Bottled Up: Brewdog Punk IPA

The Portman Group, the drinks industry's humour-bypassed regulatory body, have provisionally upheld their decision to force the removal of three Brewdog beers from retailer's shelves due to the 'aggressive marketing' used by the brewer.

The complaints begger belief. Hop Rocker is marketed with the phrases “nourishing foodstuff” and “Magic is still there to be extracted”; the Portman panel said that implies the drink could enhance mental and physical capabilities. Er, WTF??? Rip Tide, being a “twisted merciless stout” – is associated in their eyes with antisocial behaviour. And one of my favourite beers, Punk IPA, which is described on the small print of the back label as an “aggressive beer”... Portman say that the use of the word aggression “is more likely to be seen applying to the drinker rather than the drink”. FFS.

This was supposed to be a blog about a great bottle of beer. But now it's got far, far more important things to say. You want to know the truth about Punk IPA and Brewdog? Can you handle the truth?



I can tell you all about Punk IPA. About Punk IPA chilled in the freezer for 45 minutes. Or Punk IPA cooled in the cellar. Or Punk IPA straight off the shelf. Punk IPA with fish and chips. Punk IPA takes the edge off. Punk IPA drops me a mental gear. Punk IPA makes me wanna Photoshop.

It's one of those IPAs that actually tastes of something. I'm a lover of Thornbridge Jaipur as well, but Punk is subtly different; a duskier colour, sweeter malts, aromas more fruit bowl than citric cocktail. As it's stocked in the Asda superstore I happen to walk past on my way home every day, it's become a bottle I keep a regular stock of. Indeed, I bought a dozen bottles last week to hand out around my colleagues in a moment of pure beer evangelism/altruism. It goes with fish & chips better than my usual bottle of swirly-handed Sauvignon Blanc from M&S and knocks the harshness off a chilli con carne.



And for a brewery that's only been in production for eighteen months they have a reputation for innovation and quality that exceeds many established brewers. Beer bloggers declare their love for it. The brewers are rightly proud of it. It's a high quality product sold to a discerning customer base. So, what's Portman's beef?



To be honest, they seem to act like a third-quality firewall. Words used in marketing - in the small print on the back of a bottle - are being taken wholly out of context and deeemed to be offensive or inciting. I'd love to know how many complaints have been made about Brewdog. And how many complaints have been made about supermarkets actively marketing cut price canned beers. I'd pick apart all the logic and language faults made by Portman in relation to the Brewdog case but Brewdog have already done this is the most eloquent fashion.



Let's let the Portman Group know what we think. Mail to info@portmangroup.org.uk. You may want to call their guy in charge of complaints about beer marketing, David Poley, on 020 7907 3702. And show some solidarity on the Brewdog blog.

As for whether the brewer ought to change their wording - I'd be tempted to ship 'Censored' stickers to retailers and generate more debate, but that's a cost that Brewdog could probably do without. And where will all those 'inappropriate' bottles end up? Perhaps the USA or mainland Europe, who don't sem to have the problems that Portman have.

All beer lovers need to kick up a stink and raise the profile of this pointless ruling. The Portman Group cannot be allowed to bully more microbrewers in this way. I am appealing to any Code of Conduct signatories to make it clear to Portman that enough is enough. The key word is responsibility - that responsibility works both ways. Brewdog are not encouraging irresponsible drinking; Portman ought to take responsibility for their heavy-handed and short-sighted approach to policing the code.

And if you're reading, you buyers for Asda and Tesco - if you're happy to mass-discount cheap cans, where's the problem in stocking Punk?

This is thin-end-of-the-wedge, beer lovers. Don't let Portman ruin this industry.