Tokyo* - Oak-aged With Cranberry & Jasmine
BrewDog

From old, undated notes. Poured from the bottle.

Brown/black liquid.

Khaki head; strong lace.

Sweet dark fruit, booze & slight chocolate nose.

Thick mouthfeel.

Sweet dark fruits, slight chocolate & booze finish.

Surprisingly easy to drink. Unique & worth trying!

 

This one has been sitting on my shelf for years eyeing me and accusingly asking why don't you drink me? So here's your time to shine Tokio.

Has a forceful and complex aroma of milk chocolate, booze, gum, ripened dark fruits and pine.

Goes down fairly sweet and sinewy with more dark fruits, gum and candy. The booze is enveloped by chocolate goodness, but this one never goes off the deep end into cloying hell. More pine and a faint woodiness is noticed.

Not sure what this one tasted like fresh, but I cannot imagine a few years on it hurt it one bit. Damn good winter sipping, and worth the wait. In retrospect, I should have picked up a few more of this bad boy.

 

 

 

 

03/25/2017

 

 

Appearance- Poured a dark brown body with no discernible head, little lacing to speak of. When held to the light there was some translucent redness at the edges of the glass akin to canned jellied cranberry sauce.

Smell- Faint molasses and booze, little else. There may have been just a hint of dark fruitiness in the background of the nose.

Taste- The most prominent flavor profiles were Blackstrap molasses and more booze,despite this being marketed as a stout brewed with cranberries and jasmine, these flavors were all but absent, overpowered by the molasses.

Feel- Something akin to overly carbonated cough syrup, though also too thin for a stout; it drinks more like an over-carbonated porter. This beer makes no attempt to hide its astringent alcohol flavors; the aftertaste is reminiscent of inexpensive schnapps.

Overall - An overly-sweetened booze bomb that most likely gets most of its high ABV from the ever-present molasses that permeates every aspect of the beer. This one would be worth a try, I suppose, especially for barbecue lovers who favor a sweet sauce on their meat, were it not for its $14 price tag. I can think of 3 imperial stouts with similar alcohol content that do a far better job at what this brew is attempting. I would recommend going with Mephistopheles from Avery or even World Wide Stout from Dogfishhead as a better companion to St. Louis Ribs or as a dessert beer.

11.2oz bottle into a 4oz contoured tasting flute

A: Pours a surprisingly vibrant rich mahogany with deep maroon apparent around the edges when held up to artificial light. Lacing is non-existent, retention is quite poor.

S: Tart cranberry jumps out of the glass. Rich dark chocolate serves as an urgent undertone, creating an altogether well-structured & pleasant whiff. Perhaps a bit too sweet.

T: Very cranberry dominant from start to finish. The dark chocolate is still apparent but becomes muddled by the mid palate. There is a slight trace of spice leading into the finish, although altogether it's a bit over-focused & saccharine. I was hoping the nose would progress deeper on the palate with all of the depth that it implied. Unfortunately, it went in the opposite direction. Still not bad. Also, it is rather muted from the ABV standpoint - so this is surprisingly drinkable for anything near 20%.

M: Low carb married to a nicely supportive & not overwhelming malt body. A bit syrupy, but still about right given the heft of the brew.

O: I'd say that the nose is easily the high-point here, although certain aspects of the palate & the surprising overall deft balance (given the ABV) are worth mentioning. This beer rises slightly above it's inherent limitations.

 

 

 

2014....VERY sweet