Something a Little Different for a Friday Night In

Last Friday evening – staying in after a rather beery week and gripped as I was by a mood of experimental optimism – I decided to crack open a few slightly unusual bottles. I started with Garlic Beer and then thirty seconds later I reached for something cool, crisp and hopefully palate-cleansing to help me forget, move on and start the healing process.

I opted for the bottle of Baltika 2 that my sister-in-law and her boyfriend brought back from Russia for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect (although the stereotypical sneaky suspicion had me leaning towards ‘cold fizz’) and so I was very pleasantly surprised when this one turned out to be very tasty indeed. Much maltier than your average lager, I’d have guessed this one was a golden ale if I didn’t know different. It wasn’t too gassy, wasn’t too sharp and had just a hint of citrus hops to finish with. I’d happily sup Baltika 2 again, or at least the Russian version (there’s a US variant, but who knows if it’s the same beast?) but unfortunately I don’t think that’s likely to happen any time soon. Ah well, plenty more lagers in the, er… sea..?

Moving on and next up was BrewDog Prototype 17. The text-only label proclaimed this one to be BrewDog’s 77 Lager, aged in whisky casks with Scottish raspberries. The result was… interesting. A mid-reddish-brown colour when it poured, it started off with a big cymbal-clash of fruit sugars and berry sourness which initially, coupled with the fridge temperature chill-bite, it was a bit on the harsh side. As it warmed and calmed down a bit the flavour-highs became less spiky and a more mellow malty note began to round the whole thing out and make it a bit more palatable and enjoyable.

In fact, by the end of the glass I was enjoying it quite a lot, which I wasn’t really expecting; I’ve still not found a fruit beer I can really get on with for more than a few sips, but this one came close. I’ve no idea if BrewDog are planning to put this one into regular production or not. I rather suspect it was a one-off case of “hey, lads, what can we do with this spare whisky cask and these leftover raspberries?” but with BrewDog you never know.

For Bottle #3 I decided on Rogue Dead Guy Ale. Again, I had no idea what to expect with this one (in fact I couldn’t even remember where I’d picked it up – possibly from The Micro Bar in Manchester?) but I knew it was 6.5% ABV. It turned out to be a red-hued ale that poured with a big, frothy white head. The aroma was… odd. It reminded me strongly of something particular that I couldn’t quite place, but after the first sip I knew what it was. Have you ever caramelised a tin of condensed milk to make a banoffee pie? Well, that’s exactly what Dead Guy ale tasted like to me. Jo agreed as well, saying she could definitely detect something milky in the aroma and that it reminded her of the after-taste of a milk stout.

So, er, some sort of milk ale? Apparently not; a quick read of the Rogue website revealed that this one is a ‘Maierbock ale’, brewed “[i]n the style of a German Maibock, using [Rogue's] proprietary Pacman ale yeast”, as well as several interesting-sounding malts, which probably account for all those sugars. For those like me who haven’t a clue – Maierbock (or Maibock) is traditionally “a helles lager brewed to bock strength, therefore still as strong as traditional bock, but lighter in colour and with more hop presence“. Good to know, but it doesn’t really describe Rogue Dead Guy Ale, leaving me almost as clueless as I was when I started: an odd one indeed. Which was great, because it fitted my experimental mood quite nicely and actually, once I got used to the sweetness, was really rather palatable indeed. Good stuff, and definitely worth trying if you find it at your favourite beverage retailer or a beer house near you.

Brewery: BrewDog
Location: Fraserburgh, Scotland
ABV: 10.0% (ish)
Version: Bottled
Source: BrewDog

What do you get if you cross BrewDog‘s Paradox Smokehead Imperial stout and a cask full of fresh Scottish raspberries? Answer: Rake Raspberry, a beer that’s round about 10.% ABV (the bottle arrived unlabelled so I’m a bit hazy on the details) and has a flavour that could actually be genuinely indescribable… although I’m going to give it a go.

Everything kicks off with an extremely pungent, rich fruity aroma as soon as you crack open the bottle. As you’d expect, the beer pours a delightful jet black and has a a thin, tan-coloured head. Then first sip unleashes an incredible explosion of dry, almost bitter fruit flavours, under-cut with a dark, smoky malt-sweetness, just a hint of liquorice and an oddly sharp, almost soapy tang on the aftertaste. Yes, soapy… unless that’s a dollop of umami I’m getting (could be – I don’t think I’m very good at spotting umami yet). After a period of breathing in the glass – and there was plenty of opportunity for this beer to breathe; Rake Raspberry really isn’t a quaffer – the fruit flavours develop a bit more complexity, with the sour-sweetness of under-ripe plums coming to the fore. At the same time there’s a tannin-dryness that comes through, giving the beer a claret-like flavour as well.

Final verdict: with its highly challenging flavour profile, Rake Raspberry is most definitely a beer you might have to work at acquiring a taste for, although as it’s already sold out on the BrewDog website, that could be tricky (if you see a bottle in a specialist beer store near you, grab it). Luckily, I bought two bottles of this one as soon as I saw the announcement on the BrewDog blog, which means there’s one more lurking in the special beer cupboard: I plan to let that one mature for a while and then re-visit to see whether the balance between the tart berry flavours and the whisky-malt smokiness has shifted at all. Should be an interesting one to re-visit.

When I placed my order, I noticed that Rake Raspberry was billed as ‘Abstrakt AB:01′ – the first in a new experimental series from BrewDog, perhaps? If this one is anything to go by then I definitely look forward to trying Abstrakts AB:02 onwards.