THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM BREWDOG
OCTOBER 2014
A
s you may well have noticed, our new packaging and tweaked
branding is now trickling through and can be seen right in
front of your very eyes in this issue of Hop Propaganda! Our
new packaging is now making its way onto our Headliners range,
which you can see in the wild, and we’re just giving the Amplified and
Abstrakt packaging a final few tweaks as well! Our website has had a
facelift and Hop Propaganda has been suitably redesigned too.
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Hop Propaganda – October edition : 2014
In line with our new look, we've also been working on rejigging our
beers into more comprehensive and easy-to-navigate families. This
restructure is intended to make it a bit clearer what to expect from our
ranges, which were previously a bit loose and unpredictable. This should
hopefully communicate the intensity of some beers, the idiosyncrasies
of others and the downright craziness of those at the furthest extremes.
HEADLINERS
The Headliners are our permanently available range.
They all sit below 6% ABV, and they're all relatively
accessible (no mental barrel ageing or bizarre
ingredients here), and at the moment these beers
are Punk IPA, Dead Pony Pale Ale, Five AM Red Ale,
This. Is. Lager and Brixton Porter.
AMPLIFIED
As their name suggests, these beers have been turned
up to 11. These are our stronger, more complex
beers. The older, freakier brothers and sisters of the
Headliners, if you will. All sitting over 6% ABV, these
beers are more intense and their depth and strength
is communicated in the design adorning the bottle.
Here you'll find Hardcore IPA, Dogma, Cocoa Psycho,
Tokyo*, Jackhammer and Libertine Black Ale.
THE NEW
WEBSITE
As part of our overall brand
evolution, we have given our website
a bit of a facelift to ensure it sits
in line with our new packaging.
Everything is just where you left
it, we’ve not changed any of the
website structure and you can still
buys loads of awesome, delicious
beer from our online shop, it’s just
a bit of a new lease of life to fit in
with our new letterpress packaging
and our tweaked logo.
SMALL BATCH
The small batch family consists of all our weird,
one-off beers. The creative, boundary-pushing
beers featuring custom label art from equally
as artistic illustrators. This family is also home
to our occasional brews, such as the 0.5% ABV
Nanny State and Electric India.
ABSTRAKT
You didn't think we'd forget about our old friend
Abstrakt did you?! Don't worry, we've not touched
these. They will still be released every 4 months
(ish) and will continue to push expectations of what
beer is and what it can be. We’ll be giving their
packaging a bit of a refresh soon as well.
WE’RE ALSO WORKING ON
A BRAND SPANKING NEW
SITE ALTOGETHER, WHICH
WILL HOPEFULLY LAUNCH
BY EARLY 2015.
www.brewdog.com
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ON THE
HORIZON
BREWDOG
CLAPHAM JUNCTION
LIVERPOOL
Coming October 2014!
Now notching up four bars in the capital...
(and a fifth site confirmed on Essex Road in Islington…more
on that soon…!) BrewDog Clapham Junction takes the same
aesthetic of our other bars, with a typically SW11 edge. There
are plenty of comfy booths, loads of stools and low table seating
areas, and some decking out front that has caused quite the stir
this Summer! Enjoying a few beers from your favourite breweries
in South London has never been so easy.
Food-wise, we’ve tracked down some craft charcuterie so you can
pick and mix some delicious meats and cheeses. Bar food at its
finest. Head down to Clapham Junction and meet James Knox
and his crack team of craft beer connoisseurs!
HELSINKI
It’s a done deal, you can stop
breaking our website with requests
now! Coming October 2014!
11- 13 Battersea Rise,
Battersea, London,
SW11 1HG
MERCHANT CITY
Thirsty? Hungry…?
Coming Spring 2015!
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Hop Propaganda – October : 2014
BREWDOG AND
THE WORLD BEER
THIS WEEK WE GOT
SOME INCREDIBLY
EXCITING NEWS...
We are super psyched to
announce we scored three Golds
and one Silver in the World Beer
Awards 2014! All four beers we
entered won in their categories,
and we’re stoked to get this
kind of recognition for some of
our most popular brews.
