Ghost Deer

 Last Night I paid my shortest ever visit to Brewdog Aberdeen. Ghost Deer was on for one night only and I just happened to be on nightshift so I popped in for a (part)* growler fill on my way to work, rather than miss trying this record breaking 28% ABV naturally fermented blonde ale. The beer has been fermented using three types of yeast, with the brewers feeding the yeast "exotic" sugars to keep it alive, to obtain the 28% alcohol content.

 A lot has been written over the last week about Ghost Deer. I thought I'd wait until I'd actually tasted the stuff before sharing my thoughts.

The controversy this time is the method of dispense. Brewdog have revisited taxidermy and this beer will only ever be sold poured from the head of a stuffed deer.

Ghost Deers first outing in Brewdog Edinburgh

As with the previous high strength beers from Brewdog a hilarious promotional video has been made, with the return of the dastardly sausage munchers, Hans & Wolfgang, and a special guest appearance of Jim Koch of the Sam Adams brewery, who brewed Utopias the previous record holder for a naturally fermented beer. A comment on an American blog suggested that Brewdog were being disrespectful to Jim Koch in the video, and were not acting in the colaborative way that US craft brewers do. I prefer to think that James and Martin are paying homage to Mr Koch as he is after all the guy who set the figure they were aiming to beat.
 You can see the video here http://vimeo.com/28692044

Will this provoke an ABV battle between Brewdog and Sam Adams. Utopias has been getting progressively stronger over a number of years now, but if the yeast can survive to produce 29 or 30% ABV remains to be seen. At least there can be no argument over whether this brew is actually beer.

So how does this beer actually taste. I'm not the greatest at describing aromas and flavours, but what I get is a very smooth whisky aroma and  flavour, not in the least bit harsh despite the 28% alcohol content. The mouth feel is substanial and despite all the added sugar, it isn't unpleasantly sweet. It is very very, perhaps dangerously drinkable stuff. It is actually quite viscous, and leaves oily legs on the side of the glass. It's not a beer you should want to drink a lot of at a time and is definitely a sipping beer. If you get the chance to try this beer I strongly suggest that you do. It will undoubtably be making an appearance at Brewdog Glasgow. After that I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if it paid a visit to Sweden, and was the Guest star at the opening of Brewdog Camden.

So have Brewdog as the beer monkey suggests jumped the shark? It all depends on your point of view I suppose. It seems to be fashionable in the beer blogging world right now to dismiss Brewdog as a bunch of immature schoolboys playing yet another prank. I on the other hand still find the marketing entertaining and amusing, but I suspect that Brewdog have played this hand one too many times now. Royal Virility Performance, managed to get some coverage in the Sun as well as few other national newspapers. Ghost Deer seems to have failed to get any sort of press coverage at all. The animal rights activists are strangely silent also, but then again deer are not as cute as squirrells!

 The deliberate creation of controversy no longer seems to be working for them as a marketing tool. I can't help thinking that perhaps the taxidermy has backfired on them and the fact that they have brewed a record breaking beer could have got them the publicty they desire on its own.

So where do Brewdog go from here? Do they turn the dial on the controversy machine up even further, until the national press gives them free coverage again, or do they maybe have to consider paying for advertising? Right now with the brewery capacity issues this isn't really a problem, but once the new brewery is up and running they will be eager to sell a lot more beer. They have after all about 4000 shareholders now who will be looking to see a return on their investment.


* I reckon a full Brewdog growler fill of Ghost Deer would cost somewhere in the region of £170. Would this be the record for most expensive growler fill too?