Drinking a Brewdog Punk IPA 2010-2025
I write a fair bit about Brewdog, most of it critical, so in the interests of a more balance perspective I thought I’d see what their flagship beer Punk IPA tastes like these days. I bought a can in Sainsburys for £2.20.
Back in the day (i.e. 2010) I drank Punk on cask and memory suggests it was a gloriously hoppy beer, ground breaking indeed. Of course memory is unreliable and in any case what worked in 2010 doesn’t particularly work in 2025.
After a suitable rest in the fridge, I duly drank the can of Punk. It would be stretching matters to suggest that its hop forward, although in the balance between malt and hops it was the latter that won out. It was relatively easy drinking, if unremarkable.
Clearly Brewdog as with other ex-craft brewers who are looking for mass market appeal, is producing a beer that those who don’t like hop bombs but still like their beer to taste of something beer like will buy.
Perhaps they are succeeding on that but there are two issues. Firstly its arguably the Punk name and ‘rebel’ image that is the selling point as much as the beer itself. That Punk image has taken quite a PR battering in recent times, rightly so in my view.
The second issue is one of price. Punk IPA is currently on sale on 794 Wetherspoons pubs mostly at under a fiver a pint. In Brewdog’s own pubs its considerably more. Beyond the image, if you want an easy drinking beer, there are others at least as good out there at more cost of living friendly prices.
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