10 Things That Are Awesome About Craft Beer

Published - 15.03.2012 Comments (55)

We love craft beer. Here is why:

1) The International Craft Beer Community

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United by passion for beer and a love of all things hoppy, the international craft beer community transcends borders, cultures, continents and language. A wave that started in the US is building like a tsunami and sweeping all over the world and it is all due to the people who enjoy the beers and enjoy speaking to other people about craft beers. We are really excited to be part of it. Taste the hops and live the dream scamps!

Equity for Punks hits target and closes early

2) The Flavour

Craft beer is integrity, passion, craftsmanship, natural ingredients, vision, entrepreneurialism, community but first and foremost about flavour.

How We Mash

Craft beer aims to put the flavour back into the glasses of beer drinkers around the planet. To provide a much needed antidote to the swathes of cheap, insipid, tasteless, visionless industrial beer. Every craft brewer sets out with the singular mission to delight the drinker with an amazing drinking experience and to create a beer with flavour and character. With so many great brewers and beers, now is a good time to be a craft beer drinker. 

3) The Stylistic Diversity

With craft beer you can go from the mouth-puckering acidity and sharpness of a lambic, to the decadent and encapsulating rich notes of an imperial stout. From the adrenalin fuelled pallet destroying hop hit of a double ipa to the depth, complexity and malty sweetness of a Scotch ale. From the crisp zing of a fresh lager to the spell-binding fruity aroma of a dry hopped pale ale. And that is just 6 of over 100 craft beers styles. Diversity rocks.

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Craft Brewers are not constrained by tradition or heritage but completely free to follow their muse. As a result more and more amazing beers are being brewed which are pushing the boundaries in terms of innovation, beer style and ingredients. Craft beer puts the choice back in your glass.

4) The People

We have met so many great people since we started BrewDog back in 2007. We have an amazing team of super talented brewers and passionately evangelical craft beer lovers who strive to provide amazing customer experiences in our bars. We have 7,000 equity punks investors who love craft beer so much, they helped us fund our new brewery and now own part of our company. We have amazing customers who see how much the beer industry is changing and are committed to growing the craft category.

Say Hi to Kerry

We also have some amazing friends in the industry too, from the craft beer rock stars like Greg Koch and Nick Floyd to brewers all over the world.  It is a privilege, honour and whole lot of fun to work with, brew for and hang out with all of these people. We would be doing exactly that, even if it was not our jobs. 

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5) The Value for Money

Craft beers tend to be pretty progressive with loads more body, flavour, bite and mountains of expensive hops, they tend to cost a little bit more than those of the industrial brewers. The average monolithic lager is brewed with roughly 12 kilos of malted barley per barrel. At BrewDog, our average beer is made with over 40 kilos of malted barley per barrel. On average we use 35 times more hops as an industrial brewer just to make one barrel of BrewDog beer.Help decide BrewDog's Beer Range PART II

We fully believe that once people taste great craft beer they will not go back to paying a little bit less for a massively inferior industrially brewed beer. Want a lot more from your beer for only a little bit more money? Try some craft beer!

6) The Social Responsibility Aspect

We truly believe the more someone understands and respects something, the less likely they are to abuse it. Selling craft beer is not about selling a product but much more about selling education and selling information.

Bracken's Crystal Ball 2012

We want to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. Craft beer is all about understanding and appreciating beer for the flavour and experience, rather than the effect. As more and more people reject industrial beer for craft beer we feel beer related problems will reduce.

7) Pairing Craft Beer and Food

Matching craft beer with food is fast becoming a major trend. The stylistic diversity of craft beer provides so much potential for finding breathtakingly good pairings which elevates foods and showcases rock ‘n roll beers. There is a beer to suit every palette and every plate-load. Whether you’re experimenting with how the crisp zing of a hoppy pale ale compliments a gastropub style Sunday roast or how a delicate artisan pastry fares alongside a high ABV imperial stout, the perfect pairings are yours to create.

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The connection with food does not just stop at pairings. Take our upcoming Dog A for example, it incorporates coffee from the renowned Square Mile coffee roaster and cacao from Willie’s Cacao. When we use berries (like in AB09) they are hand picked from a local farm.

