Tokyo*, Tactical Nuclear Penguin and other strong beers

[Mark C]

Their Glasgow pub is opening later this year. I will be sure to visit. I do like the majority of their standard beers so ner ner nerner ner to the lot of you.

Their marketing tactics clearly work as you all get so worked up about them. I find it hilarious that people talk about their bad influence and neds. That particular area of society will not have even heard of them.

[Nick Brown]

In amongst the hype, Brewdog have actually done something quite remarkable - obtained mainstream sales for very hoppy beers. Having grown up in Kent, I am quite fond of hoppy beers and it's nice to see hops starting to get a profile. Their core range, especially Punk IPA and Trashy Blonde are really rather good. The novelty beers were only ever supposed to be jokes.

[Iain M]

Their Glasgow pub is opening later this year. I will be sure to visit. I do like the majority of their standard beers so ner ner nerner ner to the lot of you.

Their marketing tactics clearly work as you all get so worked up about them. I find it hilarious that people talk about their bad influence and neds. That particular area of society will not have even heard of them.

Ha Mark, I agree their marketting has done wonders - I just remember 6 beers that I tried which were the first ones that had done, all 6 were horrific ever since I have had a similiar opinion trying them every now and again , I just don't see the fascination with beers which at best are 'reasonable'.

The Brewdog bar which I am only going to visit with the intention of buying a heineken or perhaps tennents seems averagely priced on their cask beers. Bottle beers are expensive.

Brooklyn Choco Stout at £8 when we have Brauhaus (another reason i'm against brewdog - the 'brauhaus incident') which is a specialist bottled beer bar, if you haven't been it is WELL WORTH it, sell Brooklyn Choco at £3.90. So you can see which one i'll be going to.

PS Highly recommend Brauhaus if you haven't been before in Edinburgh. Small, busy little bar but awesome!

[The Craw]

Some interesting coverage in the press today:
http://www.scotsman.com/features/Interv ... 6811458.jp

I see (from the comments below the article) that they have fallen out with CAMRA, bad boys indeed:
http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/cam ... s-gbbf-bar

Also they raise interesting thoughts on craft beer versus real ale, which having read I tend to agree with:
http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/cra ... v-real-ale

I've been critical of these guys before, especially of their ridiculously high ABV releases and using dead animals such as squirrels as packaging, but you have to admire their tenacity. I continue to be a fan of both their Trashy Blonde and Punk IPA, and having recently sampled their 5am Saint and 77 Lager at a Taste of Edinburgh event I think their core expressions are coming along well.

Must pop into their bar in the Cowgate sometime and see what it's all about.

[Iain M]

Classic James Watt , watt an ass!

[C57]

I agree with some of that blog, but not a lot. Serve it cold? No thanks.
Full of artificially added gas that bloats you up? No thanks

And what's wrong with Tim Taylor's Landlord? Nothing for me.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

I spend eleven months of the year

a) drinking heavily-hopped, carbonated American craft beers, which I love, and

b) dreaming about getting back to the UK and drinking cask ales like Landlord and Deuchar's.

CAMRA saved an indigenous, distinctly British product. If Brewdog wants to do something else, that is of course their right. But it would be tragic for the British beer scene to be Americanized, and it's hard to escape the notion that that's what Brewdog wants to do.

Now excuse me...I'm in the midst of simultaneously planning trips to Portland and Seattle (next week), and the UK (September/October). Holy moley, I need a pint of something.

[Lionsmane]

And what's wrong with Tim Taylor's Landlord? Nothing for me.

Seeings as it is technically my home pint, I have a very soft spot for Timothy Taylor, although I don't think Landlord is their best pint. But for some reason best known to themselves they don't bottle the rest of them!

I do enjoy the controversy BrewDog cause, it's quite amusing watching how some people get very wound up by the strong beers. But realistically, as others have pointed out, your average Ned can't afford £55 for a bottle of STB. From my experience selling the stuff, only the really dedicated fans buy the high end BrewDogs anyway.

I actually made a very good Christmas cake using Tokyo*.... Which was devoured by my whole family, especially by my beer hating Mother. It tastes strangely sweet, lots of cranberries. Reminded me very much of the Nigerian Guinness I sell at work. Nice enough but I'm not sure you would want to drink a lot of it. Especially at 18%!

As for TNP and STB, you can buy them by the nip in the BD pubs. They're not cheap at around £5 a go but worth it for the experience. IMO I would rather use the money for a nice whisky, I would definitely rather be having a tasty Lagavulin than TNP / STB which I thought tasted like wet leaves....

[Nick Brown]

But realistically, as others have pointed out, your average Ned can't afford £55 for a bottle of STB. From my experience selling the stuff, only the really dedicated fans buy the high end BrewDogs anyway.

My experience was that Neds had quite a lot of disposable income - more than many people with families. If they wanted to they could buy these beers but fortunately they don't want to.