Brewdog Beer School

[fbsf]

I had one of those groupons for the beer tasting at Brewdog (or as BD prefer to call it, Beer School), so a colleague and I trotted along to the Bristol BD last night to redeem our voucher, which cost us £19 for the both of us. I think general prices are about £20 a head.

We were met by Tom, a fellow with a noteworthy handlebar moustache, and taken to one of their little booth seats, where Tom introduced himself and the early history of BD. Then we started on the beers, with all of them being served in 1/3pt measures. We tasted 5 beers (although we did buy a half of jackhammer afterwards, a really bitter hop monster).

Punk IPA - 5ish% pale hoppy IPA
5AM Saint - 5ish% hoppy amber ale
International Arms Race - 7ish%Zero IBU amber ale
Hardcore IPA - 9ish% hop monster IIPA
Cocoa Psycho - 9ish% stout with real coffee and cocoa nibs

Each of them was explained along the way with great enthusiasm and knowledge from our sommelier Tom, and half way through we had a cured meat and cheese platter again with tasting tips from Tom. There was also a little chat along the way about the controversy that BD seem to court, but after mentioning the hyperbole in their advertising, was assured that it was being toned down in future to allow the beer to do the talking more.

At the end of it, we were also given a 5 BrewBuck voucher (worth £5 in the bar) for our next visit, so all that for £4.50 a head - in total it lasted around 2 hours and was a very enjoyable evening. My head this morning is a little fuzzy, however...

 

[Will12283]

I will have to keep an eye out for that, sounds well worth a visit (and the hangover).

 

[fbsf]

I'd recommend it - I can certainly think of worse ways of spending 2hrs!

I reckon at standard bar prices you are probably looking at around £12ish worth of beer included so even at the full price the session is still very good value given you get the knowledge from the sommelier, the £5 voucher and the meat/cheese tasting platter too.

The groupon (if it comes up again) however, is an absolute bargain.

The only word of warning I would give is that if you are a staunch CAMRA supporter, I would probably do a little reading around first - CAMRA and BD haven't had the most amicable relationship in recent times, and this will probably be mentioned during the talks.

 

[Loetz]

There was also a little chat along the way about the controversy that BD seem to court, but after mentioning the hyperbole in their advertising, was assured that it was being toned down in future to allow the beer to do the talking more.

What is the problem with their advertising? I suppose I've never really liked the design of their labels. It seems a little forced and 'extreme'. Gives me a headache just looking at it.

 

[alanywiseman.]

What did you think of the International Arms Race?

I had a bottle of it the other week and thought it was more like a alcholic lemonade/Root beer. It was a bit weird but still nice. I much prefered the Flying Dog one, It is more citrusy and is more like a beer and not an alcoholic soft drink.

 

[fbsf]

What is the problem with their advertising? I suppose I've never really liked the design of their labels. It seems a little forced and 'extreme'. Gives me a headache just looking at it.

It's the relentless counter-culture f***-the-establishment stuff which I think is all a bit unnecessary for beer that is so good it will pretty much sell itself by word of mouth. For instance, I don't really want to have to hide my bottles of 5AM Saint away from my daughter because it says "drive like a bas***d towards the saintly light" on the side of the bottle.

What did you think of the International Arms Race?
I had a bottle of it the other week and thought it was more like a alcholic lemonade/Root beer. It was a bit weird but still nice. I much prefered the Flying Dog one, It is more citrusy and is more like a beer and not an alcoholic soft drink.

I have to admit that I wasn't that taken with IAR. I like hops, which is why I like BD beers. Without them it was just too sweet for my palate - it was ok and interesting on the first taste, but I was struggling to finish the 1/3pt without having a cheeky sip of the Hardcore inbetween to refresh my palate which felt cheated! I haven't had a chance to compare the Flying Dog one yet...

 

[Swift Pint]

I can highly recommend these beer evenings at Brewdog too. I went to one in Camden in December.
Some good beers, some interesting info and some nice cheese and meat too.

I only had a few criticisms, the guy doing our talk was a definitely down the F the establishment stuff, and when talking about using loads of American hops referred to English hops as tasting like trousers....

I like hoppy beers, but I found the first 4 beers to all be too similar, just variations of strength & colour, I'd have preferred a few more stouts in the mix, but I guess thats personal preference.

Definitely worth it. :thumb:

 

[Loetz]

It's the relentless counter-culture f***-the-establishment stuff which I think is all a bit unnecessary for beer that is so good it will pretty much sell itself by word of mouth. For instance, I don't really want to have to hide my bottles of 5AM Saint away from my daughter because it says "drive like a bas***d towards the saintly light" on the side of the bottle.

I don't have a kid at home to worry about, but I do still feel silly drinking the stuff in a bar. Last spring I rode my bike over to Bratislava and had a few BD in a bar there, and some people there acted like I was strange for wanting the stuff. The beer is good, but I don't want people around me thinking that I think I'm a "bad ass" for drinking it.

