I'm writing this on the train returning from a really enjoyable weekend in Scotland. Chris Mair
BrewDogs Scottish sales manager invited me up for the weekend a few months ago, and I'd been looking forward to the trip ever since. Friday afternoon was spent on the train travelling up the stunningly beautiful east coast line. I arranged to meet Chris in the Halfway House pub near the station, where I tucked into my first
BrewDog beer of the weekend, a pint of their 3.2% mild, "Edge". I really like Edge it has lots of flavour for such a low
ABV, a really enjoyably,
chocolaty,
hoppy pint and with that relatively guilt free 3.2% alcohol. It would have been rude not have another.
Chris picked me up and we called into a few of the bars/restaurants which take
BrewDogs kegs in central Edinburgh, to drop off beer and leaflets. We then headed to Cloisters to meet Craig a seasoned ticker and Rate Beer addict who'd very kindly agreed to bring some special bottles from his collection I was keen to try. After a quick pint we all headed back to Chris's to get stuck in to the beers Craig had brought along, and the rest of the evening was spent enjoying the beers immersed in conversation, beer predictably often the topic.
I woke up on Saturday feeling remarkably good considering the strength of many of the beers we were drinking. The fact there were three of us sharing no doubt saving me from the nasty hangover I'd been expecting. Chris had asked if I fancied visiting
BrewDog's new bar in Edinburgh when inviting me up and obviously I'd agreed immediately. I wholeheartedly admit to being a bit of a fan-boy where
BrewDog are concerned, while I can see why they rub many in the beer industry up the wrong way, I've got nothing but admiration for what they've achieved in the last few years. I think they've introduced a whole new generation to the idea of flavourful beer and I think they're a breath of fresh air in what can be a fairly traditional and in some respects complacent industry.
After a two and a half hour journey we arrived into Aberdeen and a 10 minute walk from the Station saw us arrive at the bar for an afternoons drinking. It was around 1.30pm and the bar was fairly quiet but soon started to fill up. To ease ourselves in we again went for a half of Edge, this time carbonated and served from a keg line as all the beers in the bar are. This is one area of controversy which has surrounded the bar since it opened before Christmas.
BrewDog decided that they wanted to go completely US style and not serve any cask beer in this or any of their future bars (Ironically when I was in New York recently the craft beer bars all had a cask beer option, although the condition of every single one I tried was poor). Bar
BrewDog simply features 10 plain keg fonts and a blackboard listing the beers that are on. Personally I think this is a bit of a shame as even though their beers are designed from the ground up to be kegged and bottled, many of them are excellent on cask. Punk and 5am particularly on cask are revelatory in their full on hop profile and flavour especially when drunk fresh. The keg Edge we were drinking while still tasty is not as good as the cask version in my opinion.
The fact that there was no cask beer didn't really bother though, as being a fan of US beers I know that keg beer can often be every bit as flavourful as cask. It certainly didn't seem to be bothering the other customers either, with a large cross section of people filling the bar by 3pm. On one side of me a 70+ year old guy was drinking Punk from a stemmed glass while
completing the crossword, while on the other side two young students excitedly eyed up and discussed the blackboard before making their choice. These people, it appeared to me were there to drink tasty beer, regardless of method of dispense.
As the afternoon wore on, we drunk a selection of the beers on offer, but mainly we drunk
BrewDog's new Punk IPA which has been re-designed from a very bitter 6%
grapefruity IPA into a more
sessionable 5.4% aroma packed tropical
hoppy pale ale. This was a pretty brave thing for
BrewDog to do, I love the original Punk and was a bit worried when I heard what they intended to do. The more I drink Punk X though the more I agree with what they've done. The new beer is stunningly good, better than the old Punk, better than 5am and up there with Hardcore as their best core range beer. I personally think its up there with something like Goose Island IPA in terms of its flavour, balance and full on moreish
drinkability.
By 5.30pm it was time for us to head back south, but not without first raiding the fridges for some very hard to get beers which bar
BrewDog is alone in stocking in the UK. The selection of beers on offer is fantastic and the prices weren't too high when you consider many of the beers are that rare they're not available outside the immediate vicinity of the breweries which made them. The return journey to Edinburgh passed quickly as we enjoyed some of the beers we'd bought.
What
BrewDog have created with their first bar, is a beer geeks Mecca. The design, fittings and ambiance was excellent, I had thought the modern industrial factory styling of the bar might feel cold and impersonal but on the contrary this bar at least felt warm, relaxing and fun. Its also very welcoming and not at all snobby. We chatted for a while with Bruce the manager and he said how keen they were to help the customers in their drink decision making and guide them to a beer they'd enjoy. As well as importing the US style craft beer bar they're keen to offer US style customer service which as far as I'm concerned is very welcome. I can't wait for
BrewDog to open more of their bars (the next one is due to open in Edinburgh), if they're as good as this one beer drinkers are in for a treat.
Bar
BrewDog, If you get the chance, go there, it rocks.
