The BeerCast

Reviewing a beer brewed by other beer writers is a new one for us here on the BeerCast – and something of a minefield too. Not that we’re putting ourselves in the category of the three chaps responsible for BrewDog’s Avery Brown Dredge (7.5%) – the multi award-winning trio have the pageviews and Wikio rankings we can only dream of. But the dilemma still stands – love the beer and it sounds suspiciously like the ‘bloggerati* boys club’. Hate it and it’s because we wish it had been us raking out the mash tuns in Fraserburgh instead.

In case their work hasn’t reached you – Zak Avery is the spirited proprietor (and now owner) of Beer Ritz in Leeds, Pete Brown the respected author and 2009 Beer Writer of the Year, and Mark Dredge is the New Media writer of the year 2009 and 2010. Clearly, these guys know what they are doing – and they also know their history. So when BrewDog approached them to make a beer, the style they chose was an Imperial Pilsner – a re-imagining of the classic Czech beer that started so many of us on our beer journeys.

You can debate the merits of selecting the three most affable and engaging beer bloggers of the moment to brew a beer – clearly there’s plenty of free publicity in it for BrewDog. But free publicity is what BrewDog do so well – and any blogger would give their left arm and favourite tasting glass to see their name on a beer label. Not me, I hasten to add. MrB smashed it during one of our podcasts (the glass, not my arm – but that’s another story). A beer like ABD creates a terrific buzz. Bloggers are never shy of a bit of self-promotion, and as the Fraserburgh outfit aren’t either, everybody wins.

Until they get to the beer, that is. It looks lovely, a clear gold with a perfect peaky mid-European head. The aroma is bitingly strong – ABD showcases the Saaz hop, and with 50kg used per brew it strips the nasal passages. There’s some sweet malt in there on the taste, but from start to finish you get sharp, bitter hops. It’s seriously oily at the same time, which combined with the alcohol burn results in something like grain alcohol at times.

Thankfully there’s a fruity edge that helps cushion this, but it’s puckering like lemon juice, packing one hell of an oily punch on the aftertaste – I can see why Glyn at Rabidbarfly christened it SpecialBrewDog. I can understand the reasoning of Zak, Pete and Mark – when let loose in BrewDog’s hop store I’ll bet the sky’s the limit – and I really wanted to like it. I promise this isn’t bloggers’ envy, but for me Avery Brown Dredge – lovely chaps that they are – was too much.

* ™Colin Valentine

Pencil and Spoon (Mark Dredge)
Are you Taking the Pith? (Zak Avery)
Pete Brown’s Blog (Pete Brown)

BrewDog pride themselves on their rock n’roll attitude, but last night their Edinburgh bar really got a blast of energy in the shape of the Californian whirlwind Greg Koch. The co-founder and CEO of Stone Brewing Co was in town as the BrewDog Bar turned over their entire tap lines, for one night only. The bar has been open for almost two months now and as the first big event to take place, it was utterly packed. The queue was four deep at the bar when I got there, partly due to the popularity of the San Diego producer, and partly due to the beer not going on sale until everything was ready.

But after a lengthy wait, what followed was certainly worth it. Greg sprang onto the bar and gave what can only be described as a beery sermon – preaching to the converted maybe, but it was fantastically entertaining. After a fair bit of hallelujah-ing he spun around and proceeded to crowd surf out of the bar to a rapturous reception. Other brewers take note. With that, the drinking started in earnest. But where to go first, with thirteen beers to choose from? How about the highest scoring beer in our history? Stone Ruination IPA is simply fantastic – it dominates the palate, but never oversteps the mark.

Next up, Cali-Belgique IPA – which is essentially Stone IPA with a Belgian strain of yeast. “An identical twin, raised in a Belgian culture” is how they describe it – always interesting to see the effects of tweaking a single component. Surprisingly for a Stone beer, the hops initially take a back seat – flowery Belgian notes come first, before the hops arrive as a bitter finish. After that, something new in the shape of 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA. Made with British hops and Burtonised water, it was quite soft and fruity, before once again the hops arrive on the finish. It got very bitter (and non-British) at this point, once the IBU’s arrived.

