The second box of BrewDog’s Fanzine beers arrived on Thursday. You’re probably familiar with the concept by now – if not, read about it here. It’s basically a fortnightly subscription service where you’ll get three surprise beers delivered to your door.
The pick of the first box was Nebula, a big, dark imperial stout. No such dark beers in this batch though – we opened up with Jinx, a pale ale weighing in at 4.7%. This is labelled as V1 Washington Hop Edition so expect to see different hop incarnations of this beer in future. At a time of intensely hopped, murky juice bombs, this pale is unashamedly old school. It’s got a light biscuity malt backbone with a touch of sweetness and the hops give it a balanced, soft bitterness that make this very quaffable.
A great BBQ beer (or perfect with a slice of your favourite spicy pizza) that would please the seasoned craft beer drinker or one to share with your macro lager drinking friends to nudge them towards the light that is craft beer. It has a refreshing fizz that screams out for sunny days.
Next came the one we were looking forward to the least – Fool’s Gold, a Dortmunder lager with 5.6% of your alcohols. We’re not big lager fans here so everything we say carries that caveat but this was very pleasant. It poured crystal clear and almost colourless which made us fear the worst, however, it had a surprisingly smooth character that you’d expect from a beer brewed with some oats in the malt bill. It added something extra to lift this above the everyday, local pub style of lager.
The flavours are subtle, as per the style, with a nice crisp finish. Another one to pair with a meal that packs a kick, this will refresh the palate for the next round of spicy goodness.
The last beer of this batch is King of Eights V1, an east coast style IPA that packs the most punch of the trio at 6.9%. We got a little too excited pouring this one, beholding the murky dream that left the can. The aroma a beautiful mix of stone fruits and caramel, with more sweetness than expected. That first taste also took us by surprise – loads of bitter hop bite that lingered, working really well against the anticipated flavours of peach and mango.
Reminiscent of the early Born to Die range but with a creamy mouthfeel – without checking we reckon there’s a good handful of oats in the malt bill. This beer didn’t stay in the glass long and we’re excited to see what subsequent versions will bring.
Overall, very happy campers with this selection. King of Eights was the standout but Jinx and Fool’s Gold were worthy takes on their respective styles. We’re looking forward to the different hop editions of King of Eights and Jinx.
I’m stoked that they’re available at the same £11 delivered to my friends back in Northern Ireland who don’t (yet…) have any local BrewDog bars to visit. Come on, BrewDog… Belfast wants, nay, NEEDS you.
For now though, get signed up. At this price, you’ll be impressed.
If you’re going to sign-up for Fanzine, bag yourself a £10 BrewDog gift card by signing up here.
