Stone Brewing at BrewDog, Glasgow

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And so it came to pass.

Mrs Monkey wanted toasted cheese and a nice cuppa tea. With provisions running low, I was dispatched to the Kwik-e-Mart to pick up some thick white and semi skimmed.

Whilst out on my mission to feed the hungry, I thought I would reward myself for such a good deed by popping in to my local for a quick pint.

My luck was in as some Fyne Ales' Hurricane Jack was on the board. Result, I thought as I settled down to enjoy my reward pint of some lovely, refreshing beer.

No sooner had I scooped the first mouthful down my eager, receptive throat that I received a text from a mate asking me why I wasn't at BrewDog's Glasgow Bar and informing me that I was missing a seriously good night of beer action involving one of my favourite U.S. craft beer brands, the Stone Brewing Company. Not only would loads of lovely Stone beers be available on tap but also in attendance would be Stone's Main Man and Craft Beer's Spiritual Leader and Hop Guru, Greg Koch. BrewDog had previously held a Stone beer evening at their Edinburgh bar a while back but, to my regret, I couldn't make it.

It looked like Mrs Monkey's toasted cheese would have to wait.....

I arrived at BrewDog to find that it was standing room only with a throng three deep at the bar with thirsty punters eager to get their hands on some superb Stone beers. My default setting when hitting a bar is for my eyes to locate and lock on to the beer selection available. The guest beer board was firmly in my sights and as I scoped it, my eyes lit up as I focused on the beers available. A mighty fine selection of Stone were on.

Yowser! Wowser!

Smoked Porter
Cali Belgique
Stone IPA
Ruination IPA
Sublimely Self Righteous Stout
Russian Imperial Stout
Old Guardian Barley Wine
Arrogant Bastard
Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard
Double Bastard

Friends met and first beer bought, I settled down to enjoy some lovely beer in a great bar. I really like the BrewDog Glasgow bar. It's a great place to try some fantastic and exciting beers from some of the best craft brewers from around the globe. It also knows how to put on some cracking nights.

From the corner of my eye, I caught glimpse of a tall figure climbing on to the bar, steadying himself and with hands held aloft and haloed by the light he motioned to the crowd to quieten them down to an observant silence.

It was Greg Koch, Mr Stone Brewing and the chief cheerleader for the 'Craft Beer Revolution'. This guy doesn't lack confidence or will ever be described as an introverted wall flower. Wearing a T-shirt with his face printed on it and each hand stamped in black ink adorned with the same image, if this guy was chocolate he would be minus an arm and a half chewed elbow.

Greg Koch

Hell Yeah!

He was on a mission. An evangelical mission, from the great beer God, to convert as many unbelievers and IPA infidels to the cause of the Craft Beer Revolution. Judging from the amount of 'Yeahs', 'Hell Yeahs' , 'Awesomes' and even the odd 'Hallelujahs' among the punters it appeared that he was rallying the faithful and addressing his disciples.

Awesome!

Part old school 1980's tele-evangelist, part craft beer cult leader he had the drinkers slurping out the palms of his stamped hands with his boundless enthusiasm for beer that's as contagious as winter flu in an old folk's home.

His words wafted over me in a hyperbolic haze of hops and glory. "Craft Beer Revolution", "Awesome", "Radical".  It was all a bit craft beer bingo and over the top but good fun nonetheless.

I warmed to Greg Koch. I liked him. His West Coast American positivity and puppy dog enthusiasm were infectious and charming.

But that's not important. What's important is the beer and Stone make great beer. I had their IPA, the Sublimely Self Righteous and a taste of the Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard. They were as I expected. Fantastic.

Greg Koch is not the Messiah. But his beers taste like heaven.

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BrewDog Jumps the Shark.....Again

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At first glance, I thought it was a neat self deprecating pisstake in which Fraserburgh's self appointed beer punks, BrewDog, attempt a rather nice slice of self parody. But it turns out to be 100% genuine, above board and for real.

What am I talking about?

I'm talking about BrewDog's latest gimmick venture in which they have created, what they claim is, the world's strongest fermented beer. It's a 28% ABV blonde ale that's been aged in all sorts of  'ground breaking' and 'amazing' places - Gaddafi's Tripoli tent, Anne Widdecombe's thong and Stephen Hawkins' football boots among others.*

It's called Ghost Deer and will be served from the head of a proper real live deer that's dead. There must have been a bit of a sale on at the taxidermist's when they were picking up the squirrels and stoat for End of History.

Don't these folks know that beers served from animals is so last year?

BrewDog describe the beer as a 'beautiful'  'masterpiece' and a 'schizophrenic delusional screw up of a drink'.  They say that it's a concept that has 'torn up convention', 'blurred distinctions' and 'challenged perceptions' in a 'defiant' and 'irreverent' fashion.

Clearly, hollow hyperbole is an art form just north of Aberdeen.

So, what's next for our brewing Burke and Hare? A cadaver that dispenses different beers from each rotting orifice? A Bangkok dancer than fires Imperial Porter filled ping pong balls from her poonanny into the open mouths of exhilarated BrewDog lovers? A hefeweizen dry hopped with hubris?

I'm sure it's meant as a bit of fun and a way of getting some cheap publicity but, boy, it's getting a bit tedious now.

Enough already.


*not sure about this bit. I might have been lied to.

Guest Blog - Why BrewDog Matters to Me

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In response to Martin Doherty's guest blog, BrewDog shareholder and blogger,  Ian Prise tells us why the beer world is a far better place for having BrewDog around.

"I don’t actually remember how my love affair with BrewDog started. I wasn’t in there right when they started. I don’t remember ever seeing James and Martin selling beer at the farmer’s market, but then I used to work almost every Saturday, or if I had been off, I would have been out on the Friday Night. I must have read something in the press about them, I “liked” them on Facebook and I started reading their blog. I liked their style. I liked their sense of humour. I bought a few bottles of their beer from the supermarket, chilled them in the fridge, drank them, and liked them. I liked them a lot.  

Equity for Punks was announced in late 2009. I’d been toying with the idea of buying BrewDog shares for a while, but with the cost of Christmas I didn’t really have the cash. A combination of a Gas bill rebate, and the extension of the deadline for buying shares solved this problem.

In October  2009 they bought a Bar in Aberdeen and hoped to have it open by February.

In Early 2010 I became an Equity punk.

The problem was that I couldn’t at this point find any pubs in Aberdeen selling BrewDog. I was still drinking the mass market keg beers I’d been drinking for years, and had never really liked.

