99 Pours has chosen a topic close to my sweet and sticky little heart for this month's Session: novelty beers. So much weird random crap in my stash to choose from. But, with a Session audience watching, I decided to go for a well-known pair: the novelty beers of the moment, if you will.They are (both) International Arms Race a collaborative/competitive project by BrewDog and Flying Dog. The novelty lies in the specification: a zero-IBU IPA made without hops. Daft, perhaps, but exploring what can be done in beer without the use of hops is one of my hobby-horses so I had to have these. Steve of Beers I've Known very kindly donated the bottles to me and I opened them side by side.
Though both are pale ales at 7.5% ABV, there was an immediate difference on pouring, with the BrewDog coming out a clear amber, shading towards red. The Flying Dog version was a paler orange but clouded by quite large globules suspended in the body of the liquid. Neither beer held a head for very long.
BrewDog also won the battle of the aroma, with some wonderfully enticing herbal smells: I got a big whack of rosemary in particular. It also avoided being any way medicinal, which can sometimes be the downfall of herb-infused beer. Conversely, I could get hardly any vapours from Flying Dog's effort.
But the primary front in this war was always going to be the flavour, and Flying Dog aces it, showing big white pepper notes at the front, given a twist of exotic sophistication with cedar and sandalwood spicing at the finish. Best of all, the flavours are bright, clean and distinct, making the most of the novelty and doing quite a job hiding all the alcohol. BrewDog's beer was a bit of a mess by contrast: much heavier and quite sweet, to the point of sickliness. The best I can do flavourwise is herbal bubblegum dipped in nutmeg, but even that doesn't quite cover it. It's certainly flavourful, but I didn't really enjoy it.
Despite the failings of the beers, I still think International Arms Race was a worthwhile experiment and I applaud the efforts of all brewers to do once-offs and oddities. It's a big part of what keeps beer interesting for me. Besides, every beer style started out as a novelty at some point.
Certainly agree with your last paragraph.
ReplyDelete(Forgot about the session. Dammit.)
Here this can't be right. Thought BrewDog were the dog's bollocks? Their beer has been on in the Baum for a while. Not tried it though. Looks like I shouldn't.
ReplyDeleteMy position is that they make a lot of very good beer and a lot of rather poor beer. They make a lot of beer.
DeleteWas it only bottle they did this in? Or did each brewery also have it available on Keg? Of course trying those side by side might be nearly impossible so it would defeat the purpose but still...
ReplyDeleteAnd I know we are talking brewdog here but I think a similar project using cask could be interesting. Dry herbing in the cask and such.
I don't know about keg version. There hasn't been any shortage of publicity about the project on the BrewDog website -- maybe have a look there.
Deletethey did taste-offs in various of the Brewdog bars (keg of course) and the rest was bottled. Flying Dog won 3-2
DeleteOh noes! My taste is so mass market.
DeleteI think Brewdog are in danger of falling into the trap of all style and no substance. They cloud their victories with nonsense and mediocrity...oh and squirels.
ReplyDeletePeople have been saying that about BrewDog for almost as long as they've existed. I'm not seeing any sign of them falling into anything.
DeleteI have said it before, they are the Ryanair of the beer world. I still love some of their beers though.
ReplyDeleteAh, Ryanair, how we hate them, with their obtrusive branding, their oh-so-hip advertisements, their gratuitously pretentious product designs, their unerring hipster appeal and their sky-high prices...
DeleteSorry, who was it we were talking about?
I've seen Ryanair ads described as many things, but "hip" is a new one on me.
DeleteThey're doing a very good job of becoming a household name in the UK. A little way to go, but getting there.
ReplyDeleteA street presence in several major cities helps too, I'm sure. Possibly more so than the headline-grabbing publicity stunts.
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