For the wings of a dog

It's not a boycott, it's just boredom. While I am aware of the litany of controversies that BrewDog has attracted to it, and that it probably would have a chilling effect on my interest in its beer, the fact is that their Irish importer has been doing a disastrous job of bringing their more interesting wares into this country. But, there's a new(ish) flagship, and its been in my eyeline for over a year now. Time to see what it's like.

"A maverick of a session IPA" tells us that BrewDog is still doing the pisschimp thing after all these years. Wingman is 4.3% ABV and a clear pale yellow with a luxuriously thick head. The aroma is fresh and tropical, offering generous chunks of mango with a background of crisp pear. It's fizzy and light-bodied, which is perfectly acceptable for this kind of beer. Once the obstreperous bubbles get out of the way, the flavour follows the aroma, with sweet fleshy cantaloupe and pineapple, turning to a more chemically ester finish, where pear meets whiteboard markers. It's all quite subtle and understated, very clean and without an aftertaste. 33cl didn't last long, and this would work very well by the pint, but presumably I'd need to go to their Dublin footprint for that, in the part of the docklands which is half way to Wales.

BrewDog does still be Brewdogging. Whenever the discourse turns in their direction, there's always someone saying "yer, and thur beer is shit now too," but in my experience it's not, and never has been (unless you got one of those Punk cans). This beer is fine, leaning to good, but most importantly is what it's meant to be. I have no objection to it being on the market and can see it being the best available option in any number of circumstances. Now there's a slogan for them.