 The Pub they had bought was in a lot poorer condition, than they had anticipated. With planning, licensing and all the work needed February came and went without a grand opening of the Aberdeen bar.  I only drank it at home, or if we were celebrating, we occasionally ate out in Musa, which at the time was about the place in town selling Brewdog.

Finally in October BrewDog Bar Aberdeen opened. I was introduced to an exciting new world of craft beer.  

On probably my first visit, James, who I recognised from the press and the blog, came in to the bar with his girlfriend. We were sitting at one end of one of the tables, a group of three other people were sitting at the other end.  James and Johanna squeezed into the space in between. One of the people on the other end of the table obviously, didn’t have “the taste or sophistication, to appreciate the depth, character and quality of his premium craft brewed beer”. When he left, I said to James I think he’s gone back to drinking “mass marketed, bland, cheaply made watered down lager” We got talking, we said we were shareholders, that we liked the beer, we liked the pub. James went to the bar and came back with a 4 glasses and a bottle of  Bashah Imperial and Tayberry reserve. I was blown away. This was beer in a different class. I was hooked.

So here is why I think BrewDog matters.

 They Brew Great Craft Keg Beer

I like my beer cold. Brewdog beers are mostly designed to be served cold. Granted with some styles like stouts and porters, the flavour develops as you let it warm up a little. Hops, did someone say hops? These guys use a lot of hops, and not just any old hops either. Bucket loads of aromatic hops from around the world. Not just in the kettle either. Some beers are dry hopped too.  That’s why the beer tastes and smells as good as it does. Lets not forget malt. Unless it says wheat beer on the label, it’s all malted barley in there. Ok so they do use some types of sugar in some of the higher strength beers. They don’t want the yeast to starve to death and die. The longer the yeast lives and eats the more alcohol it excretes. Additives, preservatives, and isinglass finings are not used in the making of a Brewdog beer. Their beers are suitable for vegetarians. They do lightly filter, but they don’t pasteurise. They want to leave the flavour in the beer.

The Bars

BrewDog craft beer bars are great places to drink. In my local, BrewDog Aberdeen, most of  the BrewDog core range is usually available on keg. Alice Porter and Tokyo* are on keg fairly frequently too. Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismark are available in 25ml measures, allowing people to try them without having to spend serious money on a whole bottle.

We usually see the special beers on keg when they are released, even the Abstrakts. The Guest board changes regularly. Mikkeller, Stone, Flying Dog, and Port Brewing/Lost Abbey are only a few of the great names that have featured on the guest boards. I’m looking forward to seeing some beers from some of the other British Craft keg brewers in the near future There is even a customer tap. If you buy the beer on this tap, you get to vote for one beer from a choice of three. When the keg finishes the beer with the most votes goes on next.

The range of rare and unusual bottled beers is extensive. Some of these beers have travelled a long way to be here. Others are made in small quantities, but because BrewDog has a good relationship with the brewer, and I’m thinking about Mikkeller here, they can get these beers behind their bars. Perhaps some are a little pricey, but still cost less than the price of a round if you share a larger bottle between four friends. £10-15 may seem like a lot of cash for a bottle of beer, but it is a pretty fair price when compared with what most people spend on a bottle of wine with a comparable ABV.

The bars also host some special meet the brewer nights, when all the taps are given over to the visiting guest brewers’ beers. I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Mikkeller/Nogne O, and Port Brewing/Lost Abbey nights in Aberdeen and The Stone Total Tap Takeover in Edinburgh.  

We have also had some of the BrewDog brewers coming down from Fraserburgh to do a shift in the Aberdeen bar. It’s great being able to talk to these guys about the beer, and have some of the finer points about brewing, hops and how they filter explained to you. The Brewers I met are all really approachable (despite in some cases looking a bit scary), guys who are passionate about what they do.

The Aberdeen Bar also sold a Beer/cheese tasting deal on Groupon. What a great way to introduce people to craft beer. They sold 601 in a day. I bought one, and spent an enjoyable couple of hours in the company of “Inappropriate Dan” tasting various beers, having hopping and dry hopping explained, and totally failing to identify Nanny State. I thought it was like Hardcore without the mouthfeel.  

The bars are well run venues. I have seen very little trouble in the Aberdeen bar, and what trouble there was, was dealt with firmly and swiftly. The bars are safe places to drink. A lot of this is down to the very sensible policy of limiting the serving size of higher ABV beers.

I’m lucky that I live in Aberdeen only a short bus journey from the original and best Brewdog bar. As the bar empire expands more people will be able to enjoy these beers in the way I do.

The Bar Staff

The enthusiasm of the bar staff for Craft beer starts right at the top with Bruce. Bruce is the former Aberdeen Bar Manager and now Area Manger of all the bars. This guy is passionate about great craft beer. His passion is infectious and I have tried styles I probably wouldn’t have on his recommendation.

Brewdog educate their Bar staff in the product they are selling. Part of the training programme involves spending time working at the brewery, learning about the entire brewing process.

If you are new to craft beer, visit a bar and talk to the staff.  They know about the beer. They care about the beer. They are enthusiastic about the beer. They will pour you a few free samples. They will help you choose a beer you will like.

Special Beers/Collaborations

Abstrakt series, high abv freeze distilled beers, Nanny State, numerous collaborations, with other craft brewers, barrel aged beers, visiting Gypsy Brewers.

The Craft Beer industry (American Definition) seems to be unlike any other industry, in that the different players get together now and again and collaborate. Some of the best Craft brewers in the world, have visited Brewdog, and brewed beer there. Stone came and brewed Bashah, Three Floyds came and brewed Bitch Please. Lost Abbey came and brewed Lost Dog, which is still ageing in a rum cask.

BrewDog seem to spend a lot of time and effort brewing some pretty unusual and special beers. These guys are not content to sit back and churn out nothing but their core range. They like to experiment. Brewdog in common with many other craft brewers, like to mix up styles, use unusual flavourings, “turn everything up to eleven” and brew some spectacular beers as a result.

 

Equity for Punks

“Like the beer, own part of the brewery”.

“Drink your beer in your bar”

Selling shares in the company directly to the people who like the beer. OK, they needed the money to grow the business. They could have gone to the bank, but banks need to be paid back with interest, and then want to run your business for you.

