Tag Archives: brewdog

European Craft Beer Pub Guide

I’ve done a lot of travelling in the past few years and I made an effort to seek out fine craft beer establishments wherever I went.  I was reminiscing with a friend the other day and I thought I might as well post a list of my favourite European craft beer drinking establishments.  Keep in mind that this is not an all encompassing list, but a list of places I visited and liked.  That being said, I truly believe these are the cream of the crop and that any beer enthusiast should seek them out.

Mikkeller – Copenhagen, Denmark
The impressive and cosy bar of the Danish craft beer geniuses.  What impresses me most about Mikkeller is their creativity and range.  They also server American and other European craft beers in their bar.

‘t Arendsnest – Amsterdam, Netherlands
You could argue there are better beer bars in Amsterdam, but this is this only one that serves only Dutch craft beer.  The bar itself is a beautiful wood paneled brown cafe located right on a ridiculously pretty canal.

Delirium Cafe – Brussels, Belgium
It’s grungy, smokey, crowded and you’ll never want to leave.  The quintessential Brussels beer bar is famous for it’s massive beer list featuring almost every Belgian beer available.  The staff are super knowledgeable and also rude.  I remember being scared to order, but it’s worth it in the end.

‘t Brugs Beertje – Bruges, Belgium
The classic Bruges brown cafe.  I highly recommend watching In Bruges then heading to this place for a gay beer or seven.  It might not be the best beer bar in Bruges, but it’s the classic and a must visit.

Akkurat –  Stockholm, Sweden
Surely the best beer bar in Sweden, featuring craft beer from around the world and from Sweden’s burgeoning craft beer scene.

Bir & Fud – Rome, Italy
Serving only Italian craft beer, this place is in the hip Trastavere neighbourhood of Rome. I didn’t know Italy had a craft beer scene until I visited this place, turns out craft is taking off in Italy.

Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fà – Rome, Italy
Across the street from Bir & Fud, this place takes care of the rest of the world and serves top notch stuff from Northern Europe and America.

Craft – London, UK
Can you believe I lived just over a mile away from this place and I only went there twice? I should be punished.  Founded in the summer of 2011, this place immediately became the top beer bar in London.  They have the very best from all over the world; tons of Mikkeller, English and American stuff.

Brewdog – London, UK
The punks at Brewdog are on a pub opening tear in the UK.  The London joint opened in December and has been packed since.  Features tons of Brewdog one-off stuff, as well as quality craft from around the world.

Oktoberfest – Munich, Germany
Okay, not a pub, but an essential and amazing experience.  I found most German beer halls to be very similar, so why not enjoy them at their grandest scale.  I went twice and I’d go again at the drop of a hat.  Check out my experience.

't Arendsnest in Amsterdam

‘t Arendsnest in Amsterdam, loved it

Brewdog Camden

Us guys at Brewdog, I miss it so bad

Delirium Cafe Brussels

If you can’t have fun at Delirium Cafe, just suicide yourself now

I went to a lot of fantastic pubs in Europe, but these are the standouts from a beer perspective.  Let me know if you think there’s somewhere else I need to go, I only need an excuse…

Cheers,

Chris

Brewdog has a pub in London now

In Camden to be exact, and it’s been there for about a month.  I was really excited when I found out Brewdog opened their first non-Scottish pub in London (4th pub overall) in December.  There are few epic beer bars in London, especially when you consider the scale of London and how much time people spend down the pub.  Brewdog Camden joins Craft and The Euston Tap as beer nerd destinations in Londontown.

Erik was around over the holidays, so naturally we hit up Brewdog Camden.  I was very impressed by the look of the place, which is very clean, modern, and on brand.  I was even more impressed by the beer on offer, there were twenty odd taps and hundreds of bottles.  The bottle selection was almost solely constituted of hardcore craft beer, mostly American (mostly Californian), some Danish (mostly Mikkeller), and Hitachino Nest of Japan.  The majority of the taps were of Brewdog’s own beer, but there were also a few guest kegs from the likes of Stone and Mikkeller.  Much of the Brewdog beer on tap I’d never seen in bottles before and I believe some were experimental.  I really enjoyed the Winter Porter and the Hops Kill Nazis (a hoppy imperial red).  I didn’t love the Wasabi Stout or the Dogma, but that’s just me.