THE BEERS THAT WE RECEIVED AWARDS FOR ARE:
COCOA PSYCHO
FIVE AM RED ALE
LIBERTINE BLACK ALE
PUNK IPA
WORLD’S BEST
CHOCOLATE AND
COFFEE BEER 2014
WORLD’S BEST
AMBER ALE 2014
EUROPE’S BEST
BLACK IPA
SILVER EUROPE’S
PALE BEER
The World Beer Awards are one of
the biggest and most influential beer
honours on planet Earth, judged
blind by some of the most trained,
discerning palates in the industry.
Over four gruelling tasting rounds,
submitted beers are judged on a
variety of factors, and the top scorer
in each region and style is crowned
best in that criteria bracket, moving
it onto the next round.
These awards are a credit to our
ongoing commitment to making
awesome beer, packed to the rafters
with flavour, aroma, character and
attitude. We entered these four beers
as they are prime examples of this,
and we're proud of how often we
see them bowl away guests in our
bars. Consistency and quality are
massively important to us, and we
will continue to work our paws off
to create wonderful beer that raises
eyebrows and excites tastebuds.
This is awesome, but we can always
do better. Our focus is on making the
best beer we possibly can, and making
other people as passionate about
craft beer as we are. We’re not going
to stop until we have fundamentally
changed the way beer is perceived.
And then we’ll keep going.
www.brewdog.com
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BEER SHOULD BE
SERVED ICE COLD
The best temperature to serve
a beer depends on the style.
8˚–12˚
BEER IS ALWAYS
BITTER
Sure, some of our favourite beers
are the super hoppy hell raisers
that will rip your tastebuds to
shreds (and you will love it) but
beers such as Lambics, Krieks and
Gueuzes (to name but a few!) are
all sour and fruity, with funky
flavours and aromas and less on
the bitter side of the ball field.
Bitterness can also come from
chocolatey, roasty toasty malty
flavours, as opposed to strictly
hops. Experiment and find what
you like!
BEER SHOULD BE
DRUNK STRAIGHT
FROM THE BOTTLE
To get the most of the
aromas and flavours of your
beer, pour it into a glass.
This gives more opportunity
for you to really smell and
taste your beer. You’ll also
avoid metallic flavours from
where the cap was attached
to the neck of the bottle.
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Hop Propaganda – October edition : 2014
Imperial Stouts & Strong Ales
6˚–8˚
IPA
5˚–7˚
Lager
4˚–6˚
Lambics & Gueuzes
BEER SHOULD
ALWAYS BE
CRYSTAL CLEAR
Plenty of beer styles can be
very clear, but sometimes its
just a sign of harsh, aggressive
filtration, which doesn’t just
strip the beer of haze but
also most of its flavour
(*sad face*). Some beer styles
are intended to be hazy too,
such as a hefeweisse, which
is cloudy thanks to suspended
yeast present in the final brew.
BEER IS BAD
FOR YOU
Well, if you drink excessively,
you may be overdoing it
a little and that might not
work out so well for you, but
research shows that moderate
drinking can actually be
better for you than abstaining
or excessive drinking. It
can prevent weight gain in
women [1], decrease risks of
heart failure [2], diabetes [3],
osteoporosis [4] and a bunch
of other nasty things. This
is the kind of medical science
we can get behind.*
YOU SHOULD
ONLY EVER
DRINK BEER
FRESH
BEER IN CANS IS
BAD BAD BAD
Beer in cans is good good good!
Well, sometimes. Most light
beer should be drunk fresh.
IPAs and super hoppy brews
don’t tend to age well, but
darker, higher ABV beers can
age beautifully and develop
new, interesting and intriguing
flavours! Get experimenting
with ageing!
Keeps out
harmful light,
which “skunks”
beer
BUBBLES ON
THE SIDE OF MY
GLASS ARE A
GOOD THING
Sealed closure
prevents oxygen
damaging beer
Environmentally
friendly
Lightweight
GREEN GLASS
BOTTLES ARE
COOL
This is a sign
of a dirty glass.
If the bubbles are
clinging to the side
of your glass in
clumps, they’re
clinging to bits
that are not clean.
