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Tag: Brewdog

Bournemouth – Brewdog

I did have a plan to visit every Brewdog in the country, although they feel like they’ve lost their way recently and the whole chain has become somewhat less appealing to me. However, I thought I’d visit their Bournemouth outlet as I’d never been.

It’s a little frustrating as Brewdog pays to be listed on Untappd, but this is another one of their venues that doesn’t keep it up-to-date. So the Vault City beer that I was hoping they had, they actually didn’t have as it hadn’t been updated in a few days. The beer selection is OK, although there’s little that’s new and exciting and I’d had most of the guest beers before. The service was though friendly, warm and engaging.

For a Friday evening, the venue was much quieter than I had anticipated. I was meeting my friend Ross here, otherwise they had a grand total of five customers. Their pricing, especially for food, has kept pushing towards the higher end of the scale. As a bar though, it’s beautifully designed. I do actually also like their food, especially the chicken wings, but unless there’s some offer on, it is a little out of sync with other venues.

This is the Pupa from Vibrant Forest Brewery, a light, tropical, refreshing, hoppy and juicy beer that I rather liked. It’s from a local brewery, as Vibrant Forest are from Hardley and I’ve had a few of their beers before. One thing that Brewdog manage, unlike some other chains, is that their glasses are nearly always spotlessly clean.

There’s a sign on the top of the fridge noting that it’s a bit broken, but they have cold cans elsewhere so all is not lost. It’s a well curated beer fridge, I was tempted to have a couple in the bar rather than taking away, but there’s a £2 uplift for that and although that’s not unreasonable, it made it all just a bit expensive.

This Bournemouth location opened in 2022, so it’s one of their newer ones, and it has survived the recent cull of ten venues and so it must be doing reasonably well. I thought it felt well managed, it was spotlessly clean, the team members were friendly and it had a welcoming vibe. There’s still definitely some mileage in the brand, but it’s a shame that some of their pricing couldn’t be a little lower in places.

October 11, 2025
Berlin Trip : Brewdog Berlin Mitte

I’m still making my way around all the Brewdog bars I can find and I thought I’d pop in for a quick drink at this large venue in the centre of the German capital. The service was a little sluggish, but it was polite and friendly so that did for me. There’s plenty of seating downstairs, but there’s also an upstairs area as well so there should usually be plenty of space. The pub, or at least one of the staff, also seems to own a large fluffy dog which I thought looked rather sweet meandering around the place. The beer menu was pretty extensive, although I had already had most of their guest beers, but I’d add that’s not a complaint about the bar…..

I tried the Hoppy Xmas that Brewdog themselves brew, but I wasn’t getting much Christmas from it, although it had a hoppy front and a bitter back. The beer that I did go for was the Arcade Made, also brewed by Brewdog, which was punchy, hoppy, foggy and a bit dank, very much a decent fruity one.

I did consider getting a pizza, but I thought with the number of restaurants in the area that I’d find something a bit more local and I was pleased with my choice. It’s well reviewed on-line with most customers happy with the operation, but there are a limited number of craft beer options in the city and so there’s a different dynamic here compared to some other Brewdog locations around the world. Nice set-up, I can see why this bar is popular and I suspect that it will continue to be busy.

December 13, 2024
British Airways : Third Brewdog Beer Launched – Speedbird OG

As another of my random posts, I was pleased to see a press release from British Airways stating that third Brewdog partnership beer with them is being launched. This one is called Speedbird OG and follows on from the first Speedbird and then Jet Stream. How marvellous.

Anyway, here’s the text:

“Fasten your seatbelts. Return your seats to their upright position. Avoid the temptation to turn your phone off Airplane mode “just to see what would happen”. Speedbird OG is ready to land.

The Transatlantic IPA first brewed at 40,000 feet to celebrate the British Airways centenary in 2019 is back in the air once again. Designed by the winner of our Air Graphic Control can design competition, we’re delighted to unveil Ross Brock’s can art that our independent panel of creative experts thought was the perfect blend of blue sky thinking and British Airways colour palette compliance. Ross will win a year’s supply of Speedbird OG, along with a VIP trip to our Ellon brewery and a pair of British Airways Euro Traveller flights of their choice. Cheers for your help, Ross. Been a pleasure flying with you.

Pick up your Speedbird OG cans exclusively on board British Airways flights or fly onto the internet, pick some up on our online shop and store them safely in the overhead lockers (or the fridge, whichever you prefer).”

