Our first reconciliation was conducted last night with a snifter of BrewDog Paradox Smokehead, which was found on tap at The Flying Saucer in Houston, TX, December 3, The Year of Our Lord 2012. Meticulous notes were taken to preserve the sanctity of the review at the moment of ingestion.
It was a Lord giveth and taketh away experience last night. First off, the price at $8 was a bit steep for our non-profit organization, but then we learned that it was happy hour and only had to pay $7. Then there was hesitation on part of the bartender to serve it because of the full beer in front of me. He eventually gave in and reluctantly served me, then asked if I wanted to settle up for some reason.
The smell of BrewDog Paradox Smokehead is great (6 out of 7) which indicated a proper smokebeer smell. Although it was devoid of notes of sausage, it was still strong and pleasing. Then, it went downhill a bit.
The taste of smoke comes through right at the beginning, which garnered a 5 out of 7 intensity factor, but the quality of the smoke flavor only rates at a 2 of 7. The taste of wood and peat was noted.
The wood didn’t remind me of hickory or mesquite, instead it was similar to that of a 2X4 or moldy particle board, and the peat was not from the hills of an Atlantic facing Scotch mountainside, but instead from a dust farm where pulverized rope and cotton t-shirts must have been mixed into ground. It’s a bit surprising given the nice smell that such a taste manifested.
Regardless, if we can find it in a bottle then we will include it in the second tasting and allow the council to form an infallible opinion, but for now the rating will have to be 3.
Also we have a photo of the notes taken, displayed next to a novelty smooshpenny from the Tabasco factory for scale.
Here’s a link to Brewdog’s site… I’m intrigued:
SmokeBeerMinistry 
Pingback: BrewDog – Paradox Smokehead (bottle) – 3.5 out of 7 | SmokeBeerMinistry