So far, at the time of writing, they have raised from both issues £1.7 million. So what do you get for your money. Well admittedly right now a share of the company that is worth only a fraction of what you paid for it. You do how ever get discounts in the online shop, discounts in the bars, when they issue, the shareholder ID card, first dibs on the special beers, and an invitation to the “Soon to be Legendary AGM”. I’ve been to all three AGMs, yes three inside of eight months. The first one was in early December last year, and consisted of a business talk, lunch in Musa, some free beer, a beer and music pairing in the Aberdeen bar, a trip to the brewery with some more free beer, and a party back in the bar at night.

The second AGM was the shareholder brewday in May, when the 60 or so of us who could be there made “Equity For Punks 2011”, tasted loads of free beer, had an update on the business side of things, ate some tasty burgers, put Lost Dog into rum casks, and generally had a good time.

This was followed by a School Dinners themed beer dinner at Musa and some pretty special beers being on in the Aberdeen bar.

The most recent AGM was held in the Edinburgh bar, and was a required formality to do with the existing shareholders agreeing to some legal stuff concerning the new share issue. Again some free beers to taste, and pizza.

At all the shareholder events I do get the impression that James and Martin, genuinely appreciate our investment in Brewdog, and what our money and faith in them has allowed them to achieve.

I have met people with a shared interest in beer and have made new friends by becoming an equity punk, and the web based forum is a great place to ask questions, share information, or just bitch about when things go wrong.

Some have speculated that BrewDog will sell out to a multi-national brewer in the future, and I met a guy in the bar this week, who bought shares across the bar, in the hope of just this happening. I would like to think that there is more chance of Bracken being sold to a Korean butcher, than this ever happening. These guys have worked hard to get where they are, and I don’t think retiring to a Carribean island is on their personal agendas just yet. I hope Brewdog become The Baxters of Speyside of the brewing world. Baxters have rejected somewhere in the region of 200 takeover bids.

Online Shop and Punkdog.com

Admittedly the standard of service from the online shop isn’t what it should be, and with the poor standard of service from Parcelforce only adding to the problems, things need to improve. At the Edinburgh AGM, James apologised for this. Measures are being put into place to improve this, and the online shop is in the process if being outsourced, which should hopefully improve standards.

But hey, when it works the way it is supposed to, it’s a great thing. quality craft beer, delivered right to your door, and not just Brewdog’s own beer either. They also sell some of the bottles they stock in the bars.

Punkdog.com This is a website that allows you to design your own personalised labels for beer bottles, with photographs and text. I’ve used it twice for gifts. It’s easy to use, and comes with a choice of Trashy Blonde, 77 Lager, or Punk IPA in the bottles.

Supermarket listings/Craft Beer in Cans/ Growlers

Unlike Real Ale which is more or less confined to the pub or a beer festival, Brewdog beers can be enjoyed everywhere.

Their beers are available in most supermarkets. Some have accused them of selling out on their “Punk Ethos” because of this. Wake up and smell the hops. They are in the business of brewing and selling beer. They are Capitalists. They are in it to make money and grow the business, and maybe even pay the shareholders a dividend in the future.

Craft beer in a can, or as I like to call them nanokegs. Lighter, cheaper and easier to transport than a bottle. Perfect for festivals and camping trips. They take much less energy to recycle, and the beer tastes just as good.  (I have heard that, there have been some pretty manky cans of Punk on the go and I hope this is just a minor blip.) They also take up less space in your fridge which means it can hold more.

Growlers have been introduced recently. An idea imported from the U.S. Buy a growler, take it to your nearest Brewdog bar and have it filled with the draught beer of your choice to take home and enjoy.

Craft Beer and Food

BrewDog are active in the movement in the UK, to raise the profile of beer and its relationship with food. They have produced a guide to beer and food matching, and have along with many others in the beer world, raised the profile of beer within the restaurant industry.

They hold regular themed beer dinners in Musa Aberdeen, which sell out very quickly. People are interested in drinking good beer, with good food. The vast array of beer styles, mean that there is a beer that goes well with any dish.

I ate in a branch of Byron Hamburger, in London recently. They have Punk IPA, on their drinks menu, along with some other great craft beers, thanks to beer blogger and writer Mark Dredge, who was asked to come up with a choice of beers for them.  The Gaucho restaurant, I ate in, had 3 Meantime beers on the menu and the restaurant in the Tate Modern sells Trashy Blonde as well as a range of Kernel beers.

The Proposed Carbon Neutral Brewery

Let’s face it. Beer is a luxury item. It along with other alcoholic beverages is something we could all survive (unhappily) without. Millions of acres worldwide are planted with crops grown just to feed our love of an alcoholic beverage. This land would probably be better put to use to feed the starving. It’s a compelling argument, and radical vegans will trot out a similar argument, about how wasteful it is to feed grain to livestock to produce meat, eggs and dairy products.  I love beer and I love meat. I’m selfish that way. Such arguments don’t sway me one bit, but despite this I do give a shit about the planet I live on and realise that some things could be done in a better way.

A carbon neutral brewery is an innovative step forward. A brewery that produces all of its own energy. deals with all of its waste onsite and doesn’t pollute the environment, sounds good to me.

Of course this comes with an increased initial cost, but if it’s done right it will work. It will be a showcase for a better way to brew beer, as well as an example of how any manufacturing industry can do things in a better way for the environment.

Beer tourism

BrewDog bars are a destination in themselves. I have met several Danish, Norwegian, and Dutch visitors, who have visited Aberdeen, specifically to visit the Brewdog Bar. A short break, spent drinking quality beers, but with the added economic advantages that come with what they are also spending on hotels, meals, and travel. You could add the Equity Punks, who visit the Aberdeen area for the AGMs, into this category as well. They could just have easily spent the money they pay for travel and accommodation, on a short break to Dublin or Paris.

The visitor facilities proposed for the new brewery site, will be yet another good reason to visit the Aberdeen area.

The Craft Beer Revolution

What is the Craft Beer Revolution? Is it marketing?  I choose to drink better tasting more interesting flavoured beers brewed in a variety of styles.

We are all susceptible to advertising and marketing. Choices we make in our daily lives are constantly being influenced by marketing and advertising in all its forms. It is rammed down our throats we cannot escape from it, it is everywhere.  

BrewDog are just as guilty as any other brewer large or small in using marketing to sell its product. I as a consumer am just as guilty for falling for the hype. I first bought the beers because I saw the name somewhere and wondered what the hype was all about. Turns out I liked them. However they are sometimes just a little bit more clever about how they go about this. Remember no publicity is bad publicity. Whatever you think about the disputes with the Portman Group, the high abv beers, the text on the bottle labels, the taxidermy, their facebook page, multiple twitter accounts, the Brewdog Blog, the hilarious/purile/informative video blogs and the CAMRA baiting it has got the BrewDog name out there.