By this time, the bar was still buzzing but things had calmed down a notch as people filtered outside with their drinks. After a classic Stone Pale Ale it was on to the spellcheck challenging Lukcy Basartd – a ‘cvueé de Basartd’ – blend of Arrogant Bastard, Double Bastard and Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ales. A limited release, these kind of beers never usually make it to Scotland – great news for the assembled masses. This one was really interesting – a hodgepodge of caramel and toffee, brown sugar and fruit, as the tastes developed grapefruit came out alongside more bitter oaky flavours. Clearly Stone pile the hops into everything, but aside from the bombs like Ruination they can really balance the bitter ones when they want to.

With that in mind, it was on to their mighty Imperial Russian Stout – looking like a glass of crude oil, it had a tremendous dark coffee aroma. Thick and viscous, the strong chocolate and coffee notes really come out on the taste – which is enormously deep and feels like crunching through a mouthful of coffee beans. The final beer of the night was Old Guardian Belgo – another outing for the Belgian yeast strain, this time stirring up their flagship barley wine. As with the Cali, the fruity estery components come first – it smells something like bath soap – with big sweetness on the palate, alongside the expected hop profile to finish.

At that point, it was time to stagger out into the Edinburgh night. Cheers to Greg, and here’s to more tap takeovers in the future…

Stone website

The arrival of tailbacks on the roads and wasps in the parks can mean only one thing – Spring is here. After enduring months of snow, sleet, winds and haar (something we say every year, only this time it actually happened) the weather is taking a turn for the better. Here in Scotland that means average highs in the mid-teens Celsius. So while we all rush to reveal that pale flesh and stick another white pudding on the barbie, beer sales traditionally rocket.

So what to drink? Clearly, avoiding macrolager is the only decent option. But there are so many alternatives out there, it can be something of a muddle. That’s why we’ve compiled another BeerCast guide – to the best of the Spring/Summer seasonals. Just because it’s time to rush to the nearest beer garden/park/roadside verge, doesn’t mean there can’t be a good beer involved somewhere along the line. So put down that oak-aged imperial blackcurrant porter, and pick up a golden session ale. (Whisper it) – it’s not always about the abv…

Cask
If you manage to get yourself into that rarest of things – a sunny Scottish beer garden – then what should you select after wandering, blinking, into the pub (which will still have a roaring open fire)? Light, golden beer has a great tradition north of the border, stretching back to the days of Edinburgh Pale Ale and beyond. There are plenty of modern-day equivalents, such as the peerless Fyne Ales Avalanche. Hoppy, refreshing and unbelievably drinkable – it’s the perfect beer garden pint.

Along the same lines, Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted is another corker – one of only two beers from Scotland to win Champion Beer of Britain. A very rare sighting on cask, but Williams Brothers Ceilidh is tremendous when served this way, the slight spicy edge from the bottle mellowing really well on cask. Other great quenchers include Strathaven Summer Glow, Deeside Nechtan and Stewart Brewing Forth Mist – a really underrated wheat beer.

Bottle
The beauty of bottles is of course the fact that they are portable. Until Scotland truly embraces the canned beer revolution that (if you look very, very hard) is taking place, then the bottle is the best option. Alfresco drinking here usually involves either one of Scotland’s great exports to the world – Irn Bru – or one of the big imports – Buckfast. But if beer is on your wishlist, then dig out that opener and wander along to the nearest green space, with a clinking carrier bag of…

Cairngorm Trade Winds, which has a touch of elderflower to give it that distinctive summery flavour – in my humble opinion it’s one of the few beers that tastes just as good from a bottle as on cask. Inveralmond Ossian is another golden thirstbuster, as is Williams Brothers Harvest Sun. We adore Fyne Ales Jarl here on the BeerCast – but stablemate Hurricane Jack was also bottled for the first time recently, and is just as good. Finally, to rival Trade Winds – what about a bottle of Tryst Blathan? Another zesty elderflower beer that translates as ‘little blossom’ – what could be more Springlike?

