Brew Dog Bar, Manchester

This is a little off topic, for which I apologise in advance. Andy and I visited the Brew Dog Bar, on Peter Street in Manchester yesterday, and I thought I’d write a few words about it and share a few photos in case you live locally and are interested to try it out.

Brew Dog are based in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, and were formed in 2007. They pride themselves in utterly shaking up the brewing format, claiming they are a “post Punk apocalyptic motherf*cker of a craft brewery”. What does that mean in beer terms? It means they take just about every style of beer that exists and warp and twist it to the maximum degree. Some may not be to your taste (in fact a lot may not be to your taste!), but you have to admire them for tackling an industry steeped in tradition head on. (In fact, regarding that, have a read of this previous post).

So, enough about Brew Dog themselves (if you want to know more, see their web site). What are the beers like? And what are the bars like? And what can Cheshire Peaks learn from all that?

Beers

Well the first thing to say is that they make a LOT of beers. In the bar they had about 12 beers on draught, plus dozens and dozens in bottles. All Brew Dog beers. So no shortage of choice then. But wait, these are no ordinary beers. Many are too strong to sell in pints. The majority are between 6% and 10%, and they go up to Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32%) and Sink the Bismarck (41%). Really. Both these are sold in 25ml shots, at £5.

As for the rest of their beers… well they do like their American hops. And their IBUs. I had a pint of Dead Pony Club – it’s light at 3.8%, but the hop flavour takes the lining off the roof of your mouth. I loved it, but not to everyone’s taste.

Andy had a half of Goldings. A half? Well, it is 6.7%, and hopped to hell (again) but this time with an English hop. It was very interesting to see what happens when you take such a hop to its limit. (Again, it was very nice).

Gill had their Tayberry Berliner Weisse. Berliner Weisse is a very traditional style, which is extremely sour and very light in alcohol, and usually served with a fruit syrup. In this case the ABV had been pumped up to 5% and the fruit already added. It was delicious but intensely sour. (And I was delighted that Gill liked it – it seems she’ll drink beers as sour as they come, but she won’t touch bitter beers).

Finally we had to try the Tactical Nuclear Penguin. This was served in a large wine glass. It is a dark dark conker colour and has an intensely oxidised aroma, like a really dark old sherry. Taste-wise (sipped like a whisky), it has more deep rich oxidised flavours, but was not vaporous like a whisky. More like a really intense and concentrated PX sherry but with added bitterness. Mad, but well worth a try.

What can Cheshire Peaks learn from all this? Well the main thing is anything goes! This is the great thing about beer – there are so many flavours to work with that there are an almost infinite combination of possibilities. You don’t have to stick to “styles”. That may be a good place to start, but after that you need to branch out and experiment. We have already discussed making a “Goldings++” beer – to see how much bitterness we can extract out of this English hop.

Bars

As you can see from the photos below, the bars have a hard industrial feel, with bare walls and exposed concrete and girders. The seating was either comfortable bar stools at tall tables or low armchairs. No TV screens, but there was a pinball machine. The staff were chatty and friendly. Clientele was, not surprisingly, mostly students. No one batted an eyelid at having our kids with us.

We had a very enjoyable drink, and I’d gladly go back again. Long may Brew Dog cause waves in the beer market.