They are prodigious users of social networking to reach their target audience. This also allows interaction and debate.

They have the beer to back it all up as well. Any brewery, which can sell more beer than it can brew, despite contract brewing elsewhere, must be doing something right. 

My only hope is that the negative marketing tactics are consigned to the backseat in the future. They have achieved their aim. It’s time to start concentrating on what is good about Brewdog. I don’t want to hear that Stella is shit, and real ale is boring anymore. Tell us what is great about your beer.

BrewDog have also opened/kicked in the door for other breweries in the UK brewing quality craft keg beers. I recently met James and Andy from the Summer Wine Brewery. They are also brewing some Keg beers with huge amounts of American and New Zealand hops. They have taken their inspiration from Brewdog, just as BrewDog took theirs from the likes of Stone Brewing in America. These guys are just as passionate about great tasting beer as BrewDog are and I’m looking forward to trying their beer.

Brewdog arrived in 2007. In 4 short years what started as two young men, a dog and some big ideas has grown to become Scotland’s largest independent brewery. They are opening successful Craft Beer Bars at a time when the pub industry is suffering unprecedented decline.

They are one of the most exciting and innovative young breweries in the UK today. They brew beer for flavour first and foremost. They have achieved much in a short space of time and have the potential to achieve so much more.

I am proud to be an Equity Punk.

Vive le Revolution."

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Camra's BrewDog GBBF Own Goal?

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I gather from this article that BrewDog are fairly miffed to have had their booking for a bar at the Great British Beer Festival cancelled by Camra despite contracts being signed and  BrewDog paying the final deposit.

It seems, according to BrewDog, that the size of the kegs used by the company were no longer acceptable despite being previously agreed. BrewDog's, James Watt also states that Camra "reneged from our original agreement and insisted we take cask beer".

I'm only going on what James Watt and the BrewDog spin machine are saying but if it is correct, then it seems a very poor show by Camra.

Why enter into a contractual agreement in which both parties are clearly content with what's been decided if you are going to move the goalposts once the ink has dried and the cash has been paid?

I would like to hear what Camra Chair Colin Valentine has to say by way of justification. He was very quick to criticise the 'bloggerati' at the Camra AGM. Will he be as quick to explain, to Camra members like myself, why the organisation has decided to pull the plug on BrewDog?

In my view, this decision, if true, smacks of petty narrow minded beer fundamentalism with Camra more content to score some cheap points against BrewDog rather than honour the terms and conditions of the original contract. BrewDog and Camra have previous and each like nothing better than to rile and rub each other up the wrong way. So, it's not exactly a surprise that this has happened.

However, the manner in which BrewDog describe it as happening, post contract and exchange of deposit, draws me to the conclusion that this is could be an own goal by Camra that will end up hurting the Real Ale organisation more that it will hurt BrewDog.

Perhaps, Camra Chair, Colin Valentine and GBBF organiser, Marc Holmes would like to explain the decision. I'd like to hear Camra's version of events.


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Footnote - Since writing this blog, Marc Holmes, The GBBF organiser for Camra has responded to James Watt's Blogpost on the BrewDog website.
Here's his response -

"James,

The reason Brewdog are not coming is that you didn’t pay the outstanding balance, as per the terms of the contract.

- The contract stated payment for the bar was due by May 27th. Giving you until July was very generous, nearly 7 weeks.

- The ultimatum was Thursday 12pm, you kept arguing and didn't agree until Friday 11am. Too late, we had programme deadlines to meet.

But to answer some of your other points:

- Right from the very start we said your beer must be supplied in large containers. We were happy with 50L kegs (as long as the beer contained live yeast) but you persisted in wanting to use 30L keykegs. Thornbridge did use 9G casks last year but it didn't work - they will be using 18G casks this year. We were looking at ordering in excess of 60 kils (equivalent) of beer, which is just not practical in 30L keykegs.

- You were the one that offered to supply cask beer in 18G casks.

Happy to start talking about GBBF 2012, and feel free to pop in this year to see how it works. I’ll even send you some tickets.

Cheers,
Marc Holmes
GBBF Organiser."

So BrewDog say they paid their final deposit, whereas Camra say that BrewDog didn't pay the outstanding amount and pulled the plug because of this.

Who is telling the truth? You can make up your own mind.

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It's Pure Awesome - IPA at BrewDog

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Say what you want about BrewDog but one thing you can't accuse them of is not knowing how to put on a great night. From beer and food evenings with Masterchef champions through to brilliant beer launches and terrific tap takeovers, you can pretty much guarantee an enjoyable evening that keeps their beer punters very hoppy and very happy at any of their events.


So, on a gloriously hot summer's night, I find myself in the dark and industrial setting of BrewDog's Edinburgh bar with fellow Scottish beer bloggers, Mr Beer Cast and Mr Garvie and twitter beer comrade @AdamSh. We are here, like many others, to get a  taste of some of the extremely hoppy and very tasty IPA's that BrewDog Edinburgh have sourced from far and wide for this IPA evening.


The beer choice was spread over three menus that are available at different times through the evening.  Over 20 IPA's were available from Breweies such as Southern Tier, Stone, Port Brewing, Mikkeller, 8 Wired, Flying Dog, Evil Twin and, of course, BrewDog.

All the beers served were keg, but so what? They were all in tip top condition and tasted on top form. Of the beers that I tried, some were outstanding and deserve special mention.

The Mikkeller Koppi IPA was my stand out beer of the evening. It had a lovely earthy hop taste that gave way to reveal a creamy mouthfeel that coated your tongue in a deliciously roast coffee flavour. I've had it from the bottle before and it was good but from the keg, it was superb.

The Mikkeller 10 IPA was exactly how I remembered it. Fresh, lively and bursting full of juicy citrus hop delights. Port Brewing Co's Hop 15 reminded me of Mikkeller's 10 but had a slightly more tart grapefruit and tangerine notes and a much more pronounced lingering hop bitterness.

Hop 15's lingering bitterness was nothing compared to one of my final beers of the evening - Mikkeller's 1000 IBU IPA Light. I had waited to the last to try this as the chances of being able to taste anything else after this was going to be pretty slim. I was surprised by the first mouthful of this beer. It has an initial gentle toffee and caramel malt flavour to it but this soon withdrew to allow the extreme bitterness to come in and do it's stuff. And boy, does it do it's stuff. It is really bitter. So bitter, in fact, that it felt like my cheeks were being drawn together. The extreme bitterness was what I had expected but nothing on this scale.


