Beer Review: Bitch Please - Barrel Aged Scottish Barley Wine

bitch please barrel aged Scottish barley wine - Brew Dog & 3 Floyds Collaboration - 11.5%

Brew: I'm back! And what better way to make an entrance than review a collaborative beer from Brew Dog and 3 Floyds, the 'bitch please'. I was expecting something big, then I though best not to have expectations and have them not met... But hey, it's Brew Dog and 3 Floyds right? Expectations met. It's big!

Lets begin with the aroma: Peat. Smoke. Bacon. Iodine. Do you think they used peat smoked malt in this beer Brew? Yes other Brew, I'm sure they did. 

"brewed with peated malts from Islay, stortbread, toffee and eclectic hops...aged in old Jura single malt whisky barrels for 8 months."

If you're an experienced pole vaulter and are able to jump the initial wall of peat, you'll find some sweet malty notes hiding behind a persistent alcohol front.

Usually I have a 'warm up' beer, a beer I know and drink regularly, before reviewing as to not over shock my pallet and to give myself a foot hold for which to judge the beer. Today, with the Bitch Please, I'm thinking I should've had a warm up Scotch instead.I had been chewing on some biltong earlier and was hoping that I wasn't ruining my mouth to taste this beer... now that I think about, it probably helped.

The deep caramel and oaked body profile reminds me heavily of Stone's Oaked Arrogant Bastard, but the peat just extends and magnifies every attribute of this beer. Now that my pallet is acclimated to the astringency induced by the peat, sweet honey and caramel flavours lead each mouthful until they are quickly cut with chocolate and a sharp oak bite.

If you're a Scotch lover, this is your beer.
If you're a beer lover, at ~$22 a bottle you may want to try something else.

I'm a lover of both.

3.8/5