Are they doing television or magazine adverts too, or were you just talking about the general packaging?

when talking about using loads of American hops referred to English hops as tasting like trousers....

This is just ignorant.

I'm remembering now the first time I heard about BD. A nonbeerdrinking friend of mine linked me to their webpage and asked me if that was the kind of stuff I like. I remember looking at the page and thinking that it was probably one of those breweries that is all marketing hype and no substance. It seemed like a kind of a knock-off of Flying Dog Brewery and Dogfish Head. Of course I know now that they have good beer, but it was just a bad first impression.

 

[Loetz]

I'm sitting here thinking about the types of labels that I like and don't like and don't like and there was one idea that still has me laughing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc0sJHiCROE

One time an English fashion designer flew out to America and did a documentary about trying to establish himself there. In one part of the doc, he goes to Miller Brewing and suggests that they start making their beer labels out of leather. It had me laughing every time he tried to pitch his idea to some exec from the brewery. "Leather!", "......what?" :wha: You could see the executives trying to come up with something productive to say, but they never could find a way to take his idea and work with it.

 

[BIGJIM72]

Will have to look out for the groupon deal.

Still a bit on the fence with BD. Visited the Shoreditch branch a couple of times. Do they have a bad attitude? When you look at the John Smith Smooth debacle-no not really. Publicity wise,not really seen enough to comment. Tried the Punk,5am,Hardcore,Nuns with Guns & Tokyo. Liked them all-but the Tokyo was too much (very sweet).Just because you can do something it doesn't always mean you should is the thought I am left with.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

I would love to try BD beers, but because of their marketing "ploy"....ie "We dont care if you dont like our beers" etc etc etc, I wont buy any. Maybe its my loss, maybe not.

 

[fbsf]

If you like very hoppy (Nb: not necessarily bitter) beers, then they are definitely worth getting past the hyperbole to try.

Supermarkets have them at reasonable prices - my local sainsburys has Punk IPA, 5AM Saint and Dead Pony Club for £1.60 a bottle. My local Tesco has Alice Porter for £2 a bottle, but I'm not so fussed on that one - it just doesn't have that "wow" factor you get from the other BD beers.

Just don't read the guff on the label first... :lol:

 

[mojonojo]

I wonder whether they give the secret away for that 1972 ford capri ashtray aftertaste present in so many of their beers?

 

[The Goatreich]

I've heard that the aftertaste started to appear when they changed their yeast.

 

[fbsf]

I wonder whether they give the secret away for that 1972 ford capri ashtray aftertaste present in so many of their beers?

Not a fan then mojonjo?

 

[wilsoa1111]

to be fair as a young student, their marketing (well some of it, the rest is just for a laugh i reckon) does reasonate with me and works when i was getting into ale- at least the stuff about watery flavourless lager and the like. and nothin wrong with looking like a badass :lol: tbh though u generally come off looking like a posh git in some pubs- "oh the expensive microbrewed beer with the silly label, eh"

do wish they would play with some english hops with a proper malty core for a change-or is that too anti brewdog

 

[fbsf]

I don't think that's their thing really - they are of the belief that there are enough "real ales" out there, and they are about something different.

Personally, I've got room in my life for both - I love real ales for that "fireside" feeling, but also love the mentally-citrussy-hoppy ones too.

My last two brews were Cascade-centric (4.5% SMaSH and 9.3% IIPA), and my next two are going to be milds (one at 3.5%ish and a Sarah Hughes type at nearer 6%)...

 

[Brewtrog]

I got something similar last year for free, BD were having a taster evening at the York Tap, it was amazing, something like half pints of 5am, one of their blonde beers, the pale stout abstract, a couple of others I can't remember, a quater pint of Paradox Jura (mind blowing) and a full measure of TNP all for free, along with a short talk. Needless to say we were all happy

 

[Darcey]

What ever you think of brewdog they do make some very nice beers. There will always be talk (as with any brewery) of its not the same Punk IPA as back in 'day. But they are great most of the time. I would like to see how this idea of 'letting the beer speak for itself' actually pans out. Most of the UK micros started making great beer first with out the advertising and subterfuge brewdog used as a start point and its these smaller concerns that will benefit from the new wave of beer drinkers furthering their experience.

I think brewerys up and down the country should be thankful of the exposure they provide to their brewerys after people start looking around. They run the risk of being a BRAND, which they are against . However pissing off CAMRA and making good beer at the same time should be commended.

There are alot of micobrewerys now, run by people that make good beer, there are however alot of micro brewerys that make 'ok' beer, I think schooling people in beer is an excellent idea but dont belive everything big brother is telling you. The uk was making really GREAT beer before brewdog and Ireland was making really great keg beer before Brewdogs finished high school. Lets face it, its beer not exactly a new product.

I can rant and rave.. but I'll still buy a Punk IPA (at tescos )

D

 

[Good Ed]

well said darce +1