Back at the end of 2008, seized by some mad fit of seasonal largesse, I stumbled on a idea: how about I order a case of BrewDog‘s Rip Tide and Paradox Smokehead stouts, send a bottle of each to the other BoB blokes and then write up the resulting mass Tasting Notes here? So I did.

And this is what we all thought of the beers:

Tim said:

What a couple of tasty puppies these were!

Rip Tide: this one poured a delicious chocolate-brown, and that chocolatey theme persisted through to the taste. Rich, dark, with a slightly bitter caramel after-taste, it went down smooth and sweet. It settled after a few minutes – yes, I did manage to keep some in the glass that long – and became even smoother to end with. I thought I’d found a new favourite stout when I tried this, and naturally, after one bottle I’d been turned twisted and merciless ….

But then I tried the Paradox Smokehead. Oh my. Oh my! This ale danced a joyous jig of delight on my tongue. Smoky indeed, both its smell and taste brought back intense memories of building bonfires in my grandparents’ huge back garden in Devon thirty years ago. It has a very rich, sweetly-smoky pinewood taste, and it leaves a pleasant, warm tingly sensation on the tongue afterwards. The taste and smell seemed to increase as the beer settled in the glass (thought it didn’t get to spend long in there), and though its strength is right there at the fore, there’s nothing smothering here. The various tastes are distinct and perfectly complement each other. A triumph.

Long may Brewdog keep birthing new puppies like this one.

Joe said:

Re: the Rip Tide, I’m with Tim on the chocolatey theme – very chocolate with a bit of burnt toffee in there too both aroma wise and taste-wise. Actually to be honest at first I thought it was too strong a taste, I found it a bit overwhelming which was off-putting, but after a few sips I thought it became smoother too, nice chocolate after-taste too, smoother and milder after a quarter of the glass than I initially found and I went from that rocky beginning of thinking “no, this is just a bit too overpowering” to really enjoying it. Then I had a couple of squares of 75% cocoa dark chocolate and another sip: perfect…

Ed said:

Rip Tide: A wonderful chocolate toffee aroma to kick things off, which is retained through to the tasting. Unlike a lot of other beers the smell sticks around so you get another whiff with every sup. Taste is full of chocolate malt and toffee, with just the lightest touch of bitterness. Combined with a very smooth texture, this one is deceptively easy to drink. The high alcohol content doesn’t over-ride the flavour, you know it’s there but it’s well controlled and not overpowering. Truly wonderful stuff, easily one of the best stouts I’ve ever had.

Paradox Smokehead: Opening the bottle gives off a delightful smoky, chocolatey smell – and that’s without even lifting the bottle to the nose. Pouring into a glass gives off more smoke and chocolate, combined with peat and a touch of seaweed; exactly what I would expect from an Islay-related product. Tasting reveals another surprisingly smooth beer, despite the high alcohol content, making for another deceptively easy-drinker, but it really deserves to be taken slowly to appreciate the complexity of the flavours. There’s plenty of that Islay peat smoke character, with chocolate and toffee up front, and hints of liqourice and raisins in the background adding to the richness. Slightly sweet but very well controlled, with the alcohol strength again not impinging on the flavour. A perfect combination.

…and I said:

Rip Tide: Pours a thick black with ruby gloss highlights. The first sip delivers a superb mouth-feel, plenty of chocolate and a few faint herbal notes, not too heavy on the liquorice. Later on there’s a hint of toffee and tangerine as well. Overall, it’s an incredibly smooth drink, faintly bitter, not overly sweet. Cockle-warming, incredibly tasty, quite fantastic stuff.

Paradox Smokehead: The first impression is of an intensely smoky aroma, like roast oranges on baked ham. The flavour is smoky-sweet: treacle, cough drops and sherry, almost reminiscent of a dessert wine, perhaps? The sweetness calms down as the beer breathes, but the smokiness persists, even increases, as the drink continues, making for an incredibly distinct stout-rauchbier combination that’s truly memorable.

All in all, I think that whilst the all-out assault on your senses that the Smokehead provides is an experience not to be missed, I think I actually preferred the Rip Tide, if only because it was an easier beer to savour. I’ve got a bottle of each brew left and I’ll be cracking them open round about my birthday in March, unless (seeing as their best-by date is sometime in 2010) I can pile on the willpower and save them until next Yuletide. I’ll report back on how they’ve developed and matured over time, as soon as I can resist temptation no longer…

In Conclusion

The best stout we’ve ever tasted? The best stout in the world? Could be. Could be…

Although if there’s a stout brewer out there that disputes our pretty much unanimous verdict, one who thinks they’ve got a brew on their list that can top either of these two, then please do get in touch and challenge us to try your brew: we’ll happily supply a postal address (or four) for you to send samples to.

[P.S. Actually, I have sampled a stout since I tasted these that (IMHO) was even more delicious... I'll be reporting on that one in the near future.]

As reported on the BrewDog website yesterday, the The Portman Group have announced a dramatic reversal of their earlier findings with regard to the wording of BrewDog’s Punk IPA, Rip Tide Stout and Hop Rocker labels (which saves you from having to plough through another essay-length rant from me, at least…)

The BrewDog press release sums up the lads’ reaction to the decision:

“It is a victory for common sense, the intelligence of the consumer, small independent producers and freedom of speech; it is a victory that BrewDog had to fight tooth and nail for. We refused to roll-over and be bullied into changing our packaging by what is basically a cartel funded by our larger competitors. We were determined and stood our ground to keep our dream and our business alive.”

