Stone Brewdog Super Bashah
I remember when Brewdog and Stone Brewing first released Bashah back in 2009. I don’t recall having tried (though, I believe I did), but I do remember the brief fervor over the two companies coming together to brew a dark, hoppy double Belgian-influenced IPA. As part of Stone Brewing’s Berlin expansion, the two breweries came together again to revisit that brew and release Super Bashah (9.7% aBV) back in February of 2017.
This particular bottle of Super Bashah arrived in the mail the other day as a celebration of that Berlin launch. Now, since this bottle is over a year old one would expect the hop influence to fade and it has, though, only in flavor. This double black IPA still packs a good bit of hop bitterness to accompany alcohol warmth, a solid roasty char, yeast and signs of aging (a touch of cardboard at the edges). Soft herbal notes (most likely from the Belgian yeast) also linger at the enges and come out a bit more as the beer warms in the glass.
This beer has obviously changed a great deal since it was first released and I can’t rightly say if it’s better, worse or just different. As it stands in my instance, the hop bite works nicely with the roast and peppery yeast, as well as that potent alcohol warmth. The beer doesn’t really drink like a double IPA really, instead coming across as a roasty Belgian-style strong dark ale. Regardless, it’s been quite the adventure for Stone Brewing over the past several years and this beer certainly attempts to convey those same twists and turns.
This is a review of a promotional sample.