BrewDog Storm
Cask, Special;
ISLAY WHISKY CASK AGED I.P.A.
This is not an unerring , despondent half hearted compromise. This bottle contains our IPA which has been aged in Islay whisky casks.
The combination of Islay whisky casks and New Zealand hops is one of polar opposites on many levels.
Drinking this beer is like being caught in the eye of a force 12 North Atlantic storm. Heavily peated demonic smoked Islay whisky and the fruity hop flavours of our IPA should not go well together. Nor should mild pretentiousness and exponential cool. However at BrewDog we are pretty sure we can rock it out and make both admirable combinations work reasonably well.
ISLAY WHISKY CASK AGED I.P.A.
This is not an unerring , despondent half hearted compromise. This bottle contains our IPA which has been aged in Islay whisky casks.
The combination of Islay whisky casks and New Zealand hops is one of polar opposites on many levels.
Drinking this beer is like being caught in the eye of a force 12 North Atlantic storm. Heavily peated demonic smoked Islay whisky and the fruity hop flavours of our IPA should not go well together. Nor should mild pretentiousness and exponential cool. However at BrewDog we are pretty sure we can rock it out and make both admirable combinations work reasonably well.
2.7
265 reviews
Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Community reviews
A still beverage. Orangey brown opaque hue similar to cider. Smells of leather, sausage, and smoke. Tastes of astringent char and is remeniscent of smoked gouda perhaps due to yeast . Palate is too bit to drying/bitter. Would drink again with cheese or meat.
Cider-colored pour. Aroma is smokey-applish. Odd. Flavor is burnt smoky, ciderish. Strong whiskey, and bitter fruit. Kinda bad tasting. Really thin.
Bottle. They most have lost a bet when they bottleted this one. Pours the color and visage of Metamucil. Big malt and especially Pete on this one. It’s like someone defecated and then wrapped the shit in bacon. Flat, no head. Tastes lime skunky scotch. Lingers. What the fuck?!?
Bottle thanks to the ever generous madmitch76. Best before 18/12/09....... It pours hazy golden orange, with a thin bubbly white head. The nose is dominated by islay whisky character, deeply smokey, hay, TCP , permanent marker and peat. The taste is initially sweet orange, peach and marmalade, then the whisky sets in: smoke, peat, hay and floral notes, with a bitter finish. Medium body and low carbonation. This tastes a lot smoother than it did when I had it fresh. Considering how old this is it’s actually pretty alright.
The time spent in the scotch casks can clearly be tasted and while I find it great in concept, I found it lacking in the final product. -still worth trying but not necessarily worth repeating.
Pale golden color, no head as this is a still beverage. Definitely taste the scotch but perhaps almost too much. It tastes like a watered down islay scotch.
Wasn’t exactly what I expected. Don’t care for the flavor of this one but to each their own. Do not like the smokiness background of it. Had much better from brew dog.
11.2oz bottle poured into a tulip. Best before 2/2/10 Pours a lightly cloudy weird brownish color. Aroma is watered down whisky. Taste is whisky. Like watered down Johnnie Walker Green. Light bodied with a thin watery texture. Zero carbonation and a long finish. Overall, wow. This is not beer at all, but watery whisky. Not sure what to think about it other than I’m pretty sure I like it.
Pours a light cloudy yellow. Aroma is strong with single malt scotch overtones. Taste is minutely sweet in the front quickly overpowered by the smokey and stinging scotch flavors. The finish shows the ABV through some subtle burn.
Bottle from Brewdog.com. The first time I had this, I was utterly confused and horrified. After a while though, I grew to quite like, I think if the base was hardcore it could have been pretty special.
330ml bottle pours a slightly hazy golden orange color with a finger of white head that leaves a few spots of lacing on the glass. Aroma is mild pine and hints of oak and whiskey. Taste is malty sweet with some piney hop bitterness as well as some oak and whiskey. Does not quite taste like a traditional IPA, but who cares, this is quite a tasty beer.
Bottle from Whole Foods. Cloudy gold pour with a neglible white head leaving no lace. Nose is ripe fruit and peat. Medium body with light carbonation. Smoked peat, apple, pear, tobacco, walnuts and oak. Finish is lighter, shortish, smoky, bitter and umami. This is the ale that YB’s Rex Attitude would be if it were more balanced. A scotch ale for those who don’t really drink scotch. I like it, but it’s not an IPA by any stretch.
Bottle from iron abbey beer dinner. This was advertised as "hard to get" but I don’t understand why. The aroma has some spice notes, but it reminds me of a watered down whiskey. This is not good. As a side note, the word I was looking to describe this was creosote.
Poured into Delirium Tulip. Didn’t see the expiration date, so a couple months past prime. No head to speak of. Some small lacing. The smell is like straight scotch whiskey. The whiskey balances the hops, and leaves a funky yet watery smell. I don’t get this beer at all lol.
Bottle says "Best Before 02/10". Oops / No head / Big, dramatic, nose of scotch and wood / Medium body, mellow with no carbonation, malty and fruity but astringent, with dry, bitter, finish / Flavors of scotch barrel, smoke, peat, and apple cider / A contrary view - very odd, but I enjoyed it. I would not expect an ipa to age well, but this one did. BrewDog is never dull. If you are the type that has a difficult time explaining to friends why "manure" is a desirable flavor in beer, this might be worth checking out.
Bottle (rated sometime in 2008).
Head is initially small, frothy/fizzy, off-white, mostly diminishing.
Body is medium yellow.
Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), trace hops (flowers), with strong notes of creosote, ash, smoke.
Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter.
Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter, unclean.
Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic.
Little more than liquid ashes.
Bottle split with mcberko. Pours a hazy orange with no head at all. Aroma of perfume, smoke, peat, whiskey and charred wood. Flavour of ashtray, dominated by an odd, lingering smoke flavour and light whiskey notes. No typical IPA characteristics present. Should be a smoked ale or something. Smokey flavours leave a dry mouthfeel. Similar to morning-after heavy night smoking. Not pleasant.
THOUGHTS: Ambitious, but I don’t think it worked. It was sort of like watery whiskey. Might have been a little skunked. It’s either that or this was a really bad beer. I didn’t really get much of the hops. They were there but not as much as necessary for a good IPA. This was really the wrong treatment for this beer style. I’m glad they retired this one.
TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a medium, pale, hazy, brownish amber that looked a little like dirty water. It might even be called peach. It had a very small, almost soapy looking head that was too small to determine what color it was. The head completely diminished but somehow left fair to good lacing. The aroma had light hops that showed hints of tropical fruit; moderate to heavy dusty and slightly musty yeast; cask wood, smoke and whiskey. The initial flavor was lightly sweet; while the finish was moderately sweet and slightly bitter with a fairly long duration. There was tropical fruitiness of hops, watery whiskey, a lot of wood, some smoke and then some hop bitterness from tropical fruit and berries along with a little metallic hops. The light to medium body was dry with soft carbonation and a lightly metallic and slightly alcoholic finish.
Bottle, half off from Sam’s. Pours weird orange, slightly pinkish gray, hazy and without any head. Nose of heather, peat, and British hops. Weird. Taste is also super scotchy. So weird it’s hard not to keep trying. Like scotch, though, it’s borderline offensive at first but gets progressively tastier.
12 oz. bottle, split with Matts_Property, pours a murky orange with pretty much no head. Aroma of whiskey, lots of smoke, / peat, and wood - nothing like an IPA. Flavour brings out tons of smoke and whiskey, with the smoke lingering. Why even bother to age an IPA when none of the original IPA qualities will remain? Brewdog haven’t exactly concocted a good one here. Barely drinkable.
Pours a cloudy golden orange color with no head. Undercarbonated. Strong whiskey aroma with pine and hops. Somewhat flat flavor with whiskey, caramel, grapefruit, and pine. Very unusual, but drinkable.
Poured light in color. NO head on an aggressive pour. Very little carbonation. Was very pleasant on the nose... but nearly undrinkable. Bitter, metallic, artificial fruit. I poured the last 20% down the sink. I was hoping it would tasted better when it warmed. It did slightly but still very UNpleasant.
11.2 ounce bottle into snifter, batch 150, best by 12/12/09. Here we go, I have been afraid of trying this because of the reviews. Pours hazy orange amber color with a small forced white head with ok retention that reduces to a paper thin cap. A bit of lacing clinging to the glass as well. Aromas of strong whiskey, caramel, wood, cardboard, and a bit of smoke. Interesting and decent aromas here with good strength. Taste of tons of woodiness, cardboard, smoke, caramel, and a bit of spices and whiskey. Almost no taste in the front of the tongue, which was odd. Lingering notes of smoke, wood, cardboard, whiskey, and a bit of spicy bitterness on the finish. Pretty much no carbonation with a medium-full body. Very slick and odd mouthfeel thanks to the lack of carbonation. It drinks fairly easily however. Alcohol is well hidden with only a small warming on the finish noticed. Overall certainly an interesting tasting beer, but this was a tad difficult to finish.
Bottle shared thanks to Deanso. Pours hazy amber with little tan head. Aroma is insane peat. Flavour is basically bad watered down whiskey with a sweet finish. Very strange.
Bottle from BQ, Milano
Aroma of smoke, tar and caramel. Clear red-brown w small white head. Flavor is smokey w lots of tar, some hops and caramel. Medium body and carbonation. Too heavy on the whiskey side for my taste - doesn’t quite taste like a beer. Still quite good though.
33cl bottle from Roysbeers, Milan.
Worth a try but the smokey/peaty flavour of the barrel completely overpowers the IPA. Nice try.
Pours a cloudy copper with minimal head. Aroma is pretty much just scotch. Smoky, peaty. The slight hop citrus presence is barely perceptible under the Islay blanket. Flavor is initially dominated by scotch, but a little glimmer of bright hop shines through, only to be again overwhelmed by a finish of peat and ash. Quite flat on the palate.
This is a pretty fucked-up beer. I am a big fan of boilermakers and Lagavulin, though usually not in the same glass. Overall, I appreciate the all-out whisky assault here.
Bottle @ home. Cloudy yellow-orange appearance with a nearly absent, white head. Mostly peat whiskey but some sweet hoppiness in the nose. Roasty, peat smoky, boggy, dull hoppy, light citrusy flavor. Honestly, I’m not a huge Islay whiskey fan, so I’m not sure why I picked this one up but I did enjoy the Islay flavor more than usual. Kind of a weird combination of Islay whiskey and an IPA. The whiskey flavor drowns the IPA characteristics in my mind. Yuck.
Cloudy dark gold color color with no head. Light peaty aroma. The taste is a trainwreck. The peatiness "blends" with a strongly vegetal hop character, turning strongly metallic. Pretty gnarly, and not in a good way.
July 27.2011 bitt tle. This is a beer that has to be tried. Incredibly ambitious. Smokey, meaty, hoppy. Overpowering. It’s just too much, but its a nice try. Rerate nov 2014. I can tell by my previous comments that I was a bit ignorant back then. Adjusted the rating. Originally 2.4