===
Updated review 06/10
===
Batch 088, Best Before 27 (or 21)/04/11.
12 oz bottle shipped directly from Scotland by James. Many thanks.
Much the same as below. Still very good clarity and a decent amount of fruit amongst the (relatively) highly hopped tastes (at least for an English IPA). The lace is better than I have seen in the past.
Still drinks nicely, and although this is NOT my idea of a typical, English version of the style, I style think it’s a decent beer.
===
Original review 09/09
===
22.4 oz bottle purchased from Showcase Beverage in Carrollton, GA, USA for the bargain price of $5.49 ($6.49 with a dollar off!). This is worth noting, since most other stores in GA are charging between $10.99 and $12.99 for this. At the higher price point, this beer is very poor value but at the discounted price it sits MUCH more comfortably with me.
Batch 003, best before 07/07/09. That typically, thick paper label and the usual nonsense from BrewDog as part of the spiel.
Poured into the Charleston Beer Exchange pint glass, the beer produces peach colored, hazed body with a small, poorly retained head and some minimal lace.
The nose is surprisingly sweet with some fruity malts and some light, floral hops.
The tastes are obviously much more hoppy than a traditional, English IPA but it DOES come with a lot of malt balance and support. The bitterness lingers a touch with some coinage in the finish, but at the end there are some fruits present too.
Having had two BrewDog offerings in the past (the Paradox and the Hardcore) and not really liking either, I was rather reserved about this. SURPRISINGLY I liked this one the best as it was somewhat reserved and much more “British” than the others. This is actually relatively subtle, and although the ABV is higher than one would expect (or that I would like), the beer is pretty tempered and has some sweet malty notes, some simple biscuity malts and some subtle hops that one might expect to find in an English Pale or ESB.
Tasty, enjoyable and the best of the stable so far.