Kmflett's Blog

Memoirs of a Brewdog drinker

Brewdog both the breweries and bars is likely up for sale. The financials have pointed that way for a bit but that’s for another post.

Here I want to address social media commentary that not only are Brewdog beers shit, they have always been shit.

Not in my experience.

I don’t linger on Twitter in 2026 but I retain my historic archive. I had a look back to the times when Brewdog started to make an impact in London and environs. The impact was considerable. I found that I had enjoyed a Punk IPA (cask, keg had yet to happen) at CAMRA’s Cambridge Beer Festival in May 2010. On January 23^rd 2011 I was drinking a Punk IPA at 6% and a Hardcore IPA at 9.2%. Looking at January 2012 I was drinking a Brewdog Winter Porter 6%, a Brewdog Scotch Ale 7.5% and a bottle of Brewdog Paradox Jura Imperial Stout 15%

Those were indeed the days.

In more recent times certainly in the last 5 years I rarely venture into a Brewdog due its numerous reputational issues and also because the beer is not very interesting. Not shit, just run of the mill. A world away from the 2010/11 period.

In the interests of a more balanced 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 (September 2025).

After a suitable rest in the fridge, I duly drank the can of Punk. It would be stretching matters to suggest that it was 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.

To underline the point a few days before Christmas I was in central Cardiff for a family meal. Being a little early I went for a pint. Of course the bars were very busy, but the issue was what was on the bar was not worth the effort. Eventually I wandered into Brewdog which is opposite the Principality Stadium (very central indeed for those unfamiliar with Cardiff). It was not busy. I had a pint of a murky NEIPA and had an entire table to myself. The beer was perfectly OK but it could have been brewed by N number of brewers. It did not, as Punk did in 2010/11, suggest this is a standout Brewdog beer.

It happens, but kudos to those brewers from the same period, I’m thinking of Kernel, Pressure Drop, Redemption who have managed to avoid it happening…