BrewDog Paradox Springbank (Batch 017)
Scottish Malt Whisky Casks Rock!
Their ruggedly robust beauty, character, captivating aromas and unique Scottish heritage is completely spellbinding.
This edition of Paradox sees our Imperial Stout aged for six months in specially selected Springbank whisky casks. This maturation process results in the whisky flavours and aromas being infused deep into our beer.
Made in Scotland, Paradox combines BrewDog’s craft brewed beer with the finest malt whisky casks.
To release the true character, complexity and depth of flavours in this beer please enjoy it at room temperature, unless you live in an igloo.
Their ruggedly robust beauty, character, captivating aromas and unique Scottish heritage is completely spellbinding.
This edition of Paradox sees our Imperial Stout aged for six months in specially selected Springbank whisky casks. This maturation process results in the whisky flavours and aromas being infused deep into our beer.
Made in Scotland, Paradox combines BrewDog’s craft brewed beer with the finest malt whisky casks.
To release the true character, complexity and depth of flavours in this beer please enjoy it at room temperature, unless you live in an igloo.
3.7
159 reviews
Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Community reviews
11.2 oz bottle, bottled on 5/12/09; four years old or so. Pours inky black, but has red tints around the edges; thin tan head that collapses into a collar fairly quick. Aroma smells really sweet--I get chocolate, black coffee, toasted marshmallow, burnt caramel. I guess black coffee isn’t sweet, but the other descriptors are. Taste is sweet and bitter, but the lingering taste is pretty sour (intentional, age-related, mistake? not sure). It’s smoky, woody and nutty; tastes like chocolate covered raisins. Full bodied, average carbonation, slightly oily mouthfeel. Pretty goddamn extreme.
translucent sepia, thin cream head. oxidized cocoa with cardboard nose. Flavor oxidized, cardboard and anise all over, hints of sugar in finish, light sugar. Thin and sugary finish
Bouteille 11,2oz (batch 017). De couleur noire-brune et opaque. Nez de malt rôti, de chocolat noir, moyennement boisé (fût de whisky), moyen-léger de fruits (fruits confits foncés), léger de mélasse et de fumée (tourbe), léger d’alcool, de vanille et de café. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement doux ainsi qu’une texture légèrement huileuse et aux petites notes crémeuses. Goût moyennement boisé (fût de whisky) avec un léger goût fruité (fruits foncés confits) ainsi qu’avec des traces de réglisse noire lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute rapidement un goût de malt rôti (traces brûlées), un moyen goût de chocolat noir avec des traces de mélasse terreuse. Parallèlement, un léger goût fumé (tourbe) vient se rajouter jusqu’en finale où s’y pointe également un léger-moyen goût d’alcool boisé aux notes réchauffantes avec des traces de houblon herbeux. Post-goût long et légèrement sec, léger-moyen amer de rôti, moyen de chocolat noir avec un léger goût d’alcool boisé (fût de whisky).
12oz bottle pours a watery, translucent black with some spitty, white head. Nose of booze and soap, lightly peaty, malt. Flavor is malty, sweet, chocolate, a little waxy, smoke, licorice, caramel, soap. Medium bodied, hot finish.
355mL from Grassroots Natural Market in Jacksonville, FL thanks to drowland! Pours a clear, deep cola brown, no foam. Nose is black olives, present oxidation, canned cheap black olive. Taste is watery, dirty, soil. Palate is thin, watery, harsh Scotch barrel with no body to handle. Some bitter chocolate and spices in the finish seem to be an afterthought.
Drank 12/9/12 even though it said best before 3/31/11. Tasted just fine to me. Pours with very little head. Initial scent of peat and vanilla. Smooth, balanced taste throughout. Nice beer for a scotch fan. Rather average beer for an imperial stout fan.
Bottle. Very dark pour with a small head. Whiskey and dark chocolate aroma. Taste is bright whiskey and semi-sweet. Nice full palate but not overly heavy or dense.
The aroma is pretty typical Imperial with coffee, chocolate, licorice, burn malt, and molasses but with oak and the alcohol not hidden at all. The appearance is dark brown with almost no head. The taste is even better than the aroma with an amazing whiskey barrel addition. The palate is typical. Overall a very nice beer but not to exciting.
Bottle. Pours opaque with a large, frothy and bubbly tan head, medium to short retention with good lacing. Aroma is peat smoked malt, toast, coffee, earthy and minty hops with dates, prunes, oak, and licorice. Flavor is malt and peat smoke dominant with medium hops and bitterness, lightly sour dark fruity esters and a dry finish. Medium to full body, medium carbonation.
