Don't Can That Idea!

So Brewdog will be canning Punk IPA from March next year. About time too, of all the breweries in Britain, they are probably the one that has enough of a following to be able to carry it off and their own unique style of branding works very well too!

Great Idea!

My last post was on 21st Amendment's Canned Back to Black IPA which also has very distinctive branding on the can so it 'can' be done well but I think that breweries will have to come up with a hip and trendy can to make it appealing rather than old hat or passe. Obviously the beer has to be good too otherwise you might as well be canning tramp juice!

Looking forward to it.

Other breweries that might benefit from canning their range? Otley? How about Harviestoun, Marble or Thornbridge?

Who do you think would be able to pull it off?

X-Factor For Punks

Louis Walsh was heard saying this week "Brewdog you remind me of a small Marstons".

Brewdog are coming to The Rake this Thursday to showcase a new version of the Punk IPA. Known only as Agent X  sorry...Punk X.

So nice they put kisses on front.

There will also be the old version of Punk IPA so that you can compare the two. Magic Dog will be keeping score and generally making the place look untidy(old habits die hard) and YOU can help decide whether or not Brewdog make the new Punk X version, the 2011 version of the beer.

It's X-Factor, you decide! Calls from mobiles may be considerably more expensive!

For more details you can go to the Brewdog Website.

100th Post

My one hundreth post, so I thought I'd do a piece on IPA's.
I bottled some Motley Brew and brought it home yesterday, possibly the last time (this year) that i'll drink it. I say this year because I am delighted to say that Nick and his team at Otley Brewing decided to make it a permanent on their seasonal range, albeit with the slightly lower abv of 5.5%.
I bought a couple of bottles of Punk IPA from Sainsbury's on Sunday because Lucille and I had a couple of friends round for lunch and it was possibly the most inspiring choice in their beer range.
So why not compare the two? They are two of my favourite breweries after all and they are very similar beers too.
First of all Motley : it's now 5.5% abv but you wouldn't guess it, it does taste more like 6-6.5%. It was bottled by hand from the tap yesterday into a flip-top bottle to try and keep it as fresh as possible but it was still lacking in condition. The tasting notes are pretty much the same as they were in December when we launched it at The Rake, I wrote about the beer here, the only difference being the abv which I now believe makes it an IPA not a double IPA. There's less of the instant floral hit of the pacific gem hops but it's still there, there's slightly less of the Chinook hops that bittered it up but they're still there, it's the same beer made from the same recipe and it's still a fantastic beer in my lowly opinion.
The Punk IPA : It's 6% abv, it's a bottle and the carbonation really helps bring out the flavour, there's a bitterness that's unmistakeably Brewdog. Now I don't want to talk about this beer without first telling you about the Keg we had at The Rake recently, it's actually convinced me that Brewdog have changed the hops that they used in the brew, is this true? well only Brewdog can say I guess, but my taste buds were given a tropical treat that took me far away to an island where I could have laid in the sun sipping it all day long. There was pineapple and lychees coming through and it was immensely drinkable.
Back to the bottle, it's slightly harder work to drink because there's that Brewdog bitterness back again that ruthlessly attacks the taste buds, it's an agressive beer, it says so on the label, it must be true then!
Which is better? well, you know that's completely subjective and you good folks can make up your own minds.

Brewdog Week

I've been working on my day off today, promoting the Lovebeer@Borough Brewdog tastings next Saturday and Brewdog Week at The Rake afterwards.
As far as the Lovebeer tastings go the following beers will be on show...

77 Lager
5am Saint
Punk IPA
Bashah
Paradox, Isle of Arran
Zephyr
Shark Beer, special 50 bottle release Christmas beer! aged for two years
Surprise special beer, and, no I haven't even been told about this one.

The 3pm tasting is sold out, the 1pm still has some tickets left and we may have to put in an extra tasting if demand is high enough!

We're also going to be going Brewdog Casks, Kegs & Bottles at The Rake the following week although there will be less 10% stuff on cask this time.
I personally have been waiting for this since last year when we did the first Brewdog Lovebeer tastings and Brewdog week at The Rake. I have a lot of time for these guys and applaud the innovation and daring that Martin Dickie and James Watt bring to the British brewing scene.
So, if you want to come along to The Rake between the 21st and 27th November to drink some Brewdog beer, then be my guest, literally!
Hope to see you there.