Brewing up a storm.

Those who know me well will know that I gave up alcohol for 10 months last year and since then I have not drunk anywhere near the volume that I was for most of my adult life. The interesting thing is that I now enjoy the drinks I have much more than I did previously. I have also become very choosy when it comes to what I am drinking. I linger at the beer section, umming and aghing at the selection now available and look forward to tasting the beer I buy rather than just drinking it.
It was during one of these decision making exercises that I spotted a couple of beers from a company called BrewDog. 5AM Saint (an amber ale, full flavoured malty and topped off with the most amazing fruity, floral top notes.) and Punk IPA (described as a "post modern classic pale ale") were both superb handcrafted, complex and delicious.
Apart from the superb quality of their products, the thing which appealed to me most about this 5 year old company was the attitude of their marketing. They are unashamedly angry about the quality of mass produced, establishment beers, they describe themselves as "pure punk." In their own words "BrewDog is a modern day rebellion against faceless corporate bureaucracy and the bland, soulless beer they industrially produce"
Their website www.brewdog.com is a testament to this irreverent attitude.
In many ways I am very "establishment" and not a fan of negative promotional campaigns but we need many more companies in the ethical food movement like this. Its no longer good enough just to produce a great ethical, artisan or unique product; we need some serious anger in the marketing of these great products. We also need to get angry as consumers and stop settling for the bland, the over industrial, the globalised and the boring food and drink products that have been sold to us as the norm for the last few decades.
In conclusion, I quote again from the mass of vitriol supplied in all of BrewDog's copy - "BrewDog is about breaking rules, taking risks, upsetting trends, unsettling institutions but first and foremost, great tasting beers"
Amen to that!