Brew Dog Rip Tide Stout, Scotland (8%)

Talking of stouts in the previous posts, I found I had a bottle of this in my stash and having never tried it, decided now was good. After an irish stew for lunch on this cold day, this looked like a good choice.

The rich dark malt aroma is pretty intense with the alcohol, and has me thinking of the Tokyo these guys also do. To be honest, the taste does the same, so for me is just a lighter version of the Tokyo. Seeing the alcohol is dimished, the malt stand out much more, which is great up front. On the back the malt comes back through again, to leave a grainy roasted dryness, but much slighter then yesterday's Viven Porter. The alcohol just doesn't linger as much as the Tokyo, which is understandable, with the Tokyo at 18%. Though, there is enough alcohol to thin and cleanse the beer from the tongue.

The big bold sweet malt on the front palate really agrees with me, much like the malt characteristic of most Brew Dog dark beers do for me. It is almost a bit too cloying on the front, but for me I really like that. The alcohol does come in pretty early, much like the Tokyo, but certainly does not warm as much. I'm not really feeling the alcohol that much, even though it has nearly twice as much as a usual beer would have. Simple but bold, of course it is going to by my type of beer. I would prefer a better back and aftertaste, but for the upfront flavours, I don't mind it if is a bit bland on the back, as it just makes me want to have another taste, even thought it is satisfying enough to sip away on.

Cheers,

Beef