Trashy Blonde by BrewDog
Initially, it was Aberdeen. Then, it was Edinburgh and Glasgow, then Camden, Nottingham, Newcastle, Manchester, and lots of others, up to and including Stockholm and São Paulo. We’re talking about the BrewDog bars. Florence should soon be added to the list of nineteen cities.
BrewDog (Ellon, Aberdeenshire — since 2007), Scotland’s largest independent brewery, knew how to develop — including with a broadcast focused on craft beers on the US channel Esquire Network. The very active brewery produces a huge variety of beers, including the famous End of History, at 55% ABV.
But keep calm. I chose a 4.1% Trashy Blonde, which I accompanied with a trashy glass. This organic English pale ale made with Maris Otter Pale Ale, Caramalt and Munich for the malts, and Motueka and Amarillo for the hops, is pretty decent, though it might not be “the alternative beer revolution” heralded by BrewDog’s website.
Forget about all the superlatives we’re used to with this brewery. This crisp ale is actually a good summer beer with a nice combination of hop fruitiness and malt sweetness. In fact, I find it almost metallic (especially on the nose), but its bitterness is well-balanced, and that is its real strong point. Not trashy, sessionable… And that’s already very good.