imperial stout in barrels from various distilleries, producing batches with notable differences. This particular one had absorbed the essence of Smokehead – a single malt from Islay. The specific distillery behind Smokehead is a guarded secret (popular rumour is Ardbeg) – but as their marketing is akin to BrewDog’s, they make a perfect fit. In taste terms, the beer is a monster – heavy smoky peat, cough syrup and masses of woody sweetness and alcohol burn.
For most, that would be the end of a decent night exploring some of BrewDog’s beers – but at this point the big guns were wheeled out. The reason for the night – Abstrakt AB:03 (10.5%) arrived – an imperial ale aged over two years in whisky casks with added strawberries and raspberries. It was a lovely red colour – as you’d expect – and the strawberries came out straight away, followed by a large dose of whisky. At the end, it was the raspberries that came out on the finish, which was interesting. It doesn’t taste anywhere near 10%, and is very fruity. You’d expect this to age well if put away for a decent amount of time.
Still three beers to go – unbeknown to us – and up next was the mother and father of all BrewDog beers – the 55% The End of History. We’ve talked about the implications of this monster before, and at several hundred pounds a stoat I certainly never thought I’d get to try some. But they were raffling tastings, and just a few drops made their way across my palate. What can you say? How do you judge a beer on a sip? It’s like reviewing a book from a single page. Anyway, it was some page. An immense aroma – for once BrewDog’s hyperbole seems well-placed. The empty glasses were being passed round so people could experience it.
The closest thing I could compare it to would be glue – it had that incredibly heady acrid aroma that makes you take a step back and look to open a window. On top of this were all kinds of things – paint, neat alcohol, whisky, a little fruit. The taste was even more confusing, it’s like every beer-related adjective distilled (no pun intended) into a liquid. Alcohol. Fruit. Wood. Vanilla. Lemon. Pain. I remembered the time we all tried Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32%) – it makes that seem quaint by comparison. It’s just utterly, completely insane. And we got to see the stoat as well.
After that, there really was nothing to follow. How do you top that? Beer as an entity is dead when a cubic centilitre of it forces all those emotions out. The next two drinks – Bashah Highland and Bashah Imperial – tried their best, but we could have been drinking Tennant’s by that point (and judging by how I felt the next morning, that might have been a good idea). Anyway, we featured Bashah in BeerCast 42 – the 8.5% American-style strong ale brewed in collaboration with the peerless Stone Brewery in San Diego. BrewDog boosted a batch up to 10% and then added raspberries to half (Highland), and tayberries to the other half (Imperial). Bashah Highland had a hint of whisky about it, but was mostly raspberries and other sweet fruits. It was the more bitter of the two, with a zesty quality to it. The pick was Bashah Imperial, which was dark and also really fruity – but it had a better balance. There’s still a strength from the 10% abv, but the highlight is the aftertaste – the dark malts combine with the tayberries to give a flavour similar to black forest gateaux, which is something pretty special.
Well, that was it – one heck of an evening. Eight beers and one hefty headache later the crowd started to disperse. In typical BrewDog style, the main event (Abstrakt AB:03) had been blown apart by all the other beers, lead by the steamroller of the End of History. Thanks to all at BrewDog for heading down to Edinburgh to showcase their wares…