At Brewdog Camden

Us guys at Brewdog Camden

What I really liked was that both Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% ABV) and Sink the Bismarck (41% ABV) were on offer, £6 for a 25ml taste.  I’d only ever come across these beers in bottles in the UK and didn’t buy because they carry a hefty price tag, so this was my first taste.  We tried Tactical Nuclear Penguin (they were out of Bismarck) and it was a delight.  It’s very syrupy in the glass and it tastes very sweet, more like madeira than beer.  It also warms the throat in a good way, like a fine brandy or cognac might.  A bottle would be dangerous in my hands.

Tactical Nuclear Penguin Brewdog Camden

Tactical Nuclear Penguin in the glass (Hops kill Nazis in the background)

Tasting Tactical Nuclear Penguin at Brewdog Camden

Erik tasting TNP with an aristocratic air

London beer tourists, in this order, visit Craft, Brewdog Camden, and the Euston Tap.  My one criticism of Brewdog Camden is that  there aren’t many session beers to be had, which might turn off the casual beer fan.  I don’t think Brewdog cares though, beer for punks after all.

Cheers,

Chris

You mean some beers aren’t vegetarian?

This is most definitely the case, as per the FAQ on the Fosters website.  I came across this interesting and under-publicised tidbit at BeerLeaks.org, which is a WikiLeaks parody brought to us by Brewdog Brewing.  It appears their new website was recently shutdown, probably because the giant breweries threatened to sue the pants off them (their Twitter account has also gone quiet).  Amongst their claims that many big brand beers aren’t vegetarian (and they named some big names, one of which rhymed with Guinness, I mean, yeah it was Guinness), they also let it be known that most imports aren’t actually imported and that clear bottles lead to skunkification.  The last two I knew, but I didn’t think the giant evil beer companies would stoop so low as to trick vegetarians into betraying their principles.  So much for the Bavarian purity law, eh?  At least the solution to the problem is clear, people should stop being vegetarian, or at least switch to craft beer.

Fosters not vegetarian

Now containing dead animal!

I found about BeerLeaks.org through this article on the 37signals blog about Brewdog’s struggle to become a top craft brewer.  It’s really good reading and so you should read it.

Cheers,

Chris

Brewdog: The End of History

I’ve written about Brewdog and their quest to brew the world’s strongest beer in the past.  It seems they now have some competition in the race to the top and recently brewed an even stronger beer.  First Tactical Nuclear Penguin came in at 32% ABV, then Sink the Bismark at 41%, and now The End of History at 55%.  In case you were wondering, 55% ABV is extremely high for any alcoholic beverage, not just beer.  You would probably drink very small amounts of this from snifters and it would taste something like whiskey.  Only twelve bottles of End of History were made, each came in a dead squirrel and cost £500.  To learn about it’s making, read here.  Be sure to watch the video too, it’s quite funny.

Cheers,

Chris

Brewdog Brews World’s Strongest Beer at 32% ABV

Brewdog, a very young Scottish brewery, has brewed the world’s strongest beer at 32% ABV.  I really like Brewdog, mostly because they brew very interesting beers and have very funny labels.  You’ll know what I mean if you get your hands of any of their beers, four of which are available at Brewery Creek in Vancouver.

If you are into beer, or even if you’ve read the paper lately, you might have already heard of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, the new 32% ABV beer.  What you might know and might find interesting, is how they made it.  Turns out they took some of their Paradox Imperial Stout that had already aged in oak barrels for 15 months and froze it at an ice cream factory, periodically draining off the unfrozen liquid.  Alcohol freezes at a much lower temperature than water, meaning the unfrozen liquid was higher and higher in alcohol content each time it was drained.  Check out this hilarious video of the process I found on Brewdog’s blog:

The question remains, why would Brewdog try to make the world’s strongest beer?  The answer is probably because they could and were curious, which is reason enough for me.  Or maybe it was for the attention, which they have received in spades.  I, for one, am not sure I’d like Tactical Nuclear Penguin.  That isn’t to say I won’t buy some if I can get some.  I think I’d probably find it a bit too alcoholic, which is likely considering that I find some 12-15% ABV beers too alcoholic, where 15% is the highest ABV beer I’ve ever tried.

Cheers,

Chris