Some more beers that I’ve picked up just to try them. This one is the latest iteration of BrewDog from Scotland, only this time, they’re made in America.
We all know of BrewDog’s journey from a “punk” brewery started in 2007 to a multinational concern with a series of tied houses and a hotel and brewery in Ohio. It’s also 22% owned by TSG Consumer Partners that also owns or has had a stake in Pabst, Popchips and Planet Fitness. This year they relaunched canned versions of their flagship beers from the new Ohio brewery in Winchester, near Columbus. They also launched their own streaming video channel which drew some unwanted notice for promoting it with a “BeerPorn” web site that looked like the front page of many porn sites. So I’ve heard.
Punk IPA 5.6% abv
Their flagship IPA, described as being made with “New World hops” and caramel malt. It starts with a hazy, orangey pour. A tall head that dwindles away within a few minutes. Smell is lightly malty with just an edge of tropical fruit.
Taste is a little juicy. A bit of caramel malt indeed. I largely pick up mango and papaya, maybe some pineapple on the edge. There’s only an indistinct bitterness that lets in the malt’s sweetness.
The Punk IPA is one of BrewDog’s first beers, though they’ve adjusted the abv down a few tenths of a point. It’s certainly not an English IPA, but could stand to be considered a forerunner of today’s “juicy” IPAs.
Elvis Juice, 6.5% abv
A “grapefruit infused IPA with natural citrus flavors”, including grapefruit peel. A little denser and darker in color than the Punk IPA. Yes, there’s definite smell of squeezed grapefruit juice, and this time a bit of piney northwestern hops along side of it.
And there’s a good dose of grapefruit in the taste, too. Though only slightly stronger than the previous beer, this leaves some stickiness on my lips. Not as much pine or resin on the palate as in the nose. The focus here is on grapefruit favor. Like a turbo version of grapefruit shandy. And yes, they did have a legal fight with the Elvis Presley estate over use of the name, but it was agreed that no one was going to confuse the two.
Other American-made BrewDog cans include Jet Black Heart, an oatmeal milk stout, and Hazy Jane, their take on a New England IPA. The Ohio facility also includes BrewDog OverWorks, a sour beer facility attached to the hotel.
