Black Tokyo Horizon - BrewDog

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Thanks MrKennedy for this bad boy!! This brew poured out as a severely dark black color. The head was short lived, comes rapidly and leaves just as quick. No lacing either. The smell of this beer is pure ethanol with some very sweet sugary aromas in there as well. The taste is huge, there is sweet burnt sugar, dark fruits, coffee, booze, and smoke throughout this thing. The mouthfeel is not very carbonated, it's slick and dry, it's also syrupy and sticky. Overall this beer is just massive it's a sipper and one that can be enjoyed for well over an hour. It's a very good blend of the three beers in my opinion. Would drink again if the price was right.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2012 01:18:37 | More by Knapp85

Sunnanek

Sweden

3.4/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: Pitch black! Only a very small brown head. Heavy-looking.

S: Very sweet - molasses. Hard roasted dark malts. Chocolate and licorice. Some faint vanilla.

T: Syrup - very sweet. Chocolate and some coffee. Hard roasted dark malts. Dark dried fruits. Very vineous.

M: Full smooth body. Low carbonation. Aftertaste is short, but holds bitter sweetness.

O: Not bad, but the high ABV kind of numbs flavours that hides in the back, flavours that probably would make this better.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2012 08:09:56 | More by Sunnanek

Jeffo

Netherlands

3.88/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 4

Got this one at De Bierkoning for a whopping $20. For some reason I just couldn't resist. A blend of Mikkeller Black, Nogne Dark Horizon, and Brewdog Tokyo. Brewed at Brewdog.

From a bottle into a snifter
Batch 057
Says "bottled on," but probably best by 20-07-2021

APPEARANCE: A hard pour comes out pitch black and tried to create a mocha colored head, but it just never comes to fuition. Just fizzes away immediately, making the beer look flat. Jet black body and higher levels of carbonation evident, oddly enougn. After a few sips, however, a swirling wisp and ring forms. Magic? I think so.

SMELL: Very rich nose. Light roasted notes, lots of caramel and some leather as well. Some dark chocolate and a good dose of molasses, red wine, grapes and rasins. Some piercing booze as well, but the aromas are quite complex.

TASTE: Roasted malts and plenty of sweet molasses, caramel and leather up front. Interesting beginning. Wine, port and dark fruits move through the middle into a bold, lingering and boozy finish. Burnt and roasted notes, molasses, port and alcohol linger on the palate. A touch of dark chocolate and bitterness balance the sweet, boozy notes somewhat. Black's sweet port and molasses play a bigger role here. This is actually really, really nice.

PALATE: Lighter body and higher levels of carbonation. too light and carbonated for the style, which is unfortunate. Creamy enough but not overly smooth. Goes down a bit rough with a burn at the swallow and finishes quite sticky. Lots of heat lingers. Too light, abrasive and hot.

OVERALL: Amazingly enough, this was actually quite good. I think the Mikkeller was a little more dominant in the flavor profile, which was probably a good thing. Though the feel was too thin and light to really lend a lot of support, the flavors were decadent enough to be able to stand on their own. A little work on the feel and you'd have a world class brew on your hands I think. I'm not sure how "Brewdog" this beer is, but whatever it is, it's quality. If you get the chance to try this, do so. Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2012 21:02:12 | More by Jeffo

vikinghick

California

4.05/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: Very black, dense. No head.

S: Surprisingly not as much of alcohol as I would expect for over 17%. Smells like sweet soy sauce, like teriyaki before you add garlic or ginger. Burnt sugar and molasses as well.

T: Very sweet. The smoky burnt sugar taste is prominent. Honey.

M: Another reviewer mentioned a "listless"ness to the texture and mouthfeel. I think that's a good word for it. On the positive side, it is smooth and coats the mouth nicely.

