Brewery: BrewDog
Location: Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Style: Amber Ale
ABV: 5.0%
Version: Draught
Source: The Guildford Arms, Edinburgh

I tried The Physics on draught in Edinburgh’s Guildford Arms a few weeks ago. At the time I tweeted that I thought it was “…interesting” and despite having sampled the bottled version since then, I have to admit I’m still on the fence.

On paper everything sounds straight-forwardly tasty. There’s a pleasant start – a red-brown bitter ale with hints of bitter chocolate – and a nicely hoppy middle section. But then it all ends on a slightly odd note – a sour-sweet grapefruit (or something tropical and fruity at any rate) tang – on the after-taste. The net effect was to leave me wondering whether I’d enjoyed it or not, which isn’t usually something I have trouble deciding. I’m trying to imagine someone offering me a pint of the stuff and my mental reaction – a momentary pause, a glance along the imaginary bar to see what else is on, a slightly uncertain “yeah, go on then” – probably sums things up. An unsettling pint of ale? Wouldn’t put it past BrewDog to come up with something like that quite deliberately, just for the hell of it.

@BeerReviewsAndy tweeted a response to my message on the night: “I couldn’t make my mind up on physics draught so had to have a few pints”. Maybe that’s the answer to the riddle of the Physics – try, try and try again, because familiarity breeds contentment? Mind you, Andy didn’t say whether those few pints managed to convince him or not… I suggest you carry out your own investigations. Feel free to report back with preliminary findings in the comments.