All in all, it was a great night and I hope BrewDog repeat the event when they open their new Glasgow Bar at the end of this month.

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BrewDog Neutered By Camra

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I see from their blog, that BrewDog plan to take out a dedicated stall at this year's Campaign for Real Ale's, Great British Beer Festival.

Oh, controversial.


Well, not really. It is probably the worst kept secret in the beer world of late that the enfant terribles of their own 'craft' beer world, BrewDog were eager, some might say desperate, to clinch a deal with Camra to have some sort of presence at the festival.


No doubt, BrewDog will claim their presence as a significant staging post and victory on the road to their self proclaimed 'craft' beer revolution. They will trumpet that it brings closer the day that Camra  accept keg with extraneous CO2.


But, don't believe the hype.


The truth is somewhat different from what BrewDog want you to believe.


A close look at the facts shows that things are not what they seem.


BrewDog will be at the GBBF this August but only after they adhered to certain concrete conditions.


As GBBF organiser Mark Holmes says,


"CAMRA buys the beer from the brewery, CAMRA sells the beer to the public, Brewdog are paying for the privilege of having a dedicated bar.
The beer will be in 50l Keykegs. Unfortunately this will limit the amount we can order so it may run out.
The beer will conform to CAMRA's definition of real ale - unpasteurised, unfiltered and with enough viable yeast to allow secondary fermentation (don't worry, we'll be checking...).
It will be served using compressed air, as James says as per the foreign beers. At no point will the beer come into contact with extraneous CO2.
If James (Watt, BrewDog co-owner) wants to work behind the bar he can, as soon as he joins CAMRA, as per the terms of the contract."


It is also believed that "Brewdog have a paid a non-refundable deposit on a contract that requires them to supply cask conditioned ale".  So, if BrewDog don't come up with the goods, as they have already done by not honouring their order for next week's Scottish Real Ale Festival, Camra will trouser a healthy deposit from those Aberdeenshire Ale Anarchists. Awesome!


But, on a wider reading, both parties are winners in this situation and you can expect Camra and BrewDog to claim such. Camra will say that they have neutered  BrewDog by getting them to supply beer that conforms to Camra's definition of what real ale is. Camra apparatchiks will see BrewDog's compliance as confirmation of their, justifiably, rigid beer stance.


BrewDog will, no doubt, spin this as their storming the Beer Bastille moment and their well oiled media machine will go into overdrive. Their growing band of fan boys and girls will lap this up, screeeech yeeha and give the devil fingers salute. Awesome!


It seems that there is a bit of a symbiotic relationship between both parties, with each mutually benefitting from each others existence, but as this case ably demonstrates, BrewDog needs Camra more than Camra needs BrewDog.



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BrewDog Bottle Out Of Scottish Beer Festival

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Not another beer festival.


My wallet and liver can't take much more.


It's only the start of June, yet it seems that for the past two months it's been beer festival after beer festival.


Not that I'm complaining.


Beer festivals are great. I love them. The perfect storm of great beers and good friends together in one place having a blast is a fine old feeling and we get the chance to do it all again with the Scottish Real Ale Festival (SRAF) which takes place between the 16th and 18th of June at Adam House on Chambers Street in Edinburgh.


It hasn't even started yet but already tongues have been wagging about BrewDog's decison to renege on their beer order for the festival and instead the Fraserburgh upstarts have decided to stage their own 'craft' beer coming together in their Cowgate bar at the same time as the SRAF have their jamboree.


Ho hum. This is disappointing because the word on the street was that BrewDog were planning to use the SRAF to launch their new beer called 'Laughing Stock'. The beer is unique in that it doesn't contain 'fish guts' but instead uses hot air, to add some bitterness and extra carbonation, generated by the bellowing, bilious lungs of the current Camra chairman, Colin Valentine. The beer was to be dispensed from a specially commissioned dark green glass cask.


Instead, BrewDog will be using their alternative event to launch another 'awesome' new beer into the market. It's called 'Cheap Opportunism' which is a dobbel urbock saison DIIPA radler stout, quadruple dry hopped with generous lashings of passion, petulance and posturing. 


It is also believed that 'Jump the Shark', a follow up beer to Sink the Bismarck, will be launched at BrewDog, Edinburgh to coincide with the SRAF event.


The snub by them to the SRAF has led to some people saying that BrewDog should stick their beers up their faux Yank arses, but others point out that they have already done this with their roadkill beer, The End of  History.


Despite BrewDog's 'toys out of the pram' act, the Scottish Real Ale Festival is shaping up to be a great beer event with a lot of excellent beers and breweries showcasing the best of their wares. Included in the line up are breweries such as Tempest, Fyne Ales, Black Isle Brewery, Tryst, Highland and Orkney.


With breweries like those, who needs BrewDog?


See you there.

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What are BrewDog up to?

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Aye, Aye Captain?

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Followers of the twinternet - (see what I did there? It's an amalgam of Twitter and Internet) - will probably be aware of the latest BrewDog video that has been recently posted on their blog.


If you haven't seen the video, it's a little two minute teaser in which the BrewDoggers appeal to us to reject the bland beer mainstream and to accept the diverse and unique. They also give out a link to a website called beerleaks which has a ticking digital clock that counts down to midnight on Sunday.


Seemingly, all will be revealed and explained at that witching hour. Or, possibly not. Many are speculating that the big reveal will consist of a BrewDog expose of the scams and swindles that the major beer multinationals employ to convince the feeble minded to imbibe their beverages.


The more cynical among us see it as no more than another of BrewDog's schemes to gain the maximum amount of  press and media exposure for their brand with the minimum of financial input.  Others, see it as an attempt by those Fraserburgh Upstarts to deflect from the recent criticism that they have had in terms of fulfilling their orders and meeting market demand.


Me?


I've been waiting the best part of three weeks for a box of beers to come from BrewDog in Aberdeen to my door less than 140 miles away in the West of Scotland. If I had known that it was going to take this long, then I would have taken a walk up to Aberdeen, met my order at the brewery and walked back to Glasgow. It would have probably taken less time. It's still not arrived.


Perhaps, if BrewDog spent more time meeting their orders and less time circle jerking with their craft beer fan boys then maybe a lot more punters would be content with the scope and standard of their customer service.


The mainstream expect nothing less.




