The UK is experiencing a true brewing revolution. The age of the cheap lager is over and the craft beer is taking its deserved place at the top of the pile. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Scotland. Beers ranging from a 4000 year old recipe for heather ale through to a 55% head melter called 'The End of History' make the Scottish craft beer scene one of the most diverse in the world. Breweries such as Williams Brothers, Innis and Gunn and the Orkney Brewery are showing what Scotland is capable of. However, one brewery in particular stands out as a true pioneer. Brewdog.
The wee brewery up in Fraserburgh has made a huge impact on the craft beer scene since it was opened for business in 2007. It has shocked the brewing world on more than one occasion, brewing progressively stronger beers, culminating in the astonishing 55%abv 'End of History'. The brand's provocative marketing strategies and 'punk' image almost clash with the amount of care and attention that has clearly been put into the making of their beers. Their flagship brand, 'Punk IPA' is a brilliantly hoppy pale ale. Drinking it could be described as being like biting into a ripe grapefruit.
Despite the rough image and extreme beers, the market for Brewdog beers isn't exactly niche. Brewdog is now Scotland's largest independent brewery, and bottles of Punk, along with more of their brands, can be seen on supermarket shelves right across the UK. This is a further sign that the general drinking public are now looking past the cheap lagers and generic mainstream beers and are looking for something different and new, which is something Brewdog can definitely offer.
Outside of the brands seen in supermarkets, there is a huge array of speciality beers. As mentioned, the brewery were involved in a 'beer war' with a German brewery, resulting in the two breweries competing for the title of the World's strongest beer. The beers which were produced were a freeze distilled stout, 'Tactical Nuclear Penguin' (32%), a quadrupel IPA named 'Sink the Bismark' (41%) and 'End of History', which also broke the record for the world's most expensive beer, retailing at £500/£700 depending on which bottle you wanted (the choices being a stoat or a grey squirrel). The beer which kicked it off, an 18.2% imperial stout called Tokyo* is probably more within the price range of an everyday drinker. Also notable is the brewery's experimental 'Abstrakt' series, as well as a number of collaborations with other breweries.
James Watt, one of the two founders, clearly has a great business head on his shoulders, and knows that any publicity is good publicity, and their attention grabbing stunts, such as the arrival of a tank at the opening of the new Brewdog bar in Camden, goes to prove that they'll do anything to get a headline. Brewdogs image may be seen as a bit of a marketing gimmick, designed to catch the attention of a new generation of drinkers, but nonetheless, the brewery produces some damn good beer. I look forward to seeing what Bracken and the boys are going to bring us in 2012!
P.S- A Brewdog Bar on the Emerald Isle wouldn't go amiss ;-)
Cheers
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