Beer Review: Stone/Brewdog Bashah

A collaboration between Stone and Brewdog means trouble...a bunch of "class clown"-types working together. Talented and passionate class clowns though...and it comes through in Bashah (which I feel needs to be pronounced by yelling it like a war cry). I did find out that B.A.S.H.A. is a Brit military term for British Army Standard Hotel Accommodation, but that's not exactly an exciting revelation. This beer is a Belgian style double IPA...nothing to take lightly. I had it in the past couple of weeks, before this face-melting weather here in the northeast. Having tasted it, if I had another bottle, I'd probably save it for a cold winter night. At 8.6% ABV, Bashah!!! wasn't over-the-top, but it had a very rich, dark, faintly fruity taste that would go well with a snowy night and a fire.

As you can see, this beer had an 'oh so great' ominous black appearance. Though I didn't get a whole lot of "Belgian style" in the taste, I did get it in the sniffy sniff, which (since it's Brewdog from UK) smelled like figgy pudding (even though I've never been around figgy pudding in my life). The rest of the smell had the dominant heavy coffee/roasted caramel that you would expect. I didn't get much of that in the taste though; there was a very subtle fruity start and finish, but most of it lingered in the lush dark malt with a warm, faint alcohol kick. It was nice from start to finish, but it didn't knock my socks off considering it had the mind meld of two powerhouses in the industry. It definitely has a re-buy factor though, if not for a knock-out taste, then for the fact that you can yell its name after drinking it.