Bottle to snifter. Smoky notes with a definite booziness to it. Chocolate aromas. Slightly sweet. Pretty interesting nose. Black pour with small tan head. body is kind of slick. I like the scotch barrel. Gives it a unique taste and aroma not available with bourbon or rye barrels. Pretty good beer.
7th April 2010
Very dark brown beer, just about transparent. Lactose sweet malt nose. Light semi soft palate. Light lactose sweet dark malt. Very subtle whisky with even more subtle peat. A little chocolate. Smooth, sweet, light - very nicely done.
In short: A well-rounded whiskey barrel aged stout with a bit of everything you can expect from the style. A bit too harsh but nice.
How: Bottle 330ml. Not too sure about the age, maybe 2 year after bottling… approximately
The look: near black body topped by a very small beige head
In long: Nose has plenty of vanilla, some chocolate cake and a surprisingly not-so-overwhelming whiskey barrel presence. Taste is round, vanilla extract, raisins, chocolate chips cookies, some whiskey barrels, burnt almonds, some booze, black liquorice, old cup of black coffee. Relatively light and juicy body for a 10% beer. Smooth carbonation like just about all other BrewDog Paradox. The finish was a bit harsh whit some booze and a wood barrel saliva sucking astringency. At least this one was not just a boozy whiskey barrel orgy. Another BrewDog Paradox to add to my rating collection. I like to open a beer and rate it whenever I can, and every night I’m told that this is a waste of time and I drink too much… wife’s a bitch and then you die.
Pours pitch black with very small tan head. Smells like chocolate, hints of licorice, a touch of coffee, and an even fainter hint of smoke. Tastes sweet, roasted, chocolate and coffee, and hints of smoke. Full-bodied with a smooth texture and soft mouth-carbonation, BrewDog Paradox Springbank finishes with a mild touch of bitterness.
Aroma- nice sweet whiskey aromas, typical stout qualities, some funk
Appearance- not as dark as most impy’s, big white bubbles
Taste- dark fruits, soft whiskey, slight chocolate, some bitterness, smooth, sweet finish
Palate- borderline full-bodied, extremely drinkable
Overall- Very drinkable and incredibly smooth, but not worth the price tag. Not overwhelming in any category and almost too sessionable for a cask-aged brew.
A deep dark stout with a thin brown head. In aroma, sweet fruity chocolate malt with dark fruits, licorice, peated notes, alcohol warmth, very nice. In mouth, a nice sweet fruity chocolate malt with whisky barrel, alcohol warmth, very nice. Bièropholie imports.
Bottle shared with Dasilky1. Hints of whiskey and chocolate in the nose. No hops present. Pours a dark brown, almost black. Tan head. A tad too sweet in my opinion. Average imperial stout. Overpriced.
Bottle shared by blackipa. Somewhat transparent brown...thin whispy suds atop. Earthy tobacco nose with some peppery spice, some soil, and lots of peaty whiskey overtones...actually quite nice nose, certainly for a scotch person, which I’m not...buit I like it anyway, fuck off. Complexity is kind of lost in the flavors, likely due to the underattentuation of the malts...pretty sweet flavors making the earthy, tobacco notes seem a bit candyish..wish it was drier to bring out the complexity of the peaty whiskey characteristics...what ya gonna do? That being said...there’s nice peaty, smokey earthy tones there, the sweetness just makes them a lot less awesomer than had it been a lot less sweet.
330ml bottle gifted from distributor rep. Tulip glass. Pours dark brown in color, looking fairly thin. Sits with a nice dark caramel head which does fade away. Very dark brown/black in glass. Aroma: Brown sugar, chocolate, caramel, vanilla, grain alcohol (of course), whisky very apparent, molasses, dates, honey. Very sweet aromas mixed with a strong whisky presence. Taste: Woah. I literally said out loud as soon as the first sip. Great thing I love whisky...and scotch especially. Very sweet malts right off the bat, black coffee, vanilla, molasses, Springbank taste is most def all over the place, hefty chocolate notes on finish, roasted nuts (hazelnuts?). Hardly any carbonation. Palate: Very smooth, creamy, thin feel, finishes really well, that slight pleasant whisky burn also there. An amazing strong stout and an instant favorite. Not for the weak. Taste and smell will hit you like Chuck Norris (or Sean Connery?) on a sunny day...if you’re not prepared. Would buy if I find it somewhere. Side note: The flavors develop more depth the longer you drink it. I drank it at room temperature, just as the bottle says. I highly suggest you do the same. (Rating No. 28)
Rating No. 1.300.
