Back in the mid 1980s, when the modern North American craft brewing scene was in its infancy, most small-scale brewers looked to the classic beers of Europe and the UK for inspiration. Here in Ontario, for example, Guelph’s Wellington Brewery launched in 1985 with a line-up of British-style ales (including the first cask-conditioned ale to be brewed in North America in modern times), while down the road in Waterloo, Brick Brewing specialized in lagers that paid tribute to the German roots of the city. A quick bit of research into the early days of craft brewing in other areas of North America will generally reveal the same patterns happening everywhere.
The years since have seen the development of a distinctly North American beer culture – or to be more accurate, an American beer culture, as the most notable growth and experimentation has taken place south of the border. Fuelled by a combination of adventurousness, competitiveness and cockiness, brewers throughout the US have not only revived and redefined every previously existing beer style imaginable, they’ve also created completely new ones.
Back across the pond, this trend hasn’t gone unnoticed, and a small but growing number of upstart breweries taking a similarly adventurous approach to their craft have appeared in Europe in the last few years. Scandinavia has been especially fertile ground for this new guard, while in Belgium, brewers like De Struise are fusing elements of both Old and New World brewing traditions to create their unique offerings.
One of the most attention-grabbing of these new school breweries has been BrewDog, established in Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 2006 by James Watt and Martin Dickie. In the less than three years since their first beer rolled off the production line in April 2007, BrewDog has become the largest independently owned brewery in Scotland, and a good part of that growth can undoubtedly be credited to their penchant for stirring up controversy.
In the last year alone, they’ve had two run-ins with the Portman Group, a UK drinks industry watchdog. The first was over the drug connotations of Speedball, the name originally used for a strong ale that’s since been renamed Dogma, and the second was over an 18.2% imperial stout called Tokyo* that Portman claims “does not promote a positive message of safe and responsible drinking”. Being savvy businessmen, the BrewDog boys milked these for all they were worth, and got a lot of press as a result. They also thumbed their noses at Portman and other naysayers with two new beers: a low-alcohol (1.1%) but extremely hoppy ale called Nanny State; and the bizarrely named Tactical Nuclear Penguin, a barrel-aged Imperial stout that they pushed to 32% using a form of freeze distillation, making it the strongest beer in the world (and one that I was lucky enough to try a couple of weeks ago).
Of course, when a company depends on controversy and gimmicks to get their name known, there’s always a strong chance that their product is sub-par, but when it comes to BrewDog, this doesn’t seem to be the case. While I haven’t come anywhere close to trying all of their beers, I’ve had the opportunity to sample a few, and they’ve all been excellent. And one of my favourites, Punk IPA, is available now at the LCBO as part of their Winter Warmers release (LCBO 149773 - $2.60/330 mL).
I must admit that I was skeptical when I first poured it, as the colour is a very light golden-yellow, looking more like Keith’s (so-called) IPA than a true version of the style. But then the aroma set me right with luscious notes of citrus and tropical fruit, and an underpinning of caramel malt. The body is soft, almost cask-like, and the flavour starts moderately sweet, developing an earthy quality before moving into a punchy hop bitterness with notes of grapefruit and pine.
The influence of American craft brewing on this beer in undeniable, as the heavily hopped finish with flavours of citrus and pine is a hallmark of US-style IPAs. But the lighter body and more subtle palate are evidence that it has a strong connection to UK brewing traditions as well. Most importantly, and regardless of where its roots may lie, Punk IPA is simply a great tasting beer that this aging former punk enjoyed a whole hell of a lot.