Overall, I mean come on, this is an amazing desert beer. Deliciously rich and sweet and tasty! I savor every burp that follows.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2012 15:18:53 | More by vikinghick

4thelvofbeer

Virginia

5/5  rDev +22.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Original review below. New review follows: Bottle is a twelve ounce bottle. I opened a TBH tonite, 22 June 12. I have three of these in my wine fridge (aging) and decided to pop one tonite. I had to modify my original review of this beer, which was something like 4.8, to a complete, all around 5+. This beer has been aging for about 2 years since I originally purchased about six of these bottle while living in England. Opening this bottle tonite reminded me of just how good this beer actually was, and the one that I opened tonite was absolutely phenominal!! It has to be one of the smoothest, great tasting stouts I have enjoyed to date, and I have recently drank BCBVS, CS, KBS, CBS, Bells Black Note, and countless other big stouts. This stuff is so deep---I am talking notes of coffee, brown sugar, licorice, molasses, sweet syrup, figs...all those dark loves are in there. This stuff needs to be created again by Brew Dog, N)0, and Mikkellar. Absolutely outstanding. One of only two overall "5s" I have given to date. Again, find some...and you will enjoy one of the best beers of your life...it is that good!

///previous review:::
Not sure why the overall score of this beer is in the 80s???, but this is one of the best stouts I have enjoyed to date...hands down. This is a hard brew to get, but if you come across some, it is a must try for those who love big stouts!
A: Pure black, thin black/dark brown head
S: Molasses, malts, chocolate, licorice
T: See above
M: silky, nice and smoooth...especially for a 17.5% ABV beer
O: Simply one of the best stouts I have enjoyed.
Find some....drink it!!!

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2012 00:24:15 | More by 4thelvofbeer

DoubleJ

California

4.15/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

I've had these three threads in seperate glasses. Perhaps it's only natural for Mikkeller, BrewDog, and Nogne O to take their massive stouts and blends them into someting one of a kind. Once again, André is the man for providing this one. On to the beer:

B-black. Little head to speak of that dissipated quickly, though this is a thick stout, it leaves a few small legs instead. The nose could be better. Right now it's alright, with charcoal and vague barbecue flare.

Now it gets going. Charcoal and barbecue accents carry over to the taste, and then BOOM! Lots of smoke, maple, vague fruit, alcohol, baker's chocolate cover the palate. It's full bodied and a little boozy.

A thick, wonderful experience from the collaboration of these three breweries. Be sure to grab a few beer drinking friends for this adventure.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2012 19:08:12 | More by DoubleJ

laituegonflable

Australia

3.25/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a very, very dark brown, only a glimmer when I peer through the blackness onto backlighting. Head is tan in colour, nice and thick but dissipated with not much lace. Can be revived pretty easily, but not leaving a lot of lace. Good.

Smells nutty, with a dark, spicy and boozey edge. Lots of almonds, peanut and a sticky rye note, with a touch of charcoal and espresso behind. Slight cognacy booze whiff with a touch of cayenne pepper blocking up the nostrils at the back. Smells a bit heavy, but nice sweetness and complexity.

Taste is big, sweet and boozey. Lots of nutty character on there with dry peanut and a touch of cashew that culminates in a peanut skin dryness on the back. Treacle and milk chocolate are really quite sugary midway with a touch of English toffee. Late-mid grounds it better with some espresso grounds but the sugar abides. Would like more roast to give it oomph; it's very much on the sweet side for me.

Also not helped by the listless body which allows it to seem syrupy; almost crystalline.

There are some nice characters here, but it's off-balance in the wrong direction for me, and I couldn't see myself drinking a lot.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2012 05:22:15 | More by laituegonflable

lacqueredmouse

Australia

4.08/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle purchased from Leura Cellars and shared with @LaitueGonflable. Tasted as the first beer of an evening, so as to try it in all its unmitigated and untainted glory.

Pours a very deep and dark black, with a deep chocolate brown head that fizzles to nothingness pretty quickly. Body is actually surprisingly fluid, but this may not be surprising if they take the Tokyo method to get it this high in alcohol. Looks decent, but I've had very deep and impressive imperial stouts.

Nose is gorgeous. Sweet, roasty aromas mingled with big liquorice notes. Almost minty herbal aromatics hang around in the sinuses. Mostly, the gorgeous sweetness, giving hints of whisky and oak take this all the way however. It's robust, powerful and exciting.

