Snagged tickets to the first ever bottle tasting event organized by the local Brewdog entity.
There were twenty-ish people attending the event, and we fit quite nicely into a curtain-separated section of the bar.
There were altogether seven rounds of tasting, and pretty much all of the beers were from the darker side of the spectrum.
The kickstarter was Brewdog’s own Mixtape 8, a mixture of two rather separate genres stored in old whiskey barrels. The taste was predominantly fruity, and at close to 15% ABV a hefty start to the proceedings.
The second entry was the only one I had sampled before, Brewdog’s Black Jacques, which I had become acquainted with in last year’s tasting in Kitty O’Shea’s. The taste was the same, leaning heavily towards red wine. The official classification, “black saison”, felt a bit tacked on, since the grainy saison-ness wasn’t really noticeable.
The third bottle was Brewdog’s Abstrakt:14. This was my second Abstrakt, and I had high hopes for the experience (AB:16 had been an awesomely tasty beer). The strong weizenbock mixed flavors of hops and traditional wheaty elements (banana, too, for those scoring the game at home). Not as good as AB:16, but the best beer of the evening so far.
Old Viscosity from Port Brewing went even deeper in taste and colour. The imperial stout was a sturdy and mostly liquid exemplar of its genre. The roasty taste deepened as the glass warmed, presenting a sweet undertone. The first non-Brewdog beer grabbed a hold of the best-in-show prize, though it was rather heavily at odds at the still well-lit summer evening outside.
Mikkeller’s George! continued in the imperial stout-groove with an even sweeter, more spicy flavour. This was as close to a liquid chocolate-covered gingerbreadhouse I’ve tasted thus far. Another hefty beer that caused the audience to consume even more water (which was conveniently shuttled in at a very decent clip).
Thornbridge Hall’s Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Scotch Ale was a bit more light in color, but not much of a lighter taste. Though pleasantly enough this strong scotch ale had a single digits ABV for a change.
The last beer of the tasting turned out to be the greatest. The Lost Abbey’s Judgment Day was the most complex and tasty of the evening’s portfolio. The classification of a belgian quad underplays the vast selection of elements in the taste, this is not an average beer by any means. While my initial impression was an awed one, the taste kept on evolving as the liquid warmed up. Definitely the best beer I’ve tasted in a long while, and one that I will definitely seek out again, probably when the bleakness of November descends on Helsinki.
All in all the event was well-organized, and I’ll certainly keep an eye out on followups. After all, for the reasonable price of 30€ we got to sample seven great beers. A minor negative on the dark overall tone that was at odds with the bright summer day, but a wider set of flavours might have turned tastebuds even more berserk than this portfolio did.
FI: Vallan maukkaita oluita, joskin yleistunnelma oli epäilyttävän epäkesäisen tumma. Ei Tuomiopäivän voittanutta.
brewnardo 