Get the marigolds
out my friend!
They’re about as cool as
Fearne Britton. Green or
clear glass lets harmful UV
rays in, which will affect
your beer and make it taste
skunky. Brown glass is much
better for your beer, and
cans are even better.
CRAFT BEER
IS ALL REALLY
BOOZY
7.2%
10%
18.2%
PUNK IPA
JACK HAMMER
COCOA PSYCHO
TOKYO*
35%
55%
THE END
OF HISTORY
5.6%
WATT DICKIE
3.8%
DEAD PONY CLUB
Check out our ABV range
0.5%
NANNY STATE
There are plenty of low ABV beers from
awesome craft breweries. They span the
full spectrum from alcohol free (like our
Nanny State, which clocks in at 0.5%)
right up to the heady heights of mega
big beers (including our The End of
History, which tipped the scales at 55%).
There’s something for everyone!
www.brewdog.com
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BEADY EYED BEER CONNOISSEURS WILL HAVE
NOTICED A FEW NEW STYLES ON SOME OF
OUR SMALL BATCH BEER LABELS LATELY, SO WE
THOUGHT WE’D GIVE YOU THE SKINNY ON
SOME OF THE INKY CONTRIBUTORS WE’VE HAD
WORKING ON OUR ARTWORK.
Our small batch beers are limited edition, weird
and wonderful beers. Beers that possess a
certain intensity. A strangeness. A bizarre twist
and a beautiful uniqueness. If you’re looking for
a run of the mill IPA, you’ve come to the wrong
party. This is a do for mad hatters and maniacs.
Take, for example, Everyday Anarchy. For this beer,
we needed a design as unhinged and contradictory as
the beer and its very name. An imperial saison aged
in French white wine barrels, it spun a web of strange,
sophisticated alcohol aromas alongside fruity, zippy,
sherry and plum. It was glorious insanity bottled, and
when we saw artist Ben Rider’s back catalogue, we
knew he was the man for the job.
Black Jacques was in some ways
the estranged twin of Everyday
Anarchy. The negative copy of its
brother, this beer is an imperial
black saison aged in red wine
barrels. It’s a twisted, complex,
card-counting fiend. At once
scary and strange, sumptuous
and striking. Serge Seidlitz was
undoubtedly our man here, and
his character portrayal of the
weird, slightly insane creature
that Black Jacques represented
summed up the flavours with
squiggles and lines.
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Hop Propaganda – October edition : 2014
Looking back to early this year,
we launched Dead Metaphor - our
collaborative brew with two of the
country’s best beer bloggers; Rob
from HopZine and Rich from The
Beer Cast. The beer they brewed
with us was a coffee and chocolate
breakfast stout, intended to awaken
the senses and get the literary cogs
whirring. The designer destined
for this was the inimitable Drew
Millward. With sleep-deprived
eyes, a steaming cuppa joe and a
clock fast approaching the dreaded
5pm deadline, the artwork cleverly
encapsulated the caffeine-fuelled,
oaty, deep, dark depths within the
bottle it adorned.
For Russian Doll, we wanted
something that appeared to hail
from a dark spin on a Russian
folk tale. Esther McManus’
evocative take on fairy tales
and folklore encapsulates the
on-edge eeriness of giants,
wolves, gingerbread houses and
splintered dreams.
GOT AN ODDBALL
ILLUSTRATOR YOU
RECKON WE SHOULD TAKE
FOR AFTERNOON TEA?
TWEET US @BREWDOG!
THE BREWDOG
PILOT BREWING
O
ur brew team consists of some of the craziest, cleverest
minds in brewing. We're not going to deny that, we have
a team of super stars at Brew HQ in Ellon and we're very
proud of them! However, it's sometimes fun to switch things up
a bit, throw everyone outside their comfort zone and let their
imaginations run wild. Which is why, for the second year running,
we're launching the BrewDog Pilot Brew Competition!
THE BREWERS
Our brew teams, HQ folk (i.e. those who don't do it for a living),
bar staff and anyone else in between are going to be divvied up in
teams of two to brew batches of 60 bottles of whatever concoction
they can conjure up. Each team will have at least one competent
brewer, just so it's fair! We will then be shipping these samples
out to everyone across our HQ and bar division and taking a vote
to see whose brew is top of the hops!
