Beer Notes: BrewDog Abstrakt:08
BrewDog have their critics and they have their fans. When it comes to some of their headline-grabbing antics, I find myself in the former camp. But when it comes to their beer, 9 times out of 10 I’m in the latter. Particularly so when it comes to their Abstrakt series of artisinal “concept beers”, all eight of which I’ve bought and sampled over the past couple of years.*
This latest addition to the range is described on the Abstrakt website as a “Deconstructed Blonde Imperial Stout”. I suspect the idea of a blonde stout is meant to sound much more WTF!? than it actually is.
After all, it’s really more of a reintroduction of a historical style than a completely new one: as Martyn Cornell tells us in Amber Gold and Black: “…to Georgian brewers, stout simply meant strong beer, in any shade” and provides a few examples from the archive.
So, kudos to BrewDog for doing their bit on the restoration front (even if that’s maybe not quite what they intended). They released a video to explain the process as well, in case anyone else fancies having a go.
Anyhow, pre-amble aside, what about the beer? Well, it’s…
Absolutely. Bloody. Gorgeous.
Dark amber in colour, releasing very little in the way of aroma, but the flavours are very, very impressive indeed. There’s a sharp-sweetness, like sweetened coffee, and a distinct bitter-orange note, as well as a good chunk of chocolate, all wrapped up in silky-smooth caramel. The best I can do to describe the overall effect is “bitter malt”. It’s quite possibly more of a liquer than a beer, and at 11.8% it’s certainly a slow-sipper, definitely one to savour. All in all, I’d say it’s quite, quite wonderful. Perhaps I haven’t done it justice in the description department there, but it was one of those beers that just hit all the right flavour buttons.
Some of the Abstrakt brews so far have been more ambitious than successful (AB:04 wasn’t hugely to my taste, I have to admit) but I think they’ve struck gold with this one. Strong, full-flavoured and a gloriously delicious, this one’s a definite winner. I’m pretty sure they’ll be sold out by now (although the website doesn’t seem to have been updated for a while) but if you see a bottle in the wild (or even – if the Gods of malt and hops are truly smiling on you – on draught) then I’d recommend grabbing it, quick.
*It’s been much easier since I joined the Abstrakt subscribers’ club – it involves much less panicking to get an order in on the day they release a new one…
