A Bridge Between US and UK Beer Culture

English beer fans followed the recent drama of the Scottish referendum with trepidation. If the Scots voted ‘yes,’ what would it mean for the availability of BrewDog beers over the border?! Luckily, they decided to stay so below is the story of what we didn’t lose….

The current UK brewing and drinking scene is heavily, although not universally, influenced by American craft beer. Pioneers of bringing the American way of doing things to the UK are Scotland’s BrewDog – whom US readers most likely know because of their Esquire TV series or because of the 5 Stupid Questions they answered for ACB.

They divide opinion in the UK. Many see the publicity stunts and beers as strong as spirits that put them on the craft beer map as indicators of style over substance perpetrated by arrogant upstarts. Others think driving a tank down a north London high street (to mark the opening of their bar in Camden), serving beers from taxidermied stoats and squirrels, and brewing beers at 55% ABV, 41% ABV, and 32% ABV (The End of History, Sink the Bismarck, and Tactical Nuclear Penguin, respectively) – just because they can – as acts of inspirational genius or at the very least savvy marketing.

There are also those Brits who loathe BrewDog for turning their backs on the idea of cask ale (they brew only for keg, bottle, and can) and for their negative attitude toward British hops – although their Brixton Porter does feature two traditional UK varieties, Fuggles and Goldings.

But British or American, if you love craft beer at its hoppiest, whackiest, and best, you can’t afford to ignore BrewDog. Not only do they brew incredibly tasty and high-quality beers, but they also have a chain of successful bars marked out partly by top-notch – you could say US-style – customer service. BrewDog bar staff members are also encouraged to undergo Cicerone training – in a further nod to the US – even though the UK has its own formal Beer Sommelier accreditation.

The US comparisons don’t end there. The way BrewDog began and the success its founders James Watt and Martin Dickie have achieved easily fits within the idea of the American Dream (albeit born from not being able to find beer they wanted to drink rather than a more traditional example of adversity). Watt and Dickie tell the story – which could be an urban legend – of getting the loan that allowed them to fulfill a 2,000 cases of beer per week contract with a British supermarket chain by lying to the bank about everything, from their existing debts to how many staff they had. The truth had gotten them nowhere with their bank, but wheeling out some whoppers secured the funds they needed… and eventually led to where they are today: reporting an annual turnover of some £18m (although profits are a more modest £2.3m) and employing around 300 people.

Their new brewery site in the small, and fairly remote, Aberdeenshire town of Ellon in the far north east of Scotland is, by UK standards, huge. Its a temple dedicated to hops filled with icons of brushed stainless steel – otherwise known as a five-vessel brewhouse that can turn out 10,000 litres per brew destined for a ‘tank farm’ of fermenting vessels allowing some 13,400 hectolitres to mature at once. It’s much more like the US breweries I’ve visited than the tiny UK microbreweries in warehouses, farm buildings, and even backyard sheds that make up much of the more than 1,200 existing British breweries.

But before you get too excited, I’ll have to dash your hopes. Despite their US TV show Brewdogs – recommissioned for a third season – there are no plans to open a BrewDog bar in the States. And although they have a distribution deal with Anchor Brewery in San Francisco, they admit their stronger, darker brews travel better than the IPAs and pale ales that are their bestsellers back home.

Still – there you have it – an excuse to head across the Atlantic to drink Britain’s answer to American craft beer.