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8) The Anti-Establishment Edge

Forget the corporate beer Whores crazy for power and world domination. Buy the craft beer ticket and take the ride. Taste the hops, live the dream. Learn to speak beer, love fruit and never forget you come from a long line of truth seekers, dreamers and warriors - the outlaw elite. Ride toward anarchy and caramel craziness. Let the sharp bitter finish rip you straight to the tits. Save up for a Luger, and drill the bastards.

 

9) The ‘No Junk’ Guarantee

Craft brewers don’t put silicone in our beers and sulphur dioxide doesn’t do it for us either. Instead we’ve found that the finest natural ingredients, the best quality malt and awesome hops make for a better beer.

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Craft beers strive to be everything mass produced, mainstream beers aren’t which means every being 100% free of the preservatives, additives and harmful chemicals. Craft brewers replace these preservatives with passion and additives with attitude. No cheap substitutes, pathetic chemicals or foul tasting preservatives. Just natural beery awesomeness.

10) The Passion

Passion is the fuel of the craft beer movement. We, and all the other craft brewers we know, live and breathe beer and are all in the industry for one simple reason – they love great craft beer. The passion craft brewers have for their beers results in so many awesome beers being available which means the category is going from strength to strength with more and more people joining the revolution.

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More craft beer will make the world a better place with happier people. We are on a mission to show people just how rewarding hand crafted artisanal beers are. We want to put the passion, choice and flavour back into your beer glass.

What do you think is great about craft beer? Let us know below.

