How to deconstruct (an Imperial Stout) completely

It all started a a year and a half ago in San Diego.

Greg Koch and I made a spoof video about a golden imperial stout as an April Fool's Joke.  Then we decided to actually brew it. So here is how you deconstruct an imperial stout.

6 ingredients are key to this beer:

Oats, liquorice, heavily toasted oak chips, cacao, coffee and smoked malt. We use a base of only extra pale malt then we:

• Add mountains of oats to the malt bill to give the beer a thick, dense mouth-feel.
• Add a small amount of smoked malt too, to introduce some depth and a little smokiness. Think burning pirate ships and over toasted marshmallows.
• After fermentation we grate loads of 100% cacao into the beer to give it a indulgent, decadent chocolate infusion.
• We also then age the beer on coffee beans, giving the rounded roastiness and coffee notes without any colour pick up.
• We also add liquorice roots after fermentation too.
• And finally we aged the beer on heavily toasted oak chips for months to introduce a balance, mellowness and encapsulating toastiness to the schizophrenic beer.

Because it is a extremely thick light beer, the bubbles do cool things when you pour it.... 

You can get your paws on some here http://www.brewdog.com/product/abstrakt-ab08 and our new Abstrakt glasses here http://www.brewdog.com/shop/brewdog-stuff~glassware

Best enjoyed whilst wearing a Christmas cardigan.....