This will be a two-part posting. The first part (this part) is an introduction to a beer I received in the mail a few days ago. The second part will be my own personal review of the beer. But this is definitely a one-of-a-kind brew that needs a little more of an upfront introduction. So here goes:
The folks at Scotland’s BrewDog (the weirdest name of a brewery I’ve ever heard…) sent me a bottle of their Atlantic IPA in the mail, complete with description of the beer. Apparently the beer is the first commercially available, genuine sea-aged IPA in over two centuries. The beer was brewed based on a recipe from a 1856 “Brewers Handbook” and then spent two months aging aboard BrewDog co-founder James Watt’s mackerel trawler in the North Atlantic.
The incredible journey involved a tense barrel-rescue-mission, beatings from force ten storms, 60 foot waves and encounters with killer whales.
Upon safe return to dry land, the IPA was bottle conditioned and is now available in the United States for $25.99 per 330ml bottle. However, you’ll have to hunt high & low for it because there are only 960 bottles of the BrewDog Atlantic IPA in America!
BrewDog’s adjectives to describe what I should expect when I crack open the bottle this evening were far too good, so I’ll just quote:
Made from a 150 year old recipe, the Atlantic IPA is bursting with malt character; biscuit, toast, caramel, pirate ship oak, salt and tobacco. Hints of honey, pine and vanilla are also lurking in the depths of the palate. The generous use of English hops adds a substantial kick to the forefront of the nose and mouth with a smooth slick spicy, earthy herbal quality and a lingering woody bitterness in the finish.
The BrewDog folks also put together this fun little YouTube video with footage of the beer’s jaunt on the open ocean. Looks like it was one helluva trip (and that there would be more than 960 bottles of the beer available here if one of the casks hadn’t taken a trip to Davy Jones’ Locker…)! Check back shortly for my own personal reactions to this incredible-sounding brew!
Comments
Can’t wait for your review – this sounds like a unique brew for sure. The description makes it sound like one sip will send you out to the tattoo parlor to get an anchor etched into your forearm.
I agree with Jim. But this does sound like a kick butt beer. I will have go digging through sources to try and get my hands on it.
Thanks,
Matt
I first heard of this brewery a couple years ago when the owner was named one of Europe’s top young entrepreneurs by BusinessWeek. Here’s the link: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/06/0601_europe_entp/source/13.htm
He certainly is the creative type.