A very strong smell of malt, smoke, some liquorice, also some coffee and bitter chocolate. The small beige head disappears fast, the body is black. A strong malty taste, quite bitter with chocolate and coffee as well. The body is very strong, very oily and creamy, also some syrup.
Black, with a to small head. Liquoirish, alcohol, burned/roasted malts, a bit sweetness and caramel. Sweet, that goes to a ok bitterness, but not totally outbalanced. Could use some kind of boost, except at the alcohol... That kicks in pretty hard to only be 10%. Liqour is there for sure, carbonation is harder to find.
2011 - 05 - 28 330ml bottle.darkbrown, almost black colour. medium creme fading head. sharp dark smokey taste. alcohol present.
Black with a light tan head that doesn’t last long. Aroma of deep woody notes, maybe some mesquite?, a lot of smoke, light whiskey tones, mild chocolate stoutiness. Big dark chocolate tones hit the tongue first, melding into a very mild woody and whiskey-ish flavor. Ends creamy and semi-sweet, the way cold milk does. Roasted malt lingers in the background. Bittersweet. It has some typical impy stout complexity to it, dark malt grains.. Later: smooth chocolate roastiness, ending in quiet whiskey tones. Dry fruity esters on the taste become apparent later (lightly)
Pours oily, thick and opaque black, with a fleeting tan head.
Rich roast malt aroma, some coffee, alcohol, and vanilla.
Sweet and roasty and slight alcohol from whiskey.
Most of these from the series are very similar and only someone who is well acquainted with the various whiskeys whose barrels they have aged in will be able to tell much or any difference between them. Having said that they are well done, tasty and expensive.
Bottle: Pours a dark black, tan head. Nose of light whisky and smoke with some roast and coffee notes. The flavor is balanced and meaty with smoke and light oak notes. Very balanced for a paradox though. Good blend of oak, stout and whiskey.
Springbank is perhaps my favorite whiskey, and I was hoping for some of that pear-tinged sweetness that I love in it. In honesty though, I’m getting more of it in the smell than the taste, although right up front you get a slug of it. The stout itself is good, more of the sharper liquorice variety than the creamier kind. There’s smokiness in there too that I would have guessed was from the scotch if I didn’t know Springbank. The end is more coffee than anything.
Black with tan head. Sweet smokey, whiskey aroma. Coffee-chocolate with whiskey tones.
Bottled. Poured fairly clear medium-deep brown with a nice denser tan head. The aroma picked up sweet earthy and lightly smoky whiskey upfront, with black patent, molasses, and honey behind.. some vanilla and peppery notes accented.. the whiskey led, and really wasn’t all that interesting. The flavor found mostly black patent with lesser coffee at the core.. whiskey again gave the dominant character, showing light smoke, vanilla, and oak.. tangy whiskey and oak on the finish.. like the nose, it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t do a whole lot for me. Medium-bodied at most on the palate.. tangy, and a little sharp at times.. just OK all around.
Into a chalice at cellar temperature. Black as black, headless bar a tan ring, no life. A lot of alcohol spice on the nose, spicy and hot (nail polish remover perhaps!?), with pronounced oaken wood (wood varnish too perhaps!??), a little molasses underneath, some tar and boysenberries. Syrupy, sticky in the mouth, well pronounced whisky flavour, huge wafts of bonfire ash, as warming as a dram of twelve year old with the burn of one too! Peaty, lots of charred wood in the long aftertaste, soft but noticeable astringency on the swallow. It has a little tickle, just a tickle, of carbonation just on the tip of the tongue otherwise this is still. It definitely has soaked up all that whisky barrel flavour sadly rendering it pretty lifeless, characterless. I just couldn’t get into this, ended up knocking it back simply as a night cap! (33cL, batch 017, BB 10/01/14, The Beer Store Morley)
This seemed the "hottest" of the (admittedly small) number of Paradoxes I’ve sampled. Bit coarser and less refined than, say, Batch 3. I’d take the latter over this any day. Found the Springbank more intrusive than others in the series. Smells great, looks great, feels great but the taste is dominated by oak and alcohol. (Bottle from Leura Cellars)
12 oz bottle served in a tulip. Pour is deep cola with very little brown head that disappeared almost immediately. Nose is roasted malt, peat, oak, burnt molasses, a hint of caramel, syrup, and just a touch of whiskey. Taste is molasses, roasted malt, whisky, and a touch of hop bitterness. This leads into a slightly bitter combination of whiskey and raisons to comprise the finish. This is a tasty brew that hides its ABV well, but a warming in the chest reveals the truth. Grab one of these if the opportunity presents itself!