Taste is even better—indeed, it's almost an ideal example of a sweet Imperial stout. Big port-like sweetness on the front, that develops into more whisky-like tones, with more fragrant liquorice and mild aniseed tones, and almost no roastiness or bitterness on the back—it drifts into a sweet, fragrant funk like a syruped-up black coffee. In fact, despite the initial impression, the lack of clean-up on the finish means the sweetness almost cloys the more you drink. Feel is very smooth but absolutely flat and uncarbonated.

A very impressive and very big beer. The sweetness is my only problem—it sticks around a bit too much. It has those aromatics and the herbal twang to pull it back slightly, but it could be restrained a little further.

Still, a great collaboration, and one I'm extremely pleased to have tried.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2011 06:59:15 | More by lacqueredmouse

mulder1010

Australia

3.48/5  rDev -14.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

330 ML bottle poured into a tulip

Thanks to Danielol for the bottle and sharing it

A-- Poured black, syrupy black. Just a bit of red ruby on the sides of the glass and a very short lived film that quickly vacated the glass. Mostly chocolate syrup looking and a good layer of oil that covered the glass. Fair amount of alcohol legs.

S-- Sweet nose. Char and ash to start but changed to port, date, chocolate and dark fruits. Mostly dark cherry. Alcohol is well hidden for the size of the beer. Honestly was surprised.

T-- Syrupy, thick and sweet. Mostly reminded me of a port. Decent amount of chocolate and roast malts to carry this pretty well. Other notes were molasses and some toffee.

M-- Rich, syrupy, and oily. Once again the alcohol is quite well hidden. Get more of the Brewdog part of the beer than anything else. Very little char and ash and a lot of dark fruits and chocolate. Little carbonation but it worked well.

O-- Slow, slow sipper. Shared the bottle 4 ways and that was prefect. Unsure how could do a 330 alone or even attempt to with all the sweetness to this. Still get enough of the base beer to like it. Good long term cellaring prospects for this.

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2011 13:43:38 | More by mulder1010

danieelol

Australia

3.4/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours black with a thin film around the edge of the glass constituting its head.

Nose is pruney and datey, porty character, muscatel grapes; alcohol. Some roast sweetness.

Taste is similar mix of roast and sweetness. Probably not as cloying as Tokyo*

Overall a reasonable effort, but Double Black was 10x better

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2011 13:00:23 | More by danieelol

aidanskinner

United Kingdom (Scotland)

4.85/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

330ml bottle from gift packaging poured into 2/3rd brewdog pint glass

a - black. black as night. so black it bends light around it. Holding it up to the light and tilting the glass reveals it to be... black.

s - surprisingly, for a 17.2% beer, not much alcohol. big sweet maltiness, bit of smoke, bit of woodiness - like being in an old oak library in a stately home.

t - sweet, malty, can taste the tokyo* but there's a lot of other things going on, some fruitiness - definitely cherrys but not only them, something vaugely molassesy, bit of chocolate bitterness cutting through. So much going on, massive, massive beer. DELICIOUS

m - heavy, but not thick, good level of carbonation

o - amazing beer, better than tokyo*, gutted I only have 2 left.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2011 18:45:35 | More by aidanskinner

thagr81us

South Carolina

4.03/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Big thanks goes out to beermeX2 for sharing this one at the Down South Beer Tasting while aasher was in town to visit! Served from bottle into a Mikkeller taster flute. Poured pitch black with a very minimal brown head. There was no lacing evident throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, roasted malt, caramel, sugar, and subtle alcohol. The flavor was of sweet malt, brown sugar, caramel, subtle alcohol, and toffee. It had a heavy feel on the palate with mild carbonation. Overall this was a pretty good brew. Based on the ABV and having had Tokio* before, I went into this one a LITTLE concerned. However, this one did a MUCH better job at covering up the ABV with a lot of sweetness that came in different forms. While saying this, it was definitely still a sipper without a doubt. Worth trying for the high ABV lovers out there.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2011 17:43:38 | More by thagr81us

Thehuntmaster

South Africa

4.58/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

330ml bottle 17,2% Abv.
Served lightly chilled into a Brewdog Teku glass.
BB 20/07/21

Appearance: Pitch black body, absolutely no light is getting through this! A rough pout yields a good sized cocoa coloured head that fizzes away in an instant (pretty much like champagne) leaving no lace. The beer does leave massive alcohol legs and a brown residue on the glass.

