Pete Brown looks at BrewDog’s rise, rebellion and rapid decline that mirrored punk’s brief chaos, leaving staff, fans and the craft beer scene to reckon with its legacy.

To access this whole post, join Patreon today. When you become a member, you get instant access to exclusive posts and benefits. Does beer taste better from a bottle or a can?.pdf Why these US beers are worth £30 a bottle.pdf The orderly pub queue_…

Is BrewDog actually BrewDog any more? Beer writer Pete Brown talks about the recent changes at the Scottish pub operator and brewer.

Beer writer Pete Brown looks at what a lack of Guinness supplies means for UK pubs.

It leaves us asking what just happened, and why? And what will it mean for the future of cask? Marston’s once saw itself as the saviour of cask ale, mopping up breweries like Ringwood, Wychwood and Jennings, and keeping them open alongside the…

Back in 2007, when no one knew who they were, BrewDog entered a competition for a listing in Tesco. Its four beers came first, second, third and fourth. BrewDog was still brewing in a shed, and there was no way they could meet the volumes they were…

The Foreign Office has warned football fans that the beer may be stronger than they think. I say focus on quality, not quantity With Euro 2024 kicking off in 11 weeks, the Foreign Office has issued its travel advice for England and Scotland fans…

Beer brand Madrí’s claim to be ‘Madrid’s modern-style European cerveza’ is untrue – but does anyone really care, asks Pete Brown. Madrid is one of my favourite drinking cities in the world. I love the ease of it: a leisurely caña, ice-cold with a…

“Madam Deputy Speaker, British ale may be warm, but the duty on a pint is frozen.” I get the Chancellor’s pun, but British cask ale is served between 11 and 13 degrees celsius – and if you think that’s warm, try turning your heating off at home and…

For the price of a decent pint of cask ale in Yorkshire, as well as my personal notes of thanks, this gives you access to my Patreon wall, which will show three or four new bits of content each month that won't be available anywhere else. These will…

the cask project Since CAMRA’s foundation, some real ale devotees have insisted it’s the only style of beer worth taking seriously. But times have changed, and so has beer. Within the hallowed history of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), there are…

Forgot Password? Sign up The big beer style of this year is one of the least likely Pete Brown could contemplate – nevertheless it’s one that he feels is actually worthy of revival. Remember a few years ago, when hipster fashion was mining deeper and…

the cask project Too often in this industry, we tend to take an adversarial approach to trends: beer versus wine, lager versus ale, keg versus cask, cask versus craft... It can make us lose sight of the fact that drinkers don’t see these as sides…

It’s 15 years now since I wrote the first edition of the Cask Report – an initiative organised by cask brewers and industry bodies to reinvigorate attitudes around cask ale. Now, The Cask Project is a new initiative with the same goals. The Morning…

First published in CLASS Apr/May 2019 Misled by the use of the word ‘craft’ and seduced by foreign imitators, UK consumers are missing out on some great British ciders, says Pete Brown. As a drinks writer, I’m always under pressure to whip out…

What does beer taste like? It’s a simple enough question. But most people who drink it would struggle to expand on “Well... like beer.” Traditionally, this was part of why beer was never taken as seriously as wine. For the past decade, small craft…

Pete Brown lifts the lid on cider-making practices, revealing the shocking truth about juice content. Imagine buying a bottle of French wine, assuming – because you just know this stuff – that it’s made from the fermented juice of wine grapes.…

Should craft breweries be vilified for selling out to established players? Pete Brown thinks not. It’s a peculiarly British trait that as soon as we see anything successful, we start to predict its demise. Even if it’s something we really love, we…

A strong, "Imperial" version of a Czech classic that comes in and out of fashion, but always remains an outstanding beer. My first proper brewery visit as a writer was to the Budvar brewery in Ceske Budejovice, southern Bohemia, in the summer of…

The first in a long-promised regular series of beers that deserve praise. Of course it's great that the pubs are opening again. It's so nice to be able to drink cask ale for the first time in a very long time. But if anything should go wrong with…