WHY THE BAR TEAMS, I HEAR YOU ASK?
WELL, THE WINNING DUO'S BREW WILL BE
SCALED UP AND PUT INTO PRODUCTION
AS A LIMITED BEER FOR OUR BARS! SO YOU,
DEAR READER, WILL GET TO TRY IT TOO.
Our brewers can go as crazy as they like day-to-day but the pilot
brew comp aims to open up the intrigue and science of brewing to
minds outside our dedicated brew team, and see if we can uncover
some hidden beery protégés along the way!
Last year's winner was former BrewDog Grad Scheme-r, Nick
Ziegler. Challenged with brewing a sour beer, he dived in head
first and created a Gose hopped with Sorachi Ace and Amarillo.
He was helped along the way by fellow brewer Ste, and it was a
landslide victory as everyone who voted opted for his brew! Nick's
Gose was undoubtedly awesome, but the yeast was just a bit too
whacky for scaling up, so it never made it into the bars, but this
year we're hoping for something pretty special that we can stock
all over the UK.
Some of the total beery newcomers have already brainstormed
with potential special twist ingredients such as jellied eels and,
ahem, blood…can't deny their enthusiasm…!
GOT AN IDEA YOU RECKON OUR BREWERS
SHOULD CONSIDER? TWEET IT TO US AT
@BREWDOG
www.brewdog.com
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A look behind the label
HERE’S A QUESTION
FOR YOU. WHAT’S
THE BEST-TASTING
STRAWBERRY YOU’VE
EVER EATEN? WELL,
UNLESS YOU’RE
FLUSH ENOUGH TO
SPRING FOR REGULAR
MICHELIN-ESQUE
‘DECONSTRUCTED
STRAWBERRIES, FIVE
WAYS’ IT’S HIGHLY
LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN
A SIMPLE FRESH,
UNADULTERATED
STRAWBERRY. AND
THE BEST WAY TO
EAT THOSE?
By the fistful, at a pickyour-own place, in the
sunshine. ‘One for the
punnet, one for me.
One for the punnet, one
for me …’ There’s just
something so satisfying
about crouching there,
feeling slightly naughty,
and trying not to give the
game away whilst popping
a few freebies in (top
tip: berry juice running
out of the corners of the
mouth will do this).
It’s not just strawberries;
things seem to taste
better when enjoyed
where they were grown,
made, or produced (with
the possible exception
of bacon). Eating grilled
10 Hop Propaganda – October edition : 2014
fish on the beach, for
instance. Singeing your
fingers on oven-crusty
bread. Drinking beer at
a brewery tap. Yes – the
last of these really belongs
in this (very laboured)
parallel. Some of the best
beers you’ll ever have
will be on location, at the
facility where they were
made. Whether that’s
a gleaming, space-age
tasting suite, or a corner
of the tiniest small-batch
brewery, balanced on a
rickety old milking-stool
or upturned beer crate.
Why is this? Well, part
of the reason is that the
beer will be so fresh. It’s
guaranteed to be, really, as
the brewers can monitor
the condition perfectly,
before moving it a short
distance to the bar and
connecting up. They can
ensure it’s served exactly
as they would like – giving
you the best pint/half/
ten-gallon growler you
could ever wish for. If
the beer you make a tap
beeline for is an IPA, then
happy days; the hop oils
will be all present and
correct, working their
zingy magic just for you.
Sure, some beers travel
well all around the world,
but many never actually
need to. Particularly if
said brewery has good
public transport links,
or someone with a car
owes you a favour…
Another reason to frequent
tasting rooms is that very
often you’ll be drinking
with the people that made
the beer – literally, in some
cases, rubbing shoulders
with them. If there’s ever
been a time you’ve sipped a
session pale and wondered
how the balance of flavour
is achieved, or taken a long
pull on a chilli stout and
pondered why the burn
scratches your tonsils at
the end, rather than the
beginning, then this could
be your lucky day. If the
brewer’s over there – ask
them. Beer people are good
people, and unless they
are slumped, post-shift, in
a slick of imperial stout,
usually they’d be only too
happy to answer questions
on their beery babies.
