The Craft Beer Off License featuring BottleDog

BottleDog is a new venture from those controversial BrewDog boys. Satisfied with conquering the "craft beer" bar market with trendy hipster magnet drinking holes up and down the country, they're now taking on the humble off license. Well actually they're not really taking on the off license as judging by this first outlet they are offering a specific product, which is beers that come in tiny bottles with wacky labels and ABVs at the higher end of the scale. You're not going to find multipack offers on Fosters or Carling here.

I remember when this building was a cabby's accountancy firm

As the place is across the road from where I work I thought it would be rude not to visit on opening day.The place was doing a roaring trade when I walked past at lunchtime and when I popped in after 6pm it was quieter but still doing a brisk trade. The BrewDog branding is scaled back and there's nothing on the front of the shop showing that it's a BrewDog venture. It doesn't even advertise itself as a off license which confused a big group of punters who walked in expecting the place to be a bar. After confirming amongst themselves that there wasn't a seating area in the back where they could drink their purchases they quickly turned tail and left. Despite the low key branding there are a few BrewDog hallmarks in the shop  - stripped back decor, cool tunes being played, and plenty of trendy beers on offer.

So many beers, so little time. Well actually you've got from 12pm - 9pm
 every weekday (plus Saturdays!)

I was pleased to see the prices were competitive and the German and Belgian beers in particular were very reasonably priced. All the major London craft breweries including Pressure Drop, Siren and Beavertown were represented, plus of course BrewDogs own offerings - although I didn't spot any of BrewDog's rarer beers. There also two taps dispensing booze to take home in "growlers" - sadly not a dog full of beer but a fancy term for a glass bottle. I spoke to the enthusiastic manager who mentioned there are plans to do Meet the Brewer events and there will be additional taps installed for more take home offerings. I look forward to revisiting in the future.

BottleDog isn't the only game in town for craft beer off licenses. Another shop worth visting is the Oddbins in London Bridge. I found out about this place from the excellent "Craft Beer London" app on Android and iPhone. I never would of guessed that an Oddbins, more known for their wine offerings, would be a hotbed of hot new brewery activity. They stock all the cool London brands at prices slightly cheaper than BottleDog. Unfortunately the staff aren't as clued up as the BrewDog boys but there are some tasting notes nestled amongst the bottles. Well worth a visit if you're stuck in the building site dystopia which is London Bridge, with the ominous and downright creepy "The Shard" looming down on you.

For a more traditional off license The Bitter End in leafy Bromley is well worth a visit if you're in the area. They are always well stocked with beers from respected brewers such as Harveys, Dark Star and Oakham. The occasional newer brewery is also represented - I picked up an excellent American Pale Ale from Croydon brewery Clarence and Fredericks. They also have around six beers sitting in barrels behind a makeshift bar, ready to be poured out for lucky punters to take home. These are usually session bitters such as Wadsworth 6X but last time I was there Dark Star Seville was on, in great form, and at a very reasonable price to take home.

Say what you will about the craft beer movement, one big benefit is that there's a huge selection of beers available in high street shops, at least in and around London. But even out of town it's easier to get beers that are a big step above the usual Fosters and Carling tat. Before you could only get these beers at specialised pubs and bars - and at high prices. Let's hope this wide range continues to be stocked even when the "craft beer" frenzy, inevitably, calms down.

Hastings revisit - The Dolphin and First in Last Out

I went down to Hastings on Good Friday, as I fancied a trip to the seaside and it's pretty easy to get their from my house on the train. Being a holiday weekend I was preparing for the worst on the train journey: screaming kids, stroppy parents and a generally miserable atmosphere. In reality although there were a few young 'uns on the train it was actually pretty quiet. Another surprise for me was how quiet Hastings was considering it was a holiday weekend. To be fair the town isn't looking its best these days, and with Brighton, Eastbourne and other better maintained seaside towns nearby maybe Hastings doesn't have much appeal these days. There isn't really much to attract people down there besides the shopping and the (stony) beach. You also have to leave before sundown to avoid getting attacked by the towns blossoming population of chavs.

I'm hoping the place will start receiving a bit more love from the local council over the next few years as there's still a bit of charm to the place. However none of it is found in the "new town" which is the first thing visitors come across leaving the train station and main car parks. This gormless concrete mass of generic town centre shops isn't going to win anybody over. But walk down towards the old town and things get a whole lot nicer, with little antique and curio shops dotted about that you can easily kill a few hours in. Amongst the antique shops on the outskirts of the Old Town is the First In Last Out, a brewery tap for the FILO brewery, which is a few hundred metres up the road from the pub. I've written about this place before and I enjoyed my time there, and I was looking forward to going back.

The atmosphere was gently buzzing when I walked in with a nice mix of locals and beer seeking tourists. I was pleased to see a small beer festival was on over the Easter weekend. Before I hit the guest ales I tried a FILO ale, the Old Town Tom. Curiously this was the only beer among the FILO range which was labelled as a "craft beer." I have no idea why this one was craft and the others weren't, as the FILO is a small, talented brewery and I wouldn't raise an eyebrow if they labelled all their beers as craft. Curious craft branding aside, the Town Tom was a decent sup, with a ginger kick that added a bit of character to the brew.