Keg
Yikes. Keg beer. Well, the majority are pretty much made for good weather – easy drinking, crisp and refreshing, high carbonation. Obviously we’re not going to recommend drinking Fosters, but if something cold is on your radar then what about the two kings of Scottish kegged lager – Harviestoun Schiehallion and Black Isle Organic Blonde? Either would be much more preferable, surely.

Also on the cooler, fizzier side of things we have Stewart Brewing Edinburgh Gold, which has made recent appearances in the capital on keg. Heading along the M8, WEST Hefeweizen is a clovey, banana delight – particularly when drunk outside the Templeton brewery watching the ‘goings on’ in Glasgow Green. Finally, keg fans would be foaming (artificially) at the mouth if we didn’t mention BrewDog – their re-styled, reduced but much improved Punk IPA would make any sunny afternoon much the better.

So what are your ideal summer thirst quenchers? As we move into Easter long weekends and Royal Wedding holidays, what will you be reaching for? South of the border there are many great golden-esque ales that fit the bill – Pictish Brewer’s Gold, York Guzzler, Thornbridge Kipling, Purity Pure Gold, St Peter’s Golden Ale, Ossett Pale Gold etc etc

So many beers…so little sunshine. Drink up!

Last month Fraserburgh’s BrewDog released a series of four India Pale Ales to showcase the wonderful versatility of hops. Being BrewDog, they called it IPA is Dead, and bottled the four base IPA’s after having kettle and then dry hopped each of them with a single variety. Bramling Cross, Nelson Sauvin, Sorachi Ace and Citra are the hops involved – each added to a beer with the same malt content – and all brewed to 7.5% and 75IBU. We got hold of a pack, and assembled our team to discuss whether this means the end for IPA’s – or just another beginning. On the panel this time are Richard, Shovels, Grooben, and (fast becoming a regular) Stuart. We also added a bonus beer for comparison – another single hopped IPA – Kernel India Pale Ale Citra (7.2%). Stand by for big scores, big discussions, and the best way of cleaning a lion’s cage…

1. IPA is Dead Bramling X (7.5%abv)
BrewDog, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
330ml glass bottle

Hailing from the hop gardens of south-east England, Bramling Cross was developed at Wye College in 1927 by a Professor Salmon. The name comes from the Golding variety Bramling being crossed with a wild Manitoban hop from Canada. Giving strong spicy blackcurrant characters, it has a relatively low alpha acid content at 5-7%, meaning more need to be added to give a bitter effect. Commonly used for cask bitters, BrewDog avoided comparisons with the beer they love to hate by upping the hop load and calling the beer Bramling X.

What They Say…
“Good old Bramling Cross is elegant, refined, assured, (boring) and understated. Understated that is unless you hop the living daylights out of a beer with it. This is Bramling Cross re-invented and re-imagined and shows just what can be done with English hops if you use enough of them.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Grooben – Grapefruity aroma, leafy autumnal undertones 8
Shovels – Quite an earthy hop, good but not blowing me away 7
Richard – Fruity, then more rich berry fruit as it warms 7
Stu – I love the fruitiness and I’d be happy with four of these 7

2. IPA is Dead Nelson Sauvin (7.5%abv)
BrewDog, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
330ml glass bottle

Back in 2000, the New Zealand based Hort Research crossed two older NZ hop varieties at their base in the south island city of Nelson. Such was the grape-like flavour the new hop imparted, they called it Nelson Sauvin. White wine and crisp fruitiness are the order of the day here – BrewDog already use large amounts of Nelson Sauvin making one of their most popular core beers, 5am Saint

