Immolator
Whiplash Brewing

On tap at Cardinal, Stavanger. Deep reddish brown colour, moderate head, slightly off-white. Moderate smoke in the aroma, decent. Distinct smokey flavour, fairly dry.

Whiplash “Immolator”
440ml can coded “23040803/10/24”. Sampled on 19 November 2023
€6,50 @ Be Hoppy, Madrid, ES

A clear dark brown body reveals ruby highlights when held to the light beneath a short head of creamy tan foam. The aroma is bready and smoky with beechwood. The taste follows with a little but of added dark sugar. There’s a malty richness to it, and it’s sweet but not too sweet, and between the smokiness and the bitterness it dries in the finish. The level of smokiness is right on across the board and the balance is perfect. In the mouth it’s medium bodied on the fuller side, and gently crisp and then creamy smooth. I’ve had smokier beers in Bamburg, and I’ve had less smoky beers as well. On the whole I’d say this leans towards the smokier side of things in comparison, and given that it’s been brewed so well it’s a definite winner.

CAN
Bright cherry amber with thick creamy taupe head; clean bacon-y smoke nose with some bread crust bits; hint of dark honey, pretzels, big hit of phenols, and a peppery end; clean, lt-med, smooth.

4 4 3.75 4 3.75

This smells like it’s gonna be a letter-perfect Schlenkerla clone, and it is, for a minute. Then a bunch of the smoky notes drop out and you’re left with an average doppel- with a bunch of Maillard + a bit of toffee.
Does pretty much what it says on the tin - “Smoked, Munich, Magnum, [bock yeast]” - but somehow ends up less than the sum of its parts. It’s neither rauch enough to get yer smoke on nor chunky enough to be real liquid bread.
At least they kept the “-ator” in the name.

Gets the job done, but not sure it was worth the trouble of triple decoction.