Over a Pint Episode 24 with James Watt of BrewDog
Looky looky. It’s time for another Over a Pint.
Number 24, that’s about 20 more than I ever thought we’d do.
And what a good one. We really wrangled in a good guest for this one (thanks Josh!)
We sit down with Mr. James Watt, head of stuff and emperor penguin at BrewDog for a few minutes before his Draught House hosted BrewDog tasting (yeah, I know that happened over a month ago… we have day jobs.)
James jumped across the pond to promote the release of the 32%abv Tactical Nuclear Penguin (previous World’s Strongest Beer) and the 41%abv Sink the Bismarck! (current World’s Strongest Beer.) See the videos here and here. Probably you are already familiar with the back and forth for the title between BrewDog and German brewery Schorschbrau.
BrewDog achieves these high alcohol levels in their beers via freeze distilling (fractional freezing.) As alcohol freezes at a lower temperature than water, as they freeze the beers, it removes water and leaves more alcohol… can I explain a simpler idea simplier? Look here for more.
James was kind enough to open a bottle of the Penguin for our video (did you also nearly shit your pants when he used the Bismarck! as a bottle opener?!?!) It was nice. At 32%abv, it was incredibly drinkable. There was an amazing flavor presence for the amount of alcohol. I liked it. Not a your go-to six pack beer, but good for once in a while.
Later that night for the finally of the tasting James opened a few bottles of the Bismarck!. A “quadruple” IPA, at 41%abv it retained a great amount of hop flavors. James explained that it was “freeze hopped”; a method where the oils from fresh hops are extracted and infused into the beer as it is being frozen. Also, not bad.
As of now only the Penguin is available in the US (only 400 odd bottles in NY and CA) with the Bismarck! only available online. Some have criticized BrewDog as being gimmicky or extreme for extreme’s sake. In my opinion, yes, they are over the top, and I think BrewDog would be the first to admit that, but after trying them I think they came up with something that may not be for everyone, but it is good for what it is. I was pleasantly surprised at how much flavor and dynamic tastes were present in these high ABV beers. Definitely more than a gimmick. Or at least a lot of work and attention to detail for just a gimmick.
In the words of my favorite beer critic, “They were tasty.”
Besides the Penguin and Bismarck!, the Draught House tasting featured a ten beer flight. The standouts for me included the 5AM Saint (a session-able hoppy red coming soon to the US), the Tokio/Tokyo/Tokyo* (an 18%abv imperial stout with loads of spices), the Smokehead (a smoked imperial stout) and the Hardcore 2X IPA which recently won Gold at the World Beer Cup.
The tasting was great. Hopefully the Draught House will do more events like this (word has it there is a cheese and beer pairing in the works.)
For the video James and I are drinking the Paradox Isle of Arran, and imperial stout aged in oak whisky casks. Very smooth, dynamic (listen to James’ description!) and drinkable. So if you can, crack open a cold one and join us over a pint!
Enjoy!