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Comments (55)
Ian Prise 17.03.2012 @ 2:02pm
Jings all this banging on about Brewdog being in league with the devil because they do a bit of business with Tesco's. What short memories people have! Brewdog entered their beers in to a competition run by Tesco, and won the contract to supply Tesco based on the quality of the beer. Brewdog at the time were a young company looking to grow the market for and availabilty of their beers. What better way than a big supermarket chain. It's just good business, and opened the door into the other big supermarkets too. The amount of shelf space supermarkets devote to cut price generic lager is still massive compared to the space they devote to craft beer, but at least due to the efforts of Brewdog and some other craft brewers, the supermarkets have been forced to recognise the growing market for craft beer and stock it in their stores. As for comparing supermarket and online shop prices, just buy it where you can find it the cheapest. Supermarkets will be willing to take less of a margin on a bottle, and remember they are already known for selling generic beer at below cost price just to get customers in the door.
Rabadabadoo 16.03.2012 @ 10:38pm
who gives a feck if tescos sells decent beer, where else am I ment to buy it. Back in the day if they'd selt ganj I'd have bought that there too.
hellboy 16.03.2012 @ 5:14pm
Tesco doing brewdog hardcore ipa (under a different name off coarse) for £2. Online shop £2.60. Jesus you must be raking it in.
revolting 16.03.2012 @ 4:51pm
I`ll take that as a no then
BrewDog James 16.03.2012 @ 2:40pm
@revolting InBev are not Tesco. And Tesco are not Inbev. Which makes your question pretty redundant.
revolting 16.03.2012 @ 12:52pm
JamesIf INBEV approached you with a product conceived, designed and launched by both companies co-branded. Would they also become good buddies?
Olsta 16.03.2012 @ 12:37pm
@ BrewDogJamesI go to the Cambridge beer festival every year and there is always a huge choice of styles. Even my local microbrewery, which has three cask ale beer festivals per year, manages to cover a very wide spectrum of styles. All I want to see is people stop arguing about definitions, and enjoying 'proper' beer. Whether that is a 4.2% 'boring brown bitter' or a 12% triple IPA is unimportant.
BrewDogJames 16.03.2012 @ 12:21pm
@revolting - we are good budies with all our customers. Kinda makes sense when you are running your own business. @Mel B - by 'with' I mean that it is a co-branded product and one both businesses worked together to conceive, design and launch.@ Olsta - perhaps a generalisation, but you get much more stylistic diversity at an American Craft Beer Festival than a UK cask ale festival (90% of the beers at the 2011 Scottish Real Ale Festival were 2 styles and between 4 and 5%).
mel b 16.03.2012 @ 12:07pm
When you say "we brew with tesco rather than for tesco" How exactly does that work ? some tesco staff go off to brewdog and stir in some hops and some brewdog staff go to tesco and stack some shelfs. or something like that.
Olsta 16.03.2012 @ 12:05pm
@ JamesMany cask brewers do indeed stick to narrow styles, but I'd say that many modern 'craft' brewers do the same - there seems to be a relentless output of IPAs, pale ales and imperial stouts.I'm lucky enough to live near a pub that specialises in cask ale and last night I was presented with choice of a porter, best bitter, pale ale, citra-hopped IPA, golden ale, stout and a black IPA.What I'm saying is that these generalisations aren't helpful for anyone.
revolting 16.03.2012 @ 11:55am
Tesco & Brewdog are good buddies....... ahhhhh.
Ben B 16.03.2012 @ 11:40am
In tough times, BrewDog is a welcome business success story. That the people involved are making a great product and delivering it on an ambitious scale is great. That they can also maintain a personal approach and interact with customers is also impressive. Arguing about what 'craft' is is as dull as CAMRA discussing whether a beer is 'true to style' rather than whether it's good. As long as the product is good, let's allow the brewers to define what they are. By the way, I'm equally happy at a CAMRA festival as at BrewDog Camden. Beer is fun.
BrewDog James 16.03.2012 @ 11:20am
@ Olsta - that statement you quoted is accurate and sums up our position. It is critical of how many cask brewers brew on too narrow a style spectrum not on the cask medium itself which suits beer styles such as milds and bitters, these are styles which we do not make much of at BrewDog.The Double IPA we brew for Tesco is a co-branded product - Our logo is huge on the label. So it is with Tesco as opposed to for Tesco. For us it is a great opportunity to get our double IPA into more peoples paws! It also shows how the beer scene is changing in the UK. When we started being able to find a 9.2% 150 IBU IIPA in a major multiple retailer was unthinkable. Now this beer is on the shelves and selling well and we are very proud of the beer and the collaborative effort between Tesco and ourselves to put the project together.Harvestoun and Williams Borthers are also part of this range and I do not think this makes them any less craft either.We have also brewed collaborative beers for retailers in the US such as the Old World Imperial Stout we brewed for Total Wine and More.