Smell: Wow, great nose on this! Massive roasted malt, charred wood, a little smoke, tar, dark chocolate, molasses, dark sugar, sweet dark fruit (plums, raisins, dates and lots of liqueur cherries) and a touch of vanilla.
Fantastic interplay between heavy roast, dark sugar and sweet dark fruit. Alcohol is noted but is not too bothersome.

Taste: As expected, this is a massive beer. The initial flavour is of heavily roasted malts, charred wood, ash and espresso this is quickly followed by sweet molasses, dark fruit (raisins, prunes, dates and cherries), dark rum and the faintest hint of hops. Alcohol is noted on the palate, but one must remember that this is 17%.

Mouthfeel: Full, sticky body with mild, smooth carbonation. A light alcohol burn in the throat.

Overall: I LOVE these big stouts (this is one of the best) and could sip on something like this every evening! If you are a lover of big beers this is highly recommended. I cannot wait to see how my other bottles develop over the next few years.

Bottle # 2 with a year of age on it.

Appearance: Pretty much the same as a year ago. Pitch black body, topped by a good sized mocha coloured head. The head retention hasn't improved much and still fizzes away like a soda. 4

Smell: Ah man, a year has certainly done wonders for the nose! Huge dark fruit presence with notes of raisins, black cherries, plums, dates and golden raisins. Other notes include: Molasses, dark caramel, dark brown sugar, dark treacle, dark chocolate, dark toffee, port, fruit cake and only a touch of roast. The booze is pretty well hidden, with only a touch noticed as the beer hits room temperature. 5

Taste: Again, a year has certainly improved the flavour! Notes include: dark caramel, dark treacle, molasses, brown sugar, dark fruits (raisins, plums, cherries and dates), port, chocolate, a touch of roast and a hint of vanilla. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, thick, sticky and with a low level of super smooth carbonation. In other words, perfect! 5

Overall: A year has certainly worked wonders and turned a great beer into a world class one. That said, it is certainly one for lovers of big, super sweet beers only. 5

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2011 21:03:32 | More by Thehuntmaster

rarbring

Sweden

4.1/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The brew is dusty dark chestnut, has a very small off-white head, little lacing and rather small curtains.

A sweet vinous dark fruity smell.

The taste is also much sweet strong wine, dark fruits, sherry and nuts, Marzipan.

Little carbonation, soft and oily, a warm and slightly fiery feeling.

A good after dinner brew, went very well with sour blackberries.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2011 18:34:07 | More by rarbring

mdagnew

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

4.43/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

330ml bottle bought from GapWines, Belfast... comes in cardboard presentation box

Poured deep inky black - nothing gets through even when held up to the light. Barely any head - what there is pours a murky brown colour and this fades quickly... no lacing at all...

Aroma - Lots going on here... rich booze soaked fruit loaf, lots of charred sootiness, dark bitter chocolate, strong liquorice, very sweet smelling - lots of black treacle and muscovado sugar, cigar smokiness, caramel, alcohol soaked fruit (blackcurrants, dates, raisins, prunes), roasted nuts - praline, soy sauce and balsamic...

Taste - Quite sweet initially with lots of black treacle and liquorice, some balsamic and soy sauce. After the sweetness comes some charred smokiness, strong espresso, very boozy - maybe just a little on the hot side, cough mixture notes, aniseed, alcohol soaked dried fruits (raisins, currents and prunes), bitter chocolate...

Feel - Very smooth and oily... very full bodied... needless to say that this one is a sipper at 17.2% !!

Overall - An excellent example of an extreme impy stout although it could do with a few months to mellow it out a bit. Very pricey at £16 a bottle.... definitely recommended...

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2011 16:19:01 | More by mdagnew