HEAD-TO-HEAD #9: Alice Porter vs. Christmas Porter (BrewDog)

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Alice Porter is modelled on a 300 year old Baltic Porter recipe and given a modern twist. It pours dark ruby with a dark beige, short-lasting head. It has a malty nose with some pear. Sharp, dark and jammy fruit up front leading into a spicy, hop-accented finish which is a little harsh-tasting. Too highly carbed for me but the body is reasonable. In terms of flavour it's fruitier and sharper than most Baltic Porter's I've tried, though to be fair it does proclaim itself a 'renaissance' Baltic Porter due to the use of a couple of modern cross continental hop varieties.

Christmas Porter is a reworking of Alice Porter with added orange zest, cacao and a pinch of chilli. Pours a touch darker than Alice Porter with a slightly foamier tan head. Similar aroma to its sister beer. In taste, the beer is a little more complex and rounded with what seems to be a more pronounced roast malt flavour. Less of the sharp-tasting hop notes come through too. It also seems fuller in body. How much the cacao contributes to this I'm not sure. The chilli heat shows somewhat in the finish and feels quite different to the usual alcohol-derived heat. Sweetness is also imparted from the chilli. Luckily none of the extraneous ingredients overpower the beer. Christmas Porter is definitely preferable to Alice Porter to my tastebuds, being a more satisfying drink. 

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REVIEW #100: Black Tokyo Horizon (BrewDog + Nøgne Ø + Mikkeller)

Pours jet black with a gorgeous iron-oxide, burnt orange head lasting literally seconds before fading to black. Roasted barley and wholemeal bread aroma. A massive sweetness first hits the palate, with overriding blackstrap molasses, demerara sugar and liquorice notes coming with an intensity which I haven't experienced before in a beer. Rye bread, milk chocolate, cocoa, woody notes and related flavours are all mixed in too. As with many of the best imperial stouts, a vanilla creaminess lurks in the background. The alcohol is solvent like and burns, warming oral and nasal passages alike. Its not as severe as I was fearing though considering its 17.2% ABV, and it certainly doesn't detract from the drinking experience. The body is midrange but the fullness of flavour gives the illusion of something much thicker. The liquid is sticky and sappy and this also plays a part in the mouthfeel. No question about it, Black Tokyo Horizon is a monster. It is enormously flavourful and has an alcoholic strength greater than any normal wine. If all imperial stouts are an indulgence then this is something else again.

This collaboration, crafted at BrewDog's Fraserburgh brewery, is probably every beer fan's wet dream... BrewDog, Mikkeller and Nøgne Ø are arguably the world-leaders of experimental, often extreme craft beer production. Black Tokyo Horizon takes inspiration from an imperial stout offered by each brewer; Tokyo*, Black and Dark Horizon respectively. About the individual beers: Tokyo* is BrewDog's jasmine and cranberry infused imperial stout. Black is Mikkeller's imperial stout brewed with cassonade sugar (an unrefined sugar similar to demerara) & fermented with both ale and champagne yeasts. Dark Horizon is Nøgne Ø's imperial stout, of which there has been a few limited versions, the first of which contained demerara sugar & "home-made" coffee extract and was fermented by wine yeast. Japan is the commonality that links all three of these stouts, hence they were candidates ripe for centring a collaborative effort around. In fact Black Tokyo Horizon is all and none of these. Inspiration was taken from each recipe but the outcome is not simply a blend of the three but a separate entity in itself. Little information is available on the specifics so I won't include the usual details below. All I'll say is that drinking this was an experience and, despite being pound-for-pound the most expensive beer I've ever bought, a very worthwhile one. Treat yourself if you get the chance! I guess I need to try the individual beers to see how they compare, but finding Dark Horizon could prove tricky.

REVIEW #91: Dogma (BrewDog)

Pours out a bromine red with honeycomb coloured head. Porter-esque rich dark malt nose, with bread and sesame seed. Strong treacly caramel and blackcurrant maltiness up front. Prickly pepper and nut notes follow. The heather honey probably contributes a lot to these flavours, providing the final beer with an unusual depth. Toasted grains are particularly prominent throughout drinking, especially in the long dry finish; poppy and sesame seed leap out as does roast barley. Dogma features a minimal hop character with some potent alcohol, a full mouthfeel and plenty of caramel malt. Its a fine, modern interpretation of a Scotch Ale.

This beer is a Scotch Ale or "Wee Heavy", denoted as 160/- in Scotland. Traquair House Brewery, Belhaven Brewery and Orkney Brewery are some Scottish breweries that still produce well-regarded, authentic examples of the Scotch Ales. The style is also popular in Belgium, mainly as a digestif; a notable range being Gordon's produced on commission for John Martin's. Two versions of Dogma have been made (this review is of the latest) and before these it was called 'Speedball'. The Original Dogma is still available to buy on the marvellous BrewDog shop, it has an added range of stimulant and depressant herbs such as Californian poppy, guarana and kola nut, as well as a different hop & malt schedule.

BrewDog seem to be the brewing equivalent of Neil Young, who has alternated between grunge/heavy rock and country with alarming success for most of his career. Despite coming in for criticism by traditionalists, I think BrewDog should be celebrated for being schizophrenic: On the one hand they make beers full of class and substance (Alice Porter, Hardcore IPA, Punk IPA, Dogma) at fair prices. On the other they make some of the most unique (Abstrakt series), decadent (Tokyo*) and extreme beers (Sink the Bismark & Tactical Nuclear Penguin) in the world, at some financial cost. Somewhere between the two lie their collaborative efforts; these may be also be a little on the expensive side but offer us beer geeks lovers a chance to sample the collective fruit of some world-leading craft breweries such as Mikkeller, Lost Abbey, 3 Floyds and Nogne O. BrewDog have something for everyone and stick to their principles; for this they need some respect!

Ps. Open your next bar in Birmingham, BrewDog... we deserve it ;)

• MALTS: munich; crystal; chocolate; brown; dark chocolate... (10 in total)
• HOPS: SAAZ; FIRST GOLD
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 7.4%
• contains heather honey

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