What They Say…
“Nelson is a love it or hate it kinda hop. We are cool with that, if we wanted to keep everyone happy we would be brewing Fosters anyway. Sharp as a razor, this New Zealand hop slices its way through your taste buds and is brutally resinous, almost scraping the intense flavours of passion fruit along your poor tongue.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – Don’t get wine from this, but I do get lots of grapefruit 7
Grooben – A bastard lovechild of Trashy Blonde and 5AM Saint 6
Richard – The wineyness gives way to grapefruit, but it then gets too sweet, and grapefruity beers should be bitter 5½
Stu – One or two sips is Ok, but it goes a bit far for me 5

3. IPA is Dead Sorachi Ace (7.5%abv)
BrewDog, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
330ml glass bottle

Sorachi Ace is the wildcard and the joker of the hop pack rolled into one. Developed for Sapporo in Japan, it first came to real prominence elsewhere during the global hop shortage of 2007, when necessity meant other alternatives had to be explored. Why is it unusual? Some of the other UK bloggers who have sampled IPA is Dead have used the following terms to try and sum it up – soap, musky caramel, creamy butter, orange peel, herbal, undrinkable nettle-flavoured cat pee (is there a drinkable nettle cat pee?)…

What They Say…
“A hop that tastes of bubble gum? Seriously? No, we did not believe it either. But it does! This is one unique, son of a bitch of a hop. Lemony, deep, musty with a smoothness which belies its power. This hop is lemony like a lemon who was angry earlier but is now tired because of all the rage.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – Tastes like lemon cheesecake, every sip is nice and then not nice, it’s fascinatingly interesting 8
Grooben – Synthetic, perfumy, with the alcohol coming through 7
Shovels – I’m not sure I like it but I’m not sure I don’t like it 6
Stu – I wouldn’t sit down in front of the telly with it 4

4. IPA is Dead Citra (7.5%abv)
BrewDog, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
330ml glass bottle

Finally Citra – definitely the hop du jour. Only developed three years ago – by the mighty Sierra Nevada (who know a thing or two about hops) – it was first presented at the 2008 World Brewing Congress. RateBeer has 63 beers on its rankings with the word Citra in the title (so that’s not including those that simply have it somewhere in the recipe). It has taken off in a big way – easy to see why with the pure Pacific US flavours, Citra imparts flavours of pretty much every zingy fruit you can think of.

What They Say…
“The Pacific North West of America is home to the Citra hop. America is not just about cheer leaders, a silly version of football, elastic top jeans and cheeseburgers. They grow remarkable hops and Citra is a killer example of this, embodying all that is good about American hops and then some.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Stu – This is absolutely my style of beer, I love it 9
Shovels – Citrusy hops are great because they are so cleansing 8
Grooben – Limey overtones, the most full-on fruity of the four 8
Richard – From start to finish it’s straight up tropical fruit 7½

5. Kernel IPA Citra (7.2%abv)
The Kernel Brewery, Bermondsey, London.
330ml glass bottle

Finally, we put the Kernel cat among the BrewDog pigeons by adding a bonus beer at the last minute. To compare directly with the previous beer, we sample Kernel’s single-hopped Citra IPA and note the differences. Brewing in south London, Evin O’Riordain has come up with some stunning beers over the last year and a half – see our Kernel showcase for a few of them. Will the Citra live up to the others?

What We Say…
Richard – I think that’s the perfect IPA, it’s strong, perfectly balanced, is fantastic and I love it 10
Stu – Some sweetness but this is just that touch more refined 9½
Shovels – Subtlety to it, the hops aren’t that overpowering 8½
Grooben – Not quite the crazy tropical fruit, tastes balanced 8½

Panellists – (clockwise from top left) Richard, Shovels, Stuart, Grooben

BeerCast panel verdict
Kernel IPA Citra (36½/40)
BrewDog IPA is Dead Citra (32½/40)
BrewDog IPA is Dead Bramling X (29/40)
BrewDog IPA is Dead Sorachi Ace (25/40)
BrewDog IPA is Dead Nelson Sauvin (23½/40)

Our next BeerCast podcast is another brewery showcase, as we sample the three beers produced by Warwickshire’s Purity Brewery. Stay tuned for that, and look for Kernel IPA Citra to possibly make a run all the way to our 2011 Beer of the Year show in December.