Gian G 16.03.2012 @ 10:38am
For the first time I am watching pics of making beer. It's awesome guys!!!<a href="http://www.thertastore.com/Oak_Kitchen_Cabinets_s/2696.htm">Oak kitchen cabinets</a>
Olsta 16.03.2012 @ 10:31am
@ BrewDog JamesApologies, but the reason I assumed you were 'anti-cask' as it were was because of this quote you gave in an interview last year:"But we don't like the cask ale thing for a start. If you look at the flavour spectrum, there's no diversity. They call themselves by their locations. They put twee maps on the backs of their bottles. Their target market seems to be guys that hang out at train stations at the weekends. Everything is between a 3.5% and 4.5% mild. It's not exciting and it's not cool."That's pretty much sounds like you're not a fan. Saying things like there's "no flavour spectrum" is counter-productive to the ale industry don't you think?But anyway, thanks for your response. I agree that different dispense methods suit certain beers and it's great that brewers are embracing this. Keg dispense also has the potential to open up new markets, another positive for the industry.As for 'arbitrary' distinctions, I agree entirely and I think that applies to the 'craft' definition as well. It may work as a definition in the US, but it's ambiguous here - is Greene King 'craft', for example? Sure, they are an industrial brewer (and I'm not a fan of their beers) but take a brewery tour and you'll see that they are very passionate about their beer and are totally committed to producing a quality product. What about 'Fuller's'? I'd say that they most certainly are, but many 'craft' fanboys would disagree.
realpunk 16.03.2012 @ 10:23am
Upon my weekly excursion around the monstrosity that is tesco. I happened to spy a can of brewdog PUNK! Yes i though i can purchase some of these and bring back some old memory's of the early 80s. They only had four, tried to ask if they had any more but the staff could not understand my language. so had to make do this quartet On arrival to my abode i promptly cracked one open.. and too my dismay it tasted like flowers! argh drank all four very quickly, did-int even make me vomit, how disappointing. PUNK is not what it used to be.
BenH 16.03.2012 @ 10:00am
A clash CD might not be any less cool when sold in tesco but a clash CD sold under the guise of 'tesco's finest punk' could perhaps be considered selling out.
xxxX 16.03.2012 @ 9:55am
Buying a clash cd in tesco should be a crime, punishment death by hanging.In saying that, buying anything from tesco should be a crime .Anyway real punks would never buy a bottle of premium craft beer at a premium craft beer price. Back in 79 the wreck the hoose juice of choice was vodka,buckfast and everybody's favorite carlsberg special brew with added fag-ash mmm......... bring back the good old days
BrewDog James 16.03.2012 @ 9:28am
@ Olsta - we are not vocal in our dislike of cask beer at all.Our position has always been the same. That cask dispense suits certain beer styles and not others and the type of beer we brew is much better showcased on keg as due to the amount of flavour, the beer needs to carbonation to best deliver the flavour to your taste buds.What we have been critical of in the past is not cask ale but CAMRA as we feel they have held back innovation and try to impose arbitrary distinctions which no longer make sense.
Olsta 16.03.2012 @ 9:19am
"Our mission is to make other people as passionate about great beer as we are."A noble mission indeed, but you seem to be very vocal in your dislike of cask beer, which pretty much every good UK 'craft' brewer produces these days (yes, I know keg is also popular).Surely if you wanted other people to be passionate about great beer, you'd put aside your personal problem with cask and encourage people to sample ANY good beer.
BrewDog James 16.03.2012 @ 9:05am
Love jealous cyber trolls :)BrewDog 'probably the worst worst example of a greedy profit-driven monstrosity the world has yet seen'. Maybe. Our mission is to make other people as passionate about great beer as we are. By selling to supermarkets we are able to get our beers to a much wider audience. By selling to mulitples we increase the availability of great beer which means more people can choose craft over generic. And for us this is only a good thing. A Clash CD is not any less cool because you can buy it at Tesco.
revolting 16.03.2012 @ 8:35am
BREWDOG fighting the great battle against the giant faceless corporations,on behalf of craft brewers everywhere... yeah.... rightHowever back to reality ,doing deals with the men in suits at tesco (tescos double ipa brewed by brewdog) probably the worst example of a greedy profit-driven monstrosity the world has yet seen. Talk about the tail wagging the dog.
gary 16.03.2012 @ 8:07am
Its amazing. I am too fond Of beer.<a href="http://cinematube.in">latest bollywood movies</a>
Gary 16.03.2012 @ 8:05am
Your Blog is truly informative for me and i am so grateful to you for sharing this informative Video here. Its really great job done by you.
Ivan 15.03.2012 @ 11:42pm
Thank you. Reading this made me feel a special tinkle in a very private part...my heart of course.