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Station to Station - A Day in the Life of Edinburgh Beer

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I've had mixed beer fortunes in Edinburgh. In the many times that I've been across in Scotland's capital city, I've enjoyed some cracking pints in some lovely pubs. Alas, I've also witnessed in the last couple of times I've been through a limited range of, mostly Caledonian beers. Admittedly my last visit was a flying one restricted to a couple of pubs and I probably never got a true flavour of the depth and range of the beers available in Edinburgh.


So, with that in mind, I decided to have another trip through and see if I could get a more representative picture of Auld Reekie's beer scene.

The plan was simple. Jump off the train at Haymarket Station and make my way to Waverley Station stopping off at a few pubs en route.  Hopefully, I would be tasting some lovely beers along the way and having a smashing day out in the process.


A short walk from Haymarket takes us to Thomson's. This gorgeous wood panelled pub is dedicated to the style of Glasgow Architect Alexander 'Greek' Thomson and it's gorgeous interior was matched by a superb selection of beers which included Dark Star Hophead, Fyne Ales Jarl, Acorn Barnsley Bitter, Hopback Summer Lightning and Harviestoun's Bitter and Twisted. I rubbed my hands with beery glee when my eyes first caught sight of the beer board.

This was the perfect start to the day and I opted for a pint of the delicious Hophead. This is a beer that I have had many times and it's always delivered and never disappointed. Today was no different. It was a hoprocket of glorious light, floral hoppy thrills that slid down my throat effortlessly.


The initial intention was to just have one in each pub visited and swiftly move on but with a beer board so good, temptation got the better and we decided to stay for another. Fyne Ales Jarl this time and again, the beer was beautifully conditioned and gloriously tasty. I've written a bit about Jarl in previous blogs and, not wanting to labour the point and repeat myself, all I will say is that it is one of the finest session beers available in the UK at the moment.

Next up on our Station to Station walkabout was Cloisters on Brougham St. It had a wide range of Scottish beers available from breweries such as Cairngorm, Highland, Houston, Kelso, Isle of Arran and Edinburgh's own Stewart's Brewing Co. I opted for a beer from the best brewery in Orkney, Swannay's Highland Brewery, the Scapa Special.

The Scapa Special is a golden, amber beer that contains hops from the U.S., Germany, New Zealand and Slovakia as well as Maris Otter Pale malts. It is an easy drinking beer that has some breadiness on the nose and pleasant citrus fruit hoppiness in the mouth and ends with some bitterness in a slightly dry, hoppy finish.


The gorgeous aroma of fresh tartare sauce and just squeezed lemon juice as the people in the table opposite were tucking into their beer battered fish and chips suddenly made us very hungry. We had to have what they were having. So two fish and chips swiftly ordered and promptly despatched into our eager stomachs, we set off into the Edinburgh lunchtime sun to find our third pub. It had been very good so far. Two pubs, three excellent, lovely beers and some gorgeous pub grub.

The Blue Blazer, in the shadow of Edinburgh castle was next to be ticked off our list. It didn't have the most exciting beer selection of the day - Stewart's 80-, Pentland IPA, Houston Killellan, Dark Island and Cairngorm Trade Winds. However, as I was through in Edinburgh, I thought that it would be rude not to have at least one local beer during our visit. I went for the Stewart's Pentland IPA and it was decent enough. It had some hops on the nose and light fruitiness in the taste but I was expecting more hoppiness from an IPA. It was a perfectly drinkable low ABV session beer and given the amount of times it was being ordered, it's clearly very popular.

Onwards and upwards, we left the Blue Blazer and made our way to one of by favourite Edinburgh pubs, The Bow Bar. It is a small, intimate one room pub that has a homely, lived in feel to it. I scanned the beer board and my eyes were immediately drawn to a beer from a brewery that is being talked of in positive tones quite a bit these days. The brewery is Summer Wine Brewery and recently I've been lucky enough to taste some of their excellent beers, most notably their Resistance Mild and Barista Espresso Stout. So when my eyes caught glimpse of the words 'Summer Wine Apache' there was only one beer that I wanted to taste.

I'm glad that I did. It was lovely. It tastes like an All-American hop heavyweight. It is punchy and packed with marvellous melon and grapefruit flavour and a dry finish that doesn't just linger. Instead it loiters with seriously citrussy bitter intent. It is a cracking brew and drinks too easily for a beer with a pugilistic power rating of 5.4% ABV. Another Knock-Out Summer Wine offering.


Seconds Out. Round 5.

Our fifth pub is a new addition to Edinburgh's drinking scene and one that has no doubt been welcomed with baited breath and open arms by some beer drinkers. BrewDog's second pub venture has just opened on Edinburgh's Cowgate and as we sauntered down the hill, I have to admit that I was quite looking forward to it. They have been pushing beer boundaries and people's buttons since they began less than a handful of years ago. More importantly though, they make some excellent beers.


The bar itself has a cold, stark and industrial feel to it. Grey sheet metal, exposed pipes and brick work are the order of the day here and the furniture appear to have been lifted straight from peoples front rooms or, more likely, charity shops. I liked how it looked and felt. It is a good place to have a beer. And of that, there were many.

Beers from here, there and everywhere. Kegs from Denmark, The U.S. Bottles from some of the finest exponents of 'Craft' beer from all over the world, such as, Alesmith, Nogne, Great Divide, Mikkeller, Lost Abbey, The Bruery and Kernel.


They even had U.K. cask on which surprised me. So, that's what I had first. I opted for a Cask Camden Town Pale Ale. It is a lovely refreshing hoppy beer but was served slighty too cold but I put this down to opening week teething problems. It's a forgiveable mistake. I understand that BrewDog intend to carry some UK cask offerings from different breweries in their bars which is a welcome and inclusive step and will give drinkers an opportunity to see which breweries BrewDog consider to be fellow travellers in their 'Craft Beer Revolution'.

The selection and variety available was a beer drinkers dream and now that we had arrived, we felt it would be stupid not to stay and sample some rare beery delights. So we did. Much, much longer than we anticipated or planned. The beers flowed and the tastings grew and we had a great time. It's easy to be distracted by the choice available and I found myself changing my mind constantly about what to have next.


Keg Punk Monk followed the Camden Pale. Punk Monk is BrewDog's Punk IPA using a Belgian yeast and on keg it was sharper and crisper than I remember from the bottle. Next up was a BrewDog newbie called, provisionally, Raspberry Wit which had faint raspberry notes and a weird creamy effervescence. I swithered about what to have next. I had a shortlist of four beers that I wanted but couldn't decide. Mikkeller's 10, Koppi, The American Dream or Nogne's Pale Ale.

