Brewdog Abstrakt 002 Night

Last night a craft beer scene emerged openly. The patrons of the arts' world from the Tate were invited to merge with the craft beer tickers; managers and writers. The venue was pumped with the adolation and expectation of another Brewdog experimental wonder.

A packed out 'Cask and Kitchen' in Pimlico was the venue. Have never seen the craft beer community and the arts' scene merge so succesfully. Hats off to Brewdog for this quite frankly genius and spactacular marketing skill.

Arrived in the venue pretty drained from an hour and a half train ride. Walk to the bar and bump into fellow rating friends and order a Hardcore. Let me tell you about Hardcore. When this is on form it is like the finest UK double IPA. The malt character is so well balanced. It's incredibly outstandingly drinkable for an astonishing 9.2% IPA. The crystal malts, the caramel body and the juicy fruit texture combine to leave you gasping on the floor for more.

The quality when fresh is outstanding. The balance and lacing is spot on. The smooth succulate sip to the bottom of the glass knocks me for six every time it's fresh.

The fact it was on cask and in a half pint measure for under £2 was thoroughly awesome. Thak you Cask and Kitchen for this.

The pub also provided us with Punk IPA Batch, 123; the 5.A.M Saint, 77 Lager, Trashy Blonde and Hardcore. Tom Cadden, their regional sales' manager for London informed that this was to be the biggest Brewdog event yet in London. I just had to attend. It did not dissapoint.

I conversed with tickers before meeting Brewdog's new Scottish sales' person. A very entertaining and passionate marketing man. Very keen to show to us, craft beer lovers, that Brewdog is keen to expand and innovate and set a trend for introducing new beers at an outstanding capacity rate. Great to meet you, Richard!

To his credit he was very keen for us to report back when we have a dodgy or inconsistent ale from Brewdog. I mentioned I have been reporting to Tom when the beer has fluctuated in recent times. As a genius cellar man Tom knows his stuff and can definitely sort out issues with conditioning at other pubs. Despite specific instructions from Brewdog HQ, bars and pubs still manage to screw up their beer!

The Absrakt 002 tastings was conducted after a simulating speech by Richard. Very brave to dive into the UK scene like that. I felt he did admirably. Not only was the pub fall; not only had he just met people in the pub that day but also there was the art scene from the Tate Modern which meant an even trickier crowd to manage. A bunch of drunks like me were just easy pickings.

After the speech the Abstrakt 002 was produced like some sort of holy grail. Contained in a silver; transparent and substantial glass. The beer was keg conditioned. As the crowd realised that the beer was available there was a massive surge towards the bar.

The bar was absolutely rammed. I had bought a few for friends and consumed one myself. The beer is tripple dry-hopped and at 18%. I tasted more pears than vanilla however the vanilla was hidden. There was a large caramel base and the appearance was very brown-mild ale style; redding out on the edges. I was very impressed with the appearance. For some reason the dryness, pears and the sweet crystal malts for me just didn't work. I'm not a fan of dry beers. I felt really odd and cold as the original Abstrakt 001 was outstanding.

I enjoyed the beer but was just left a little let down. I then switched to Hardcore and Punk IPA batch 123 which I believe is their best batch. For some reason the pint of Punk does not contain so much grapefruit notes as the bottles do. I found it especially drinkable and regard it as an excellent lager and one you can come back to again and again. A very assuringly retailed price too and available in supermarkets. Surrounding critics agreed that the grapefruit element was weaker compared to the bottled conditioned Punk but it was a thoroughly enjoyable session beer. The alcohol is very well hidden and drinkability is awesome.

The event petered out and it was left to the crowd to try the beers; enjoy the company and write some buzz words on the wipe board which they produced.

All in all a fantastic night and I hope they strive to do this again and again. It is really great that during this recession a brewery such as Brewdog can profit and enable its customers to share their beer with core members of their team. The pub benefits from the turn out of both the art and the beer world. The pub is likely to become a major success given the strength of their conditioning and their newly inspired bottle beer fridges. Just a shame that Abstrakt 002 didn't live up to the expectations. Maybe Brewdog have just raised the bar and made even the good neglectable??

A great night with many thanks to the Brewdog team for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Time for a little rest now.

You too, can judge for yourself as the beer is retailing on their website. Go here for the experience.