Let’s hope that a similar announcement will be forthcoming regarding the Sinclair’s Orkney Brewery’s Skull Splitter vs Portman Group case before too long, eh? Nothing on the Orkney Brewery news page just yet (or on Google News), but they might be slow in posting.

Back to BrewDog’s outspoken spokesman James Watt for a further comment on the situation:

“A few weeks ago I (James Watt) publicly called for the Portman Group to be permanently disbanded and banished into Room 101. I feel that their misguided, catastrophic campaign against us only serves to strengthen that call.”

I think James is right… and I think it will be the drinks industry giants – the corporate members of the Portman Group – that will pull the plug.

It seems to me that this whole farcical situation has been an absolutely classic example of a twentieth century bureaucracy completely failing to grasp the realities of the modern era. In the past, I’m sure the Portman Group was able to confidently throw its weight around against targets both legitimate and scapegoat without much fear of comeback or reprisal. But now they’re having to come to terms with opinion power on a hitherto unprecedented scale, conveyed via social media.

In the past the best a small brewery could probably hope for was a standard protest against the Portman Group’s decision, knowing that this wouldn’t really help them because that protest would be controlled and contained within the strictures laid down by the Portman Group’s own procedures. But now, that same small brewery is able to take that protest to an external and sympathetic audience; to amplify its voice by gathering support from across the globe, from fans and customers, from experts, from lobby groups such as CAMRA.

What’s more, that process of opinion gathering and protest amplification can serve to turn the spotlight back onto the Portman Group’s own corporate members and the inherent hypocrisy of their own business practices. Suddenly the industry cartel’s own pressure group becomes a lens through which attention is focused back on the cartel’s own activities. So for that reason alone, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Portman Group wasn’t quietly disbanded at some point in the next twelve months and its demise conveniently blamed on the credit crunch.

I was bitterly disappointed to read on the BrewDog blog the other week that The Portman Group’s complaint against BrewDog’s packaging has been upheld. There’s plenty of background information via the link above, although of course we only have BrewDog’s side of the story at the moment: a quick glance at the Portman Group’s press release page shows that they still haven’t posted anything relevant to the case.

Anyhow, looking at the excerpts from the complaint that have been quoted (and vigorously contradicted) by BrewDog, it’s clear that it’s just one specific area of the marketing of BrewDog’s products that the Portman Group are objecting to. And as a marketer by trade, I feel reasonably qualified to comment on that sort of thing, so I shall.

The first thing to note is that it’s not the graphic design of the packaging, or the shape of the bottles, or even the name of the product that the Portman Group is objecting to, merely the wording on the labels (and the back-labels, at that). Neither – to the best of the available knowledge to-date – have they produced any actual data or statistical evidence that supports their claim: that the wording on the back-labels of BrewDog’s bottles leads to the sort of anti-social behaviour that the Portman Group is apparently (apparently…) so keen on stamping out.

(more…)

Brewery: BrewDog
Location: Fraserburgh, Scotland
ABV: 6.0%
Version: Bottled
Source: Tesco

I first heard about BrewDog’s Punk IPA over at The Beer Diary and then a few days later spotted a bottle in Tesco, which I duly grabbed. I’ve said before that IPA isn’t really my first-choice when it comes to beer-style, so when I do venture out of my comfort zone, I’m looking for something special. And I’m glad to say that Punk IPA, like the Meantime IPA I tried not so long ago, is pretty damn special indeed.

I didn’t chill this “post-modern classic pale ale” before trying it, wanting to make sure that I got the full range of flavours. There was a huge hit of hops, hops and more hops, which is exactly what you want from an IPA, of course, as well as a bone-dryness that was positively Saharan. But there was also a velvety smoothness – great mouthfeel – which helped to keep both the sharpness and the alcohol nicely balanced, making this big IPA a very easy drinker indeed. I think that was the main difference between the Punk and the Stateside that I tried at Wetherspoons the other week: the Stateside (also 6%) seemed to be all about the spiky dryness. All in all, a definite hit with this non-IPA expert. I predict that I’ll be drinking this one again someday.

I’ve been reading on the BrewDog blog that they’ve been having a spot of bother with the Portman Group – the self-appointed guardians of the UK brewing industry’s moral high-ground / a cartel of major brewers determined to stamp out originality and keep the smaller guys from achieving any sort of lasting success [delete as applicable] – and as Joe pointed out they’re not the only ones.

Personally, I think any brewery that shows a bit of imagination and creativity in the face of the shelves upon supermarket shelves of mass-market blandness and bog-standardism should be applauded and lauded, not castigated and taken-to-task for the originality of the wording on its labels. As for ‘incitement to anti-social behaviour’… WTF? it’s cans of cheap, super-strength cooking-lager the yobs round our neck of the woods are knocking back on a Friday night, not 330ml bottles of micro-brewed craft beer, for crying out loud! A little perspective from the Portman Group, please? A little common sense? Too much to ask for?

Anyhow, I’ve decided to show my support for BrewDog in the best way possible: I’ve just this minute placed an order for their Stout Special mixed box (6 x Rip Tide, 6 x Paradox and I do hope I get the Caol Ila version…) with a side-order case of 2009 Prototype Special selection: three great-looking beers (including another mega-IPA) that they’re testing at the moment.

I’ll be letting you know how I get on in due course…