I also tried a couple of beers from their festival. Dark Star Seville was on, and what a lovely beer this is. Packed full of orange flavours with every hoppy mouthful, this was a absolute pleasure and I would of happily drank this all day. But instead of getting another I tried a Roosters 41 Degrees North. Despite the tasting notes promising plenty of New Zealand hop flavours, this was a curiously flat tasting ale, with none of the hoppy goodness I've had from other South Pacific beers such as High Wire NZ or Thornbridge Kipling. Disappointing.

My second pub on the trip was The Dolphin, which I was visiting for the first time. This CAMRA award winning pub was in the more touristy harbour area of the town, and it's situated across the road from old fishing huts. Inside the decor is suitably nautically themed, with fishing nets, captain hats, ropes and other sailing knick knacks scattered around the walls and ceiling. A blackboard proudly displayed the varied ales on offer. There was also a separate blackboard listing "craft ales." Like in the FILO I have no idea how the landlord at The Dolphin decides what classes a beer as craft. The only diference I could see is that all the ales on the craft board were 30p more expensive than the "normal" ales. The breweries on the craft board were Meantime and Charles Wells. Personally I'd class Meantime as craft as they're not really in the "big league" brewers. Charles Wells however is a rather cynical attempt from the Youngs Brewery to cash in on the craft craze, and I don't think it deserved to be on the board.

I opted for a couple of the "non-craft" ales. Franklins Brewery Citra was a good effort at an American flavoured IPA, with a decent mouthful of fruity hops in every sip. Buntingford Brewery Polar Star was another hoppy treat, this time a blonde beer. Both beers were in excellent condition and very flavoursome. Other customers were tucking into tasty looking food, with fish dishes appearing to be the house speciality - unsurprising considering the location right by the fisherman's huts. A good little boozer and one I would be happy to return to.

Next week I'll be (hopefully) writing about the new BrewDog venture "BottleDog," which appears to be a upmarket offie. See you then!

Brains Craft Brewery

This "craft beer" movement that you may have read about on the internet and the newspapers is a funny thing. I still don't think anybody really knows what craft beer is but as long as decent ales keep appearing I'm happy for the movement to continue. Some of the more established breweries have noticed that there's money to be made with this weird craft thing and more and more beers are now suddenly "crafted" by brewers. I find this pretty patronising mainly because it's obvious beer is crafted unless they've previously been digging beer out the ground or just cut open a tree and wait for the ale to spill out? But I guess if the breweries think they sell a few more bottles by slapping "craft " on the label then fair game to them.

One brewery that has embraced the craft movement further than just re-badging existing beers with a craft label is Brains. This Welsh outfit have started a new brand of beers from the Brains "Craft Brewery." They've got some beer writers and other non brewers in the beer world to help out with creating the ales. Now I'm sure these guys are excellent at tasting and reviewing beers but whether they know how to produce a decent one themselves is open to debate. I know if I was given the chance to make a beer it would probably end up being a horrific failure with an initial hoppy flavour leading to vomiting, paralysis and eventually death. That's why I stick to writing about beer rather than making it, and even the writing I'm not great at seeing as I completely failed to produce any new content last Sunday.

The Brains Craft Brewery beers were available in Tesco on a 4 for £6 offer so I thought it rude not to give them a try. I could tell they were craft beers immediately as they had trendy labels and were in kid sized 330ml bottles. First up was Barry Island IPA, labelled on the bottle as an American Style IPA and a collaboration with "YouTube real ale reviewer extraordinaire" Simon Martin. True to the description this was a hoppy, boozy drink. It was a good attempt at recreating the highly hopped, Lagunitas style IPA. Recommended.

The other brew I tried was the Boilermaker. According to the Brains website this is a collaboration with "Ben and Tom from Thinking Drinkers." I have no idea who they are but according to their website they are trying to "revive the lost art of discerning drinking." A bold aim but this beer isn't going to help their cause. Despite the label promising vanilla notes and a whisky finish, I could taste neither. Instead it was a rather muddy IPA flavour, nothing outstanding and nowhere near as pleasant as the Barry Island IPA. A shame as this beer sounded the more exciting of the two but it just didn't deliver on what was promised.

It's good to see Brains trying something different and getting the beer blogging community involved. More experimentation in the brewing industry is always welcome and who knows what winning formula they may hit upon. But some experiments shouldn't be released into the wild and while the Barry Island was definitely ready for release I think the Boilermaker could have done with a bit more work before being sold to the public. It's not the first craft beer I've tried that wasn't ready for public consumption, and luckily thanks to Tesco's deal it wasn't so much of a costly mistake to me as some other craft beers have been. Overall though I look forward to trying more beers from the Brains Craft Brewery.