But, often, it’s about more
than Q&A sessions; beer has
such an innate conviviality,
and brewing is a
wholeheartedly collaborative
industry that many times
drinking at source just
feels better. Sure, there’s
nothing that can top that
worn bar stool in your
favoured local, or your
ergonomic beer couch and
USB-powered bottle opener
at home, but brewery taps
have something different,
something that is just as
good – if not better. They
allow the character of
DRINKING BEER IN
THIS WAY, METRES
FROM WHERE IT
IS PRODUCED,
AND OFTEN IN
THE PRESENCE
OF THOSE THAT
MADE IT, CAN ONLY
INCREASE YOUR
ENJOYMENT
the men and women who
make your beer to come
over, directly. Rather than
reading a label, you can
gaze around the walls, hear
the hissing and clanking,
and smell the brewery
air, thick with malt.
Turning up at the place
where something is made
gives you more of an
insight into the thought
process, and the system of
manufacture, that anything
else ever will – and of
course that holds true for
brewing. The idiosyncrasies,
the philosophies, the quirks.
Taste a bottle of Cantillon
Rosé de Gambrinus at
home; then (if you’re
lucky enough) visit their
brewery in Brussels and
try a sample amidst the
quietly creaking wood; that
next bottle will taste even
better. You can’t always
be let loose to wander
amongst the equipment, of
course – but that’s where
brewery taps can give
you a similar insight.
Even if the producer doesn’t
offer tours, most brewery
taprooms have at least
a plexiglass window to
press your nose against,
like a beery equivalent of
Augustus Gloop. Release
yourself with a tasting
flight, and work through the
spectrum of your favourite
beermaker. Drinking beer
in this way, metres from
where it is produced, and
often in the presence of
those that made it, can only
increase your enjoyment.
Equally importantly, it
should give you a much
better understanding
of what makes your
favourite breweries tick,
and let the brewers know
directly know how much
you appreciate their hard
work. Top tip: beery juice
running out of the corners
of the mouth will do this.
OF THE BEST BREWERY TAPS
THE KERNEL, LONDON
Bermondsey is a very different place to
what it was a few years ago; having enough
breweries now to legitimately claim London’s
best (if not busiest) pub crawl. Original
archway-brewers the Kernel are still a focal
point, even since moving into larger premises.
The Saturday queues start early – and with
very good reason.
BRASSERIE CANTILLON, BRUSSELS
They may recoil at mention of the m-word, but
Cantillon really does feel like a living museum.
Yet the other word is key. The open coolship,
the gently spuming barrels, the cobwebs – the
entire Cantillon building feels alive. As such, it
boasts a tasting room like no other. Unbeatable
lambic, birthed overhead, for only a handful of
Euros.
BUXTON BREWERY, BUXTON
Nestled in the genteel Peak District town of
the same name, you’ll find one of England’s
best brewery taps. The Buxton Brewery took
over an old pub last year, installing thirteen
taps to deploy an ever-changing line-up of
their own beer. Admittedly, their brewery is
a short distance across Buxton, but with a
permanent outlet for Axe Edge in town, noone’s complaining.
BROOKLYN BREWERY, BROOKLYN
Another destination that generates queues
round the block, Brooklyn’s taphouse operates
a token system, so head to Williamsburg early
and bring a fistful of dollars to exchange for
those plastic chips. On the bar, you’ll find
regular beers mixing with their ultra-rare
Brewmaster’s Reserve Series – meaning every
time you go back, the choice becomes more
difficult.
FYNE ALES, LOCH FYNE
Brewing harnesses agricultural ingredients,
after all; not every great brewery tap needs
to be in a bustling city. At the head of Loch
Fyne you’ll find a multi-tap brewery bar where
Fyne Ales’ staff carry their beers a negligible
distance from where it is produced. On the
way home, look up to the left; the brewery
watersource cascades down the hillside.
www.brewdog.com
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BrewDog plc. Balmacassie Commercial Park, Ellon, AB41 8BX