mico 15.03.2012 @ 6:47pm
When does a craft brewer become a non craft brewer ? Is it the size of there output, cutting costs with ingredients corn, rice, hop pellets, aroma oils or brewing for tescos. When profits become the overriding factor. I dont buy beer, i make my own. That way craft brewers will live forever
mico 15.03.2012 @ 6:15pm
Hi JamesHave you any plans to sell other scottish craft beers in your bars. Harviestouns Schiehallion and Cairngorms Tradewinds, spring to mind, Fantastic brews that dont rely on hop overkill. Also some of the belguim trappists ales and german hefeweiziens would be a great addition to your amazing brews
THOR 15.03.2012 @ 4:43pm
Nice bit of marketing there MR T you should get a job at brewdog.
Sammy 15.03.2012 @ 4:32pm
The Beer and Food picture brings back many happy memories of the Tim Anderson BrewDog Beer Dinner.Get him back to Musa!
Max 15.03.2012 @ 4:31pm
Awesome to see Jonny from Camden looking so happy to be emptying the mash tun!
Mr T 15.03.2012 @ 4:30pm
A cynic is a person who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.BrewDog beers are among the most fairly priced gourmet products in the world. |Anyone not happy with Punk IPA at £1.59 is not worthy of the beer!
BrewDog James 15.03.2012 @ 4:28pm
@THOR+HellboyOur RRP for Punk is £1.59 and we like to be priced in line with our main customers. This covers our online management and distribution costs and offers great value.If ASDA want to sell it slightly cheaper, that is their decision for their business.
hellboy 15.03.2012 @ 3:32pm
And here`s me thinking that buying online would be cheaper than supermarket What an idiot.
xxxX 15.03.2012 @ 3:06pm
Ive seen it at tescos for £1.38...What bloody idiots....
THOR 15.03.2012 @ 2:57pm
Brewdog JamesPunk ipa £1.59 fantastic value online shop.......Poor ASDA selling it at £1.46 ...... they must be making a loss. Idiots
Marco 15.03.2012 @ 2:46pm
Love the video at the top. Still gives me goosebumps!
Bex 15.03.2012 @ 2:41pm
The International Beer Community is my favourite thing about craft beer!go BrewDog!
BrewDog James 15.03.2012 @ 2:41pm
@THOR - thanks for your comment. While I understand Tokyo* is relatively expensive this is a beer we can only make tiny batches of and it takes us over 6 months to make. Pushing fermentation to over 18% is extremely difficult and requires beer to be made in extremely small batches and a lot of effort and ingredients! Given the time, ingredients and cost to making it and also the ABV we feel it is fairly priced and we don't make much of a margin on it at all. Punk IPA is available for 1.59 on our online shop which is amazing value considering the amount of hops we have in there. We want to share great beer with as many people as we can - for more information on craft beer pricing check out this link http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/340
THOR 15.03.2012 @ 2:23pm
When you charge £9.99 for a 330ml bottle of beer. Thats not craft beer, thats crafty marketing, ripping off, piss taking, profiteering beer.
Olsta 15.03.2012 @ 1:51pm
Davidsmmrs45 That's a shame - you're missing out on a LOT of good beer if you restrict yourselves to Brewdog's bars.The marketing really works doesn't it.
SheepDip 15.03.2012 @ 1:31pm
@DarceyPretty sure you wouldn't find it in your local supermarket then though...!
Darcey 15.03.2012 @ 1:26pm
I do believe that since the mid 80's micros in the UK have been producing some fantastic 'craft' beer. The revolution started before you were born...
Davidsmmrs45 15.03.2012 @ 1:09pm
Well said the Brewdog pub is only place I drink my beer.
Mr T 15.03.2012 @ 1:06pm
Great Blog Post James. Long Live the Craft Beer Revolution
xxxX 15.03.2012 @ 12:56pm
Yeah... soon as you sell and accept payment. YOU ARE PART OF THE ESTABLISHMENT .
nserfo 15.03.2012 @ 12:42pm
@hellboy true story. but then that "anti-establishment" label feels like an insult to my intelligence.
mico 15.03.2012 @ 12:39pm
I make my own beer, its very easy and cheap to brew. I give some away to friends. I would never sell it. Thats what i call true craft brewing.
hellboy 15.03.2012 @ 12:20pm
Like all revolutions it starts out as a dream. Then the reality kicks in, craft brewers sell out to the big corporations.already happening (Tesco branded craft brews already) People are naturally greedy .this is how it has always been, and always will be.Sad but thats just the way it is.
Olsta 15.03.2012 @ 11:07am
I like 'good' beer.
Mark 15.03.2012 @ 11:06am
I love craft beer :)
Higheralcohol 15.03.2012 @ 10:43am
Well said Brewdog. Lead us into the light of the craft revolution in the UK.
nserfo 15.03.2012 @ 10:02am
11. The fact that you can get Tesco branded craft made by a craft brewer. Fight the corporate machine!Olsta 15.03.2012Ditto! Hypocrit bastards
Olsta 15.03.2012 @ 8:17am
11. The fact that you can get Tesco branded craft made by a craft brewer. Fight the corporate machine!
Russell J 15.03.2012 @ 8:04am
I hope that your Magic Rock night this week is the start of you really reaching out and leading the craft brewing movement in the UK. More British Craft beer in Brewdog Camden please.
BrotherLogic 15.03.2012 @ 8:01am
All brewdog beers are 100% craft - well done brewdog!