This is our new local bar, no big name brews, no mass produced beer just lots and lots of interesting and unique beers racked for 1 keg at a time and changed frequently. Selling plenty of brewdog despite a premium for importing it so far. It does help a bit that the tax rate on beer means there is not as much difference between the mass produced and the good stuff.

Brewdog products are mostly woeful.

PR Department’s all very modern but it’s just an alternative of that bullshit “Innocent are your friends” approach.

Appeasing their shareholders, amusing the public. Good bit of press, no harm done.

The BrewDog bar in the Cowgate is full of tourist-types and the sort of **** who hangs out in Tatoo parlour reception areas.

Still… They could make better beer.

In other news Aotearoa Ales will be opening for business in Edinburgh in July, i’ll run my first brew then and spend a few months getting the new kit all up to speed before we start selling. Will keep you posted.

If I promised not to get in your way, once you’re settled, could I pop across for a brew day some time? I’ll even help you clean up 🙂

Appeasing their shareholders, amusing the public. Good bit of press, no harm done.

Brewdog does what it does well. It’s given people the image they think they need to drink proper beer. Before brewdog (in Glasgow at least), the general view was that drinking anything other than lager was for old men. Save for a few places (ie the 1% who catered for people who liked good beer), all the popular places sold crap beer. Brewdog became trendy and so attracted people who wouldn’t normally drink anything other than lager and crap beer. It’s a gateway brewery. I’ve got loads of mates who I’ve tried to get into beer for over a decade and who’ve almost vomited when drinking stuff I like. Yet, they forced down their pints in brewdog for long enough to start acquiring a taste for the stuff and are now on to bigger and better things. That’s a great thing IMO.

I’ve never met a Carlsberg drinker who picked up a good IPA for the first time and said “wow! this is incredible!”. They normally screw up their faces and pass it back. Brewdog has made them think they should be drinking it, and keeping hold of them long enough to realise they actually want to drink it. The only way you can do that with the public at large is through great marketing/branding.

The main thing brewdog has done is give proper beer a better image and higher profile. That’s brilliant for everyone in the industry and for beer drinkers.

Appeasing their shareholders,

A brewdog shareholders meeting

http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/meet-the-shareholders-round-2

If their beer was good, the overhyped marketing wouldn’t be needed. You never hear news about the best breweries, they just get on with making good beer and selling it based on its quality.

Brewdog, hypocrites and the the biggest contradiction out there.

mikewsmith – Member

This is our new local bar

I like it, it’s suitably blurry.

FWIW, I don’t really rate any Scotchish beers

This will change your opinion

http://www.tempestbrewco.com/

martinhutch – Member
I’d be more impressed if this kind of ‘underdog with two fingers up’ approach wasn’t part and parcel of the BrewDog marketing strategy.

Well of course it is, but I do have a soft spot for Punk IPA and they do excellent burgers in their Manchester bar.

Mind you, we are spoiled for choice with brilliant beers from countless small breweries these days so I tend not to visit Brewdog much.

Come on now, BrewDog’s beers aren’t all bad. They’re not all good, and some are definitely a case of marketing or ‘cool’ before taste, but they’re mostly responsible for the huge number of bars now selling proper beers and getting real ale into more pubs and away from the old man with a beard and a smelly dog image.

As for Scottish Breweries, there are loads of really good ones.

Tempest (as mentioned above, Brave New World was a stonking beer)
Harviestoun
Williams Bros
Stewart Brewing
St Andrews Brew Co
Fyne Ales

to name just a few.

Yep there is a lot of STW can’t be seen playing with the cool kids sometimes 😉

Here, all this about Scottish Ale and not a hoot on Black Isle.

They had a similar stunt releasing “Breakfast Beer” which sent the press into an OUTRAGE FRENZY.

I love black isle, I do. Nice heavy bottles.

Ooh, and Alchemy. Even though it’s beyond expensive.

peterfile – absolutely, always keen to have people come and help out on brew day. I’m starting small again based on space and time and i want to try a fully automated Arduino based system and possibly some glycol sleeved fermenters.

Oh, and the prices. Jeez, I don’t mind paying for decent beer, but by christ those Brewdog bars are expensive.

Brewdog-pushing up the prices of mass produced ‘craft’ beer in a town near you.

Plus, it seems like they’ll only employ you if you look like a ****, from looking at the Website. Still, the beer’s great though eh?

Bit out of touch with the UK prices but 1.45 a bottle if you buy 12 sounds ok to me
http://www.brewdog.com/product/dead-pony-club
and 1.58 for the punk and 5am
http://www.brewdog.com/product/punk-ipa
I can understand the occasional stuff and the big abv brews costing more.

Anyway the local bar got 3 slabs of Dead Pony in, told me and a mate and then they had 12 cans left 🙂 Was a good weekend.

peterfile – absolutely, always keen to have people come and help out on brew day. I’m starting small again based on space and time and i want to try a fully automated Arduino based system and possibly some glycol sleeved fermenters.

Excellent 🙂

The arduino system sounds great and is right up my street. I’ve just finished a brew fridge and I’m currently looking at putting together a Pi/Arudino pairing for closer control/monitoring of the temps. Would also like something similar for the hot side too!

My fave Scottish brewer

http://www.speyvalleybrewery.co.uk

They remind me of Surly.
Don’t think I’ve ever had a Brewdog!

they’re mostly responsible for the huge number of bars now selling proper beers and getting real ale into more pubs and away from the old man with a beard and a smelly dog image.

That’s a bold claim.

Here, all this about Scottish Ale and not a hoot on Black Isle.

+1 Red Kite, Yellow Hammer and the Blonde are all excellent beers.

Williams Brothers, Altas and Harviestoun make some very good beers too. Not much wrong with Arran Blonde either

My main issue with Brew Dog, other than it being a bit over hopped is 330ml bottles for the same price as everyone else’s 500ml.

For that reason I’m oot