Increasingly, their beers seem designed to court controversy rather than appeal to customers but I still have a sneaking admiration for the mavericks at Brewdog. The Scottish company makes some cracking beers that are a world away from the comparatively tasteless brews of the big boys. Finding a forgotten bottle of their Punk IPA lurking at the back of the fridge is usually enough to brighten my day.
Recently, the small but growing independent brewers kicked up a storm when they launched their Tokyo beer, a feisty little number that was 18.2% alcohol by volume. Health watchdogs sprang into action and accused the brewery of being the bottle-waving barbarians at the gates who were threatening to tear down civilisation with their super-strength beers.
What the watchdogs overlooked was that at £9.99 for a 330ml bottle Tokyo was unlikely to replace cheap, industrial strength cider at £3.99 for 2 litres in the affections of the park bench boozer.
Brewdog have responded to the furore by releasing a product called the Nanny State. With an ABV of 1.1% it is so low in alcohol that it is below the legal classification of beer.
BrewDog founder James Watt commented: “Anyone who knows BrewDog, knows beer, or anyone has more common sense than a common (or garden) gnome will know that the scathing and unrelenting criticism we faced was pretty unjustified.
“If logic serves, the same people who witch-hunted and publicly slated us should now offer us heartfelt support and public congratulations. However I fear that this, unfortunately, is an arena devoid of logic and reason.”
Expect this one to run and run.