I plumped for the Nogne and bought the other three as bottles to take home. The Pale Ale was pleasant enough. Light, balanced with a lovely dry lingering finish.

Having finished the Nogne, we agreed that we probably had had enough and was time to head back home. On the train, I opened up the Mikkeller 10 and was blown away by this beer. Wow. It was fantastic. It contains 10 different hops yet is a beautifully balanced and fruity beverage that felt like a perfect end to a great day out in Edinburgh.


On today's showing, I'd give Edinburgh, like the Mikkeller, 10 out of 10.



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With Friends Like These.......

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The budget has come and gone and, as expected, it's left the brewing industry counting the cost of further punitive rises in the price of making and buying a pint. No change from the Chancellor on the previous Labour policy but it does leave an increase of 7.2% more in beer duty following Osborne's budget which retained the beer tax escalator.


You would expect condemnation from all sections of the brewing industry. And there has been. The Society of Independent Brewers, SIBA has called it "a real kick in the teeth to the local brewing sector". The British Beer and Pub Association called it a "hammer blow to pubs and clubs" which "hampers growth". CAMRA called it "incredible" that British Beer drinkers have to "endure the second highest rate of beer tax in Europe".


However,  some people in the brewing industry came out in support of the retention of the tax escalator.  Brewdog's James Watt said, "At BrewDog we wholeheartedly back the rise in the duty on beer," Watt went on "The faceless, monolithic corporations who cowardly discount their supposedly ‘premium’ industrially brewed lagers are slowly suffocating the UK beer industry. The increase in duty can only make it less profitable for them to sell their beers at completely irresponsible prices and decrease the huge impact this has on society as a whole. As part of a society and a community they have a responsibility to people, which they have been ignoring for far too long in the name of profits and corporate greed."


"Yes, the increase in duty will make beer, including BrewDog products, more expensive, but we feel this will help craft beer continue to carve a more significant position in the industry. If someone has to pay slightly more for their beer, they expect more from it – any industrial, chemical ridden, insipid mass-market lager will only leave them disappointed." Watt said.

BrewDog also feel that the increase in duty will help "catalyse" the "UK craft beer revolution".

Eh? Run that by me again. By making beer more expensive, it will encourage more people to put their hands in their pocket and buy more beer?


Does Watt really think that beer is a product with price elasticity similar to a Giffen Good - a good which people consume more of as the price rises?

What planet is he on?

 Since 2008 the price of beer has increased by more than 30%. The price of a pint has never been higher and people's incomes in these tight fiscal times have never been more stretched. Increasing the price further will surely lead to more people cutting back on their trips to the pub. This has the consequence of more breweries and pubs going to the wall and jobs being lost.


But, hey, as long as it helps the "UK craft beer revolution' and gets BrewDog some newspaper column inches along the way, that's ok then?





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Is this BrewDog's Glasgow Pub?

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The Third BrewDog ?

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Love them or hate them, you have to concede that those Fraserburgh brewing upstarts, BrewDog have been pretty successful at building a brand and a business since their inception less than a handful of years ago. They have achieved infamy, notoriety and critical acclaim in equal measure as they push their craft beer agenda to an increasingly receptive market.


From bottles to cans via some stuffed animals they have embarked upon a journey that has been as enjoyable to watch as it has been to taste. Oh....and along the way they have made some very lovely beers too.


Last autumn they opened their first pub in their home town of Aberdeen and word has it that it has exceeded their wildest expectations in terms of sales and growth. Not ones for letting an opportunity pass them by they decided to open a second BrewDog in Edinburgh which is due to open very soon. Not content with two, it appears that they now have the taste for opening BrewDog bars around the country and speculation is that the next city to get the BrewDog bar treatment is Glasgow.


In my home town of Glasgow, there has been increasing and intensifying speculation over the last few weeks as to the location of their next bar. There is, however, only one name that is being mentioned. That name is The Lock Inn on Argyle St, directly opposite the Kelvingrove Art Galleries and next to Kelvin Hall. It's fairly common knowledge that they looked at other Glasgow pubs in their quest to find a suitable location. Most notably Gazelle on Argyle St (pub tie) and The Rogue (cellar too small) on Old Dumbarton Road.


If the speculation is correct it is, in my opinion, an excellent location for them. It's in the heart of the West End of Glasgow, close to Glasgow University studentland and the surrounding area is filled with a young population with a high disposable income.





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Abstrakt:05 Comp - The winner is......

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.....Mr Will Millinship.


The correct answers to March's beer monkey competition were as follows -


James Watt occupation prior to setting up BrewDog was a trawlerman.

Martin Dickie studied brewing at Heriot Watt Uni.


Thanks to all that entered.

Look out for another beer monkey competition next month.




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Competition Time - Win Some BrewDog Abstrakt 05

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A new month brings a new competition in beer monkey mansions. Each month we put up for grabs some of the nicest, newest beers out there. Last month one lucky person won some utterly gorgeous Fyne Ales Jarl. This month we have something equally as enticing and exciting but even harder to get your hands on - a bottle of BrewDog's latest experiment in ale alchemy. Their latest Abstrakt beer which is a 12.5% Belgian Imperial Stout aged on toasted cocnut and cacao. Only 700 hundred of these were available on BrewDog's online store and they have all sold out.

But......you can still get your hands on a bottle by answering the following BrewDog related questions.



 - What was James Watt's occupation before setting up BrewDog?


- Which University did BrewDog's Martin Dickie study brewing at?



If you think you know both answers, then drop me an email at

thebeermonk3y@gmail.com

Closing date is 7 p.m. this Sunday 6th of March.

The winner will be notified soon after.

Good Luck.



Competition now closed. Thanks to all that entered. Look out for another beer monkey competition next month.





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Single Hop Celebration - BrewDog's IPA is Dead

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One of my  favourite books as a child was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm sure that you are all familiar with it so you don't need me to retell the story to you. I often imagine that BrewDog's brewery resembles the Chocolate Factory with penguin shaped Oompa Loompas running around fulfilling the beer whims and wishes of our very own Willy Wonkas of the 'Craft' beer world, BrewDog's Martin Dickie and Captain James Watt as they create their boundary busting beer equivalents of Whipple Scrumptious Fudge Mallow Delight and other eccentric gems.