June 15, 2023
2022 Hull Trip – Day 1 (Over the Humber and Into Brewdog Hull)
I like the Humber Bridge. Not in a fanboy kind of sense as I’m not that much of a fan of any road, but it is still exciting as it’s a gateway to another place. Obviously it’s not the Severn Bridge leading to a different country, although I suppose in reality Hull is effectively in Yorkshire and so that’s nearly the same thing.

Ryan Taylor climbed this a few years ago, I think it’s fair to say he’s somewhat braver than I am. At a push, I might be able to sit on the concrete bit on the left for a brief while. Not in terms of an environmental protest I’d better add there.

Very scenic. I quite like the idea of walking across this bridge, which I understand is allowed, although I have no idea why I’d be needing to be at either end of it.

There’s still social interaction required here at the Humber Bridge tolls. Not from me, that was Liam’s problem, but there’s a new system being rolled out in the future which might automate matters more.

Being an automobile expert I mentioned to Liam just how many white cars there were in Hull. Always fascinated by car related facts he spent some time counting them and I think that we agreed that my observation was accurate. The Boddingtons we each had were our welcome drinks at the Ibis Hull just in case anyone was confused why I had gone to Hull to drink that.

Back to one of my favourite shopping centres, Princes Quay, because it’s built on stilts. I’m easily pleased.

Then a quick visit to Brewdog, the first time that I’ve been to this one so that’s another ticked off my list.

I had my new Brewdog Plus account but then a team member said that they were having problems with it and they might not be accepting it all in the future. A manager came over who was personable and engaging, apologising for the issues and she decided to give me my drinks for free. I hadn’t asked for that, but I was very pleased with her suggestion and I agreed with it. I approve of this bar being card only as well, as it’s becoming more common, but there are a few angry reviewers who aren’t pleased at their decision.

It’s a large venue and I liked the ambience of the whole arrangement. I’ve never played Shuffleboard, despite being in many Brewdogs and other pubs where they have it, I’ll have to fix that at some point. I expect it’ll just annoy me, but best to be sure. The team members in the venue were friendly and engaging, it all seemed competently run.

I was delighted to see that there was a Funky Fluid beer, they’re from Warsaw and are one of my favourite breweries. This is their Splash Red, a delightful pomegranate and blackcurrant double fruited gose. I also went for Just Desserts brewed by Brewdog themselves, a very credible pastry stout.

The manager explained that the bar is one of a small franchise of four which are based around the Red’s BBQ restaurant theme, which is the food option here. They’ve got an on-site smoker (cooking apparatus I mean, not a troublesome chef) so they can smoke their own meats, it all sounds quite delicious and I’m sure I’ll eat here at some point in the future. The venue feels all suitably on-trend and that meant it was attracting a younger audience, although firmly of legal drinking age I’d better confirm there. Brewdog aren’t the cheapest of venues, but this seems to be a good iteration of its rollout programme.

I certainly left happy though, I had received two drinks for free, so I considered that to be a very positive visit. Liam and I had to leave at this point as I wanted to see if the health and safety version of him was still on the docks area.
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February 25, 2023
Thursday – Brewdog, Head of Steam II and the Newcastle Tap (Part 3)

Continuing on from my little meander which had started at Head of Steam Quayside.

When I visited Newcastle last year, the Brewdog was closed, which meant I never got to tick it off my list.

I was pleased to see the selection from Funky Fluid, one of my favourite breweries, it was just like being back in Poland for a brief moment. Well, perhaps I exaggerate there, but it’s nice to see Funky Fluid beers in the UK. The service in the pub was friendly, engaging and personable, with the team member nonplussed by Brewdog Plus. I’ve used that word deliberately as I’m moderately amused (I need to get out more) that the word ‘nonplussed’ is used to describe complete opposites (ie, a contronym), it’s original proper meaning is to be perplexed. But, mostly it seems used today, and indeed how I’m using it here, to mean the reverse, as the team member knew exactly how to process it. He mentioned he couldn’t serve the Funky Fluid beers yet as they weren’t officially on, which I assume means that they weren’t on the till, but he gave me tasters of two of them. That included the Triple Gelato Peanut Butter and Jelly, one of the finest beers out there, which I had in Krakow a few weeks ago.

The very acceptable Made for Us from Alpha Delta Brewing, a local brewery.

The bar had a laid-back atmosphere, although I had expected it to be a little busier in the evening. It’s very well reviewed on-line, although I was moderately humoured by this review:

“My friend, wearing a yellow suit was refused entry as they do not allow fancy dress. When told that this was his normal attire the BrewDog employee rudely replied ‘I very much doubt that’.”

It was then a quick visit to Greggs to pick up my free sausage roll as part of the O2 offer. This branch opened until