Of Beer, Cheese, and Salami
Good evening one and all! Tonight I will be reviewing the Brew Dog range of ales, Dogma, Chaos Theory and Hardcore IPA, accompanied by some lovely Shropshire blue cheese, redcurrants and salami. Sounds like a good night to me!
Gonna be a long review
Chaos Theory: I am an unashamed Warhammer nerd, so the concept of a beer called “Chaos Theory” appeals to me in so, so many ways. This 7.1% beer is subtitled “predictably random ipa”, and the first thing that occurs to me is “good god this cap is hard to remove”. It has a very rich, nutty scent to it, and on taste, something that reminds me of eating grapefruit peel. Fruity, but very, very bitter. It is also very easy to taste the alcohol in it. The intense bitterness in the ale is made a lot less overwhelming by a food, particularly the sweet-yet-sour taste of redcurrants, and goes very well with the saltiness of salami. It’s not so great with the blue cheese, but it does take that bitter edge off after each mouthful.
The beer is very much bursting with flavours, from toasted nuts to a distinct grapefruity taste that accompanies that bitterness, rewarding in its own way. I do find it perhaps a bit much for my rather delicate tastebuds, but when drunk with any food, this becomes a great accompaniment. I can expect this to be great with a curry!
Room Temperature Opinion: A little less intense on the bitterness, a bit more nutty and toasty over fruity, but essentially the same beer. I would prefer drinking this at room temp over cold.
Dogma: Cap was less hard to remove this time. The second beer, at 7.8%, and with its witty title, is subtitled and described as “heather honey infused ale”, and indeed it is, the very first thing that hits my nose is the floral sweetness of honey as I nearly jam my nose in the bottle, wanting more of the delicious scent.
Honey-obsessed habits aside, on taste this beer is incredibly mellow compared to Chaos Theory, with just a little hint of bitterness at the end. It is brewed with not only honey, but guarana, kola nut and poppy seeds, giving it a very sweet, yet distinctly fruity taste. Naturally, this goes very well with the redcurrants I have on my plate, which just add to the sweet and wonderfully rounded flavour. Try not to be fooled by its sweet flavour and mellow character, as it really is strong at 7.8%, and my face is feeling just a little flushed from its brother Chaos Theory.
Back on the food tangent, it doesn’t go as well with salami, but contrasts with the cheese quite well, sweet beer and strong, blue cheese just melting together in one oral orgasm cacophanous climax tittilating tastebud tempest alitteral awesome-taste.
I literally can’t get enough of this beer, it’s taking effort to leave a bit in the bottle for the room temperature opinion, since I’m sure some of you prefer beer at a warmer temperature (truth be told so do I). On a side note, redcurrant and salami is a good combination on its own, try it sometime.
FEELING A LITTLE DRUNK NOW.
Room Temperature Opinion: If it could get any sweeter, it just did. This tastes far superior chilled, where all the flavours are distinct. Here the bitter, sweet and fruity flavours mush together and while it’s not bad, it’s just inferior.
Hardcore IPA: Three words. Really. Really. Strong. Weighing in at a whopping and shocking (for a beer) 9%, Hardcore IPA is the last of the three beers I have. At this point, I’m feeling a little floaty, and I’m really glad my fan is on, since I’m feeling a bit warm. Cap was really easy to open this time, or I’m just being more brutal, either way, it’s open.
The first smell I detect in this beer is WHOA HOPS. Seriously, very hoppy beer. It’s also got a lovely sweet smell in there, AND it’s made with Maris Otter grains. MARIS OTTER GRAINS, how is this not awesome? (I think my typing is degenerating, I apologise!)
Back on a more professional tangent, this beer has a very hoppy smell, with undertones of nuts and, treacle, and a sweet toffee-like scent. On tasting, not only do you find out that it tastes exactly how it smells, you can actually taste the alcohol, something that I can’t usually do until things like Midori or Baileys. It does have quite a bitter aftertaste, exactly between Chaos Theory and Dogma, but not quite as overwhelming as Chaos Theory’s. No hidden grapefruits in here. It also has a very toffee-like taste on the first touch of your tongue. Sweet, caramel-y goodness, before moving into hops and finally, the bitter finish, with that familiar alcohol taste lingering after that. Almost metallic, in a sense.
On the food side of things, it goes insanely, and I mean INCREDIBLY well with the blue cheese, like the two were made to be consumed together. The creamy cheese just melts into the toffee and hop tones of Hardcore IPA, with the blue in the cheese complementing the bitterness perfectly at the end. Redcurrants, always a good choice, it seems, making the beer all the sweeter and bringing out those treacle-toffee flavours wonderfully, and for those of you who don’t like bitter, lightening it a lot. Salami, not so much, the flavours clash a little too much, salty having an argument with the sweet first taste of this ale.
At this point, I am feeling considerably drunk. Typos are coming up just about every three words or so, and I have a distinct, floaty sensation going on, like my rear isn’t quite connected to this chair.
Room Temperature Opinion: The flavours aren’t as crisp or bright when warmed up a bit, and the bitterness becomes a little unpleasent to me. It remains a very caramelised flavour, but it doesn’t evolve and end in the same way as it does when chilled. I can’t honestly recommend this to be drunk at room temperature at all. Particularly since the alcohol taste is about five times as strong when at room temperature.
Sadly, this is the last of these wonderful microbrewery ales, and where my review must end. But I must say, this has been a wonderful discovery, and I would not have bothered buying these had it not been for the recommendation by my friend Stray who sang their praises a few months ago.
This drunk and enjoyed adventure was brought to you by Gorse Raugan.
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BrewDog Ltd. Unit 1, Kessock Workshops Fraserburgh AB43 8UE t: +44 (0) 1346 519 009 |
Tags: beer, BrewDog, Chaos Theory, Dogma, Hardcore