The latest addition to the growing BrewDog empire arrived quietly last night, with the laid-back opening of BrewDog Edinburgh. Following the original in Aberdeen, the second branded bar for the Fraserburgh operation opened with a very unBrewDog-like ‘soft’ launch – primarily to check everything worked before the official launch in a few days. The BeerCast were there to check it out of course, it being on our home patch – and a quiet Tuesday night turned into a marathon eleven-beer session. It’s what BrewDog would have wanted.

Situated in the rough and tumble Cowgate the first impressions are that it’s smaller than I was expecting – and a good deal colder with the crazy aircon maxed out. It looks a treat with all the exposed pipes and reclaimed brickwork, very much the North American brewpub feel about it. BeerCaster MrB – who has also visited the Aberdeen bar – told me it’s very similar in layout and despite what I was saying, is actually larger than their flagship.

There were a few opening night niggles – the card machines weren’t working, and some of the beers on the menu hadn’t arrived – but everything considered the launch went really smoothly. Speaking of the beer – there’s a lot of choice on offer. Five BrewDog beers on keg font, including the new Punk IPA and the Belgianified Punk Monk – plus three guest imperial stouts (more on them later) and a whole host of bottles.

Laid out behind the bar – which is unadorned by any cask handpumps, of course – a selection of imported brews from the US, Europe and some select British brewers (such as the Kernel, which unfortunately hadn’t arrived as yet). Priced by the bottle – starting at £4 for a 330ml – some of them really weren’t cheap, the larger 22oz American beers will probably (depending on how scarce they are) set you back £8-£12. MrB picked up three beers and it cost him £30.

I don’t think this is a real problem, however – these are all pretty rare beers not available in any other Edinburgh bar. BrewDog pride themselves on being different, and they have achieved this in spades here – so much so that they totally changed the way we drink. Usually in a round, one of the four of us goes to the bar and buys four pints. Last night, we were buying one drink and getting four glasses. It’s like having a tasting session, in a bar.

The beers were awesome – in order, I managed to put away Mikkeller Vesterbo Kaffestout (on keg), Nogne Pale Ale, Nogne Red Horizon, Port Brewing Hop-15, Mikkeller Coffee IPA, Nogne Imperial Brown Ale, Mikkeller Spontankriek, Mikkeller 10, Three Floyds Jinxproof, Alesmith Yulesmith and Cantillon Vignerone. My goodness. I challenge anyone to have a better beer night than that yesterday in Edinburgh. It was like being at Craig Garvie’s house (except without the sci-fi artwork).

The picks of that particular bunch were the pummelling Nogne Red Horizon – a 17% sake-yeast infused monster, Alesmith’s Christmas Double IPA which was magnificently hopped, and pretty much all of the Mikkeller beers (which is why we tried so many). Spontankriek was just fantastic, tongue-curlingly sour, but still so drinkable – and the 10 was like drinking a blend of tuck shop Fruit Salads. And the Cantillon – just lovely.

So our verdict on the new BrewDog bar? They were after somewhere different, not wanting to copy the many great pubs Edinburgh already has. Well, they have certainly achieved it. It’ll get very busy because of size and location, so there won’t ever be a shortage of customers. The bar looks a treat, very much in keeping with the BrewDog ethos. Some will balk at the prices – but this, unfortunately, is the way these beers are going. You can get Punk IPA or 5AM Saint for £3.20 a pint, which is pretty standard these days. However, the bottled selection alone makes it worth the visit.