BrewDog AGM 2012

AECC queue for BrewDog AGM

What on earth is this. The sun. On a weekend. In Aberdeen... surely some mistake?

No, my eyes were not deceiving me, it was indeed a glorious day in the 'deen and I was about to spend it indoors drinking BrewDog beer. Woe is me.

I was wise to my impending situation today (or so I thought) so made sure I had a big hearty cooked breakfast to set me up for the day (tattie scones and all sorts). Up until this point in my shallow existence I'd never cooked for 4 people before and have realised in future I'll need a bigger kitchen and more crockery.

We arrive at the big tin shack that is the AECC (Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre) and are met with the monster queue to register for the day. The guy in the checked shirt looks like he's had enough already, wimp. No matter, the sun is out and the queue dwindles away (with several bus loads going for a tour of the new BrewDog brewery up in Ellon. We decline this as it is right next to the ball and chains parents house and we've seen it umpteen times already).

Lisa and Daddy (note the happy face(s))

We are in. We have beer tokens. Happy days. What next? Well we've missed the first AGM presentation so I guess we better have a beer. Hello Zeitgeist! I then spy the beer shop and make the fatal error of attempting to purchase some beer. I stand for 20 minutes..... no movement. 40 minutes, I'm at the front. 60 minutes... no thanks, abort mission. This was the worst part of the day, a complete shambles. This is the UK! We do queues here. Not today it seems. This was a complete free-for-all and the staff looked stressed and were swamped from the word go. A simple queueing system would have made things a LOT easier.

I order my Dog-A beers on my phone instead in all of 5 minutes which is a pity as there were loads of beers I wanted to buy, Ballast Point in particular. Oh well, onwards and upwards. The troops (well, the old man) were NOT happy at the wait as you can see.

Gays

We meander up to the connecting tunnel between the main hall in the AECC and the conference area and relax in the sun with some more beer. As you can see here Souter and Smithy look very cosy (hello sailor) and I merely look slightly special, although I can't seem to find room for the photo....

It's time for all the AGM guff but to be fair Martin Dickie and James Watt put on a superb presentation to a BIG room of people. Entertaining, informative and at times bloody hilarious.

We get loads of stories, jokes, some facts and figures, schematics of the new brewery and more importantly, BEER! 3 tastings accompany the talk as follows:

The new 3.8% Pale Ale, which will be replacing Trashy Blonde apparently (to be called Dead Pony Club). A lovely easy drinking session beer, 8 and drive apparently.

We then sample Libertine Black Ale (7% if I remember correctly). I'd already tried this one previously but will most certainly sample more soon. Strong, aromatic and very moreish.

Sensational!

Finally, we come to Dog-A. I'd been looking forward to this (I loved the AB:04 beer) and it did not disappoint. Chocolate, coffee, vanilla and a hint of chili. Happy days. We even got a second bottle to pass around our row and at 15% I was a little 'light headed' en route back to the main hall.

The only slight niggle about the talk were the hipsters who loved the sound of their own voices and wouldn't shut the fuck up for 2 minutes. I don't profess to know a great deal about beer as I've mentioned before but some of these people were cringeworthy.

Some of the questions in the Q+A session even more so. Oh dear.

Back to the beer,  and music, and food.... lets not forget food. I'd had nothing to eat since 10am and it was now 6pm with our only option a burger van with a now enormous queue, this could get messy. This is another aspect I feel could be improved upon and have a greater selection of food available throughout the day.

Music time (should really get food too)

The music itself was a mixed bag with a selection of local bands / singer songwriters and headline act 'Kassidy' who I thought were wonderful (I was pretty pissed by then too). I also sampled a few more beers in form of:

• IPA is Dead Motueka
• Saison
• Zeitgeist
• Dead Pony Club
• and various Stone beers

Needless to say I don't remember much of the last hour or so and had a sore head the next day. I was dancing to the ska band though (which is unheard of for me).

Not to mention the fact I had to play football the following afternoon which was not entirely successful. As Danny Glover would say: I'm getting too old for this shit.

Overall I thought it was a fantastic day and was both informative and great fun. I also got the opportunity to meet some new friends and reacquaint myself with others I hadn't seen for years in some cases. The guys in BrewDog are obviously very passionate about what they do which was apparent in everyone from the bar staff to James and Martin themselves. Undoubtedly there were small issues and areas that could be improved on for forthcoming years but this was a damn good benchmark.

You can read the BrewDog review of the day here.

I'm off the booze for a while (well until Saturday).

Until next year....

Variety is the spice of life

I went to the Belmont Cinema last night with the better half to see Pearl Jam Twenty. And a damn fine film it was too. En route we had some time to kill so popped in past the Aberdeen BrewDog pub for a quick drink (or two).

I do love BrewDog. I was somewhat obsessed with them a couple of years back. They helped get me into beer and appreciate small companies striving to do something different. Everyone loves an underdog after all (no pun intended). Increasingly when in their pub however, I find myself drawn towards their guest offerings on draught.

I used to love the old recipe Punk IPA (I was devastated when they changed it), that was the foundation of my BrewDog journey. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some of their other beers in equal measure too; namely their one off brews, 77 lager, Alice Porter and Zeitgeist. New Punk IPA I just cannot get into, each to their own though.

None of these beers were on draught last night so I plumped for a couple of guest treats. I love sipping on a new beer, trying something new and different. One observation I do have is the spiralling cost of these guest beers in recent months however. I understand they must cost a pretty penny to import but last time I was in there I can't remember a half of Stone IPA costing £3.50! Crikey. Similarly, they have a cracking selection of guest bottled beers, which unfortunately suffer the same fate. I do enjoy heading in with some friends to share a few exotic bottles occasionally (read: pay day), but for the vast majority of the punters these treats will be quite simply out of reach.

The BrewDog beers themselves on draught are very reasonably priced though, so all is not lost for the students and skinflints (myself midway through the month).

Where am I going with this? To the cinema! No, variety. That's what I'm meant to be talking about. Not just variety of drinks on offer, variety of pubs.

My other regular haunt in Aberdeen is the Snug Bar in Ma Camerons on Little Belmont Street. A proper old mans pub, awesome. This is where I go to watch the football, to speak to old mannies about football, to retire to after watching Aberdeen lose at football. I don't go here to drink over priced guest beers or indeed for top quality beers (I'll happily admit I don't mind a pint of Belhaven IPA at all though). I go here for the atmosphere and conversation/banter with friends, regulars and staff, and partly through habit. I love the place.

Do I find BrewDog bar has this same atmosphere? No, it can be full of complete tools, the staff are always top notch though and really make the place. Do they serve great beer, a resounding yes! I guess that is the beauty of drinking in different establishments. I love that BrewDog have no TV's (that way I can't see news filtering through regarding Aberdeen's latest defeat at the hands of some no-mark second division team). I also love that I can sit there, play Jenga for hours and sample a range of beers on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

I don't really know where I was going with this post, but felt the need to write it down. I'm looking forward to visiting the Snug bar on Saturday afternoon. I may even pop in past BrewDog on the way home.... well it IS on the way.