This is not only my first of BrewDog’s Abstrakt range but it was given to me as a birthday present and at 17.1% ABV, it’s got an alcohol content that matches my birthday of the 17th of January.
AB:09 is a deep and meaty beer brewed with Raspberries and honey, and matured in whisky barrels.
That said, I didn’t find any of the fruit flavours I was expecting to.
Instead the fruits provide a richness to the background of the beer, like some weird beery jus.
That’s not as odd as you might at first think, as AB:09 is thick and viscous and could happily be warmed and poured over a good cut of beef.
The aroma is port and chocolate, hot, bitter and sweet.
As you drink you get a warmth that begins on your tongue, works down your neck, and sits comfortably in your belly.
There’s a lot of liquorice in here, and plums and coffee and bitter dark chocolate, and all of it is drunk on hard booze.
Some hedgerow greenery with bramble thorns and damp leaf litter make up the hop presence, and all this leaves a finish that’s warm and steamy and a little bit sexy.
Happy birthday to me.