Some of their beer creations are almost Wonka-esque in their marriage of weird and exotic tastes and flavours. A quick look at their latest Abstrakt : 05 beer confirms this - It's a Belgian Imperial Stout aged on toasted coconut and cacao. BrewDog are clearly not afraid to take risks when creating new beers and the introduction of their new four pack merely reinforces this philosophy.


The four pack is collectively and provocatively called IPA is Dead and contains beers singled hopped with Citra, Bramlin X, Nelson Sauvin and Sorachi Ace hop varieties.


The concept behind the BrewDog's single hopped beers is simple. Each bottle contains the same malt backbone, the same 75 IBU's and all have 7.5% ABV potency rate. The only difference in the beers occurs during the kettle and dry hopping stages where a different single hop is used for each. The four hops come from different parts of the world with BrewDog's aim being to showcase and show off the flavour, power and aroma of their favourite, different hops.


So, with nothing better to do, Mrs Beer Monkey and myself set about sampling the four different beers over the space of an evening to discover whether any, some or all of the single hopped beers led to us experiencing the '100% hop awesomeness' that BrewDog claims on the bottles.


First out of the bottle was -


Bramling X - This smelled really lovely when I popped the cap off. It had a delightful layered complex nose that gave off an unctious sweet aroma of tinned pineapple and blackcurrant Tunes that lightly dissipated to reveal  barley sugar and candy floss. It's taste was just as nice. It had more pineapple and barley sugar that was balanced superbly well with the strong malt alcohol bite that nicely toasted the throat on the way down. It had a burp inducing lively carbonation not seen since Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe's visit to the Bubble Room to sample some of Wonka's Fizzy Lifting Drinks. It also had a nice lingering bitter finish. This beer is an extremely drinkable and enjoyable beer. So much so that Mrs Monkey proclaimed that it was the 'nicest BrewDog beer that she has ever tasted'.

Next up was -

Nelson Sauvin - This was another nice beer but the Bramling X edged it for drinkability and balanced flavour. The Nelson Sauvin smelled and tasted of candied grapefruit, mango with shards of sharp grapefruit bitterness. There was also some Kiwi fruit and more citrus bitterness that masked any semblance of a boozy, alcohol bite. It was an initial full on hop assault on my tongue and tastebuds that diminished gradually to leave a lovely lingering bitter tingle.


Sorachi Ace - A strange one this and quite beguiling.  Both of us didn't particularly enjoy our initial glugs of this beer. It smelled and tasted strange. It was a mixture of floral, caramel and wet grass with a tinge of musky mildew. Perhaps it was a little bit too fresh but five minutes after it had been poured, it had transformed itself into a rather nice beer. The initial strangeness had gone and in it's place was a delightfully subtle and very lovely blackcurrent jam flavour that gently filled my mouth that gave way to a soft, unobtrusive bitter linger. I still can't work it out.


Citra - And now on to the final beer of the night. This one uses a hop that seems to be the current hop du jour - Citra. It has been used by quite a few breweries recently and there are some fine examples of the style out there, most notably Fyne Ales' Jarl and Oakham's Citra. So how did the BrewDog Citra shape up? It had a punchy citrus nose full of ripe mango and pineapple with fresh, resinous hops pretty much apparent from the off. More pineapple in the mouth accompanied by some chewy fruit salad and a pleasant balance of sweet malt and some hop bitterness. The flavour  reminded me of some Nelson Sauvin beers. I was expecting more a grapefruit citrus but instead it was totally tropical citrus and pineapple notes. It gave way to some alcohol but not much in the way of a bitter finish.


Which one did we prefer? Both of us agreed that the Bramling X was not only the stand out but also the outstanding beer of the night. That's not to say that the others didn't have their merits. I'm particularly looking forward to trying a bottle of the Sorachi Ace in a few months hence to see if ageing it slighty can buy it the time it needs so it can finally work out what kind of beer it wants to be.


Overall, the four single hopped beers are an interesting and exciting experiment which proves that when it comes to creating tasty and adventurous beers, BrewDog may just be holding the Golden Ticket.




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In Praise of.......Online Beer

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Welcome to the third in an occasional series in which I heap praise, pile on the plaudits and generally blow smoke up the arse of those beers, brewers and beery people who have, in their own way, contributed to and enriched the lives of the many, many drinkers who like a glass of something well made and very refreshing every now and again.


Today, I want to doff my cap and say a big, hearty thanks to those online beer retailers who have made it just that bit easier for the legions of good beer drinkers to get their hairy palms on some of the finest examples of quality, well made beer from not only the UK but also from the other three corners of the globe. I stay in a big city but even then I often find that the supermarkets and beer retailers around my way tend to offer a choice that is resticted, repetitive and often uninspiring.


So, thank heavens for some beer savvy folk who clearly know a cracking beer from a crap one and are committed to sharing their passion and purchases with other beer lovers. Two online retailers deserve special mention for the wide variety and eclectic selection of bottles and cans from some of the world's finest breweries.


My Brewery Tap is a cracking site that allows you to buy difficult and hard to find UK beers directly from the brewery. Their product list contains some of the best regarded and 'cutting edge' UK breweries such as Thornbridge, Oakham, Hardknott, Marble, Crouch Vale and Fyne Ales. They also have a fine selection of international beers from countries such as the USA, Germany and Australia. My Brewery Tap have also just introduced the appropriately titled 'Beer Geek Pick n Mix' that allows you to choose individual bottles from excellent UK and US brewers. Recently listed in the Beer Geek selection include beers from Mallinson's, Rogue, Smuttynose, Stone and Great Divide.


Beer Merchants is another site that has been partly responsible for opening up my beer horizons and my taste buds to some stunning Danish, Belgian and British beers. Their recent choice of  Mikkeller and Kernel offerings has been very exciting and has included a wide selection of Mikkeller and almost all of Kernel's full range including their sublime Black IPA. They have a growing list of lovely American beers too.


I know I said two retailers deserve special mention but I must also squeeze in a thumbs up to Brewdog for making 2011 quite an exciting and interesting time for internet beer buying. As well as their own beer options which, in the past few months, have seen loads of their own new additions and one offs on their site including Alice Porter, IPA is Dead, Punk X, Euro Trash and Canned Punk they have also began listing some of the beers that Brewdog's Captain James Watt and Martin Dickie personally consider to be some of the finest examples of 'craft' beer available in Europe and the U.S. These include Maui's Big Swell IPA and Coconut Porter as well as beers from The Bruery, Alesmith, De Struisse, Nogne and Port Brewing Co.


So, let's praise and take our hats off to those online beer retailers who have now given us a reason never to visit a pub again.




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