After plenty of jibba-jabba about food lately, it's time to turn back to the pleasures of the demon drink. No, fear not, I haven't started delving into the world of home-brewing (we all know how that can turn out), I still prefer to let the experts produce my alcoholic beverages of choice. One of the joys of living in the UK is the wealth of real ales brewed in every region, and ever since I moved to Scotland I've been enjoying beers produced all over the nation, from Valhalla Brewery on Unst to the Borders-based Broughton Ales and oh-so-many inbetween. There's plenty of pubs that make room for guest real ales, while you can find them bottled in delicatessens, off-licences of good repute and supermarkets. Whisky may get all the international publicity when it comes to Scottish drinks, but some of the very best beers in the British Isles are to be found up here.
Given the generally high standard of Scottish beers (Tennants notwithstanding) it's always a pleasure when someone comes along with a beer that stands out from the crowd. The first time I tried Black Isle Brewery's delicious Heather Honey Ale was one such occasion, as was the moment at last year's Enjoy The Taste Of Scotland when I tried a beer from a brewery I'd never heard of before and my eyes boggled (more so than usual) at the excellence. The beer was Paradox, the brewery was Brewdog, a microbrewery based in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, that have quickly built up a reputation for distinctive bottled beers with a strong, eye-catching design and, one suspects, a good eye for stirring up a bit of controversy when it suits. Still, eyebrow-raising and snazzy graphics don't count for shit if the beer isn't up to scratch, but since being bowled over by the potent whisky echoes of Paradox I've tried a few of their brews and they've all been top-notch. No wonder that Brewdog have since become one of my favourite breweries, though I've often been frustrated by their unavailability at my usual beer-buying shops - still, from a purely business point-of-view, it probably makes sense to focus efforts on Sainsburys and Tesco rather than, say, Peckhams. Be nice if they could stretch out to Waitrose though...
Anyway, I was asked a few weeks back by their PR peeps Dada if I'd like to try out a new beer of Brewdog's. What do you think? Lo and behold, a nice big box turns up containing a dozen of 330ml bottles of Zeitgeist. A black lager (pretty rare - the only one I'd tried before was Samuel Adams' in America and there's none normally to be seen in the shops, though Leffe Brun is similar), the bottle labels are distinctively designed, curiously lacking in any Brewdog branding itself. Even more so than previous Brewdog beers, the design stands out a mile from other beers, centred around screenprinted artwork by Heather Brennan. The text that natters about refusing the slaughterhouse of conformity feels a bit toothless and irrelevant, especially as it tells you chuff-all about the drink itself. You could argue it's making a positive selling point out of being a type of beer that isn't well known, that isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea (so to speak), but can you still speak of non-conformity and punk rock when your wares are selling in Tesco? I dunno. Still, it beats the crap out of "if Carling made..." and the bottles sure look pretty all lined up like so. But enough of the cover, let's get to the contents.
Like I said, it's a black lager, coming in at 4.9%. According to the press release printed here, "before the advent of modern pale malting technology, all lagers were black." Intriguing, but is it actually any good? Oh yes. Any suspicions of gimmickry are swept away at the first taste. At room temperature it's not far from the deep rich flavour of a stout, though still that bit lighter. I drink it slowly, initial impressions of dark chocolate, treacle and porter, gulping the glugs back to savour the lingering aftertaste like liquorice, marmite on toast. Nice, distinctive, rich, far better than anything labelled lager is supposed to be.
Chilled it slips down quickly - there's less depth to the taste which makes it smoother, easier to knock back. The cold gives it a refreshing edge that dampens down the aforementioned stoutiness, yet it still has more flavor than the usual chilled lager. I'd particularly love to sink a few cold bottles of this at a gig, far superior to the bland offerings of Carling, Stella, Miller or Budweiser that seem to have the monopoly of music venues. Given Brewdog's punk love, I can't think of any better circumstance for a chilled Zeitgeist than in some small sweaty subterranean venue, ears getting bashed to shit by feedback & shrieks.
Anyway, until Brewdog start sponsoring a Torche/Melt Banana/Mastodon tour (a boy can dream...) my personal preference for this particular bevvy must be room-temperature. It allows the flavours to come through clearly and be savoured, not necked back like your average lager that practically bypasses your taste buds en route from bottle to throat. It's a cracking drink, just right for times when you'd like the flavour of a heavy beer without the weight that comes with it. And at 4.9% it won't overwhelm the way a couple of Paradox's would, well suited for a session with friends, enjoying at home or at the pub (if they'd only stock it). Given the remarkably low price for a box of 12 direct from Brewdog I'd certainly recommend it to any beer afficionados that like a walk on the dark side.
(Cheers to Toni Morrison and Craig McGill at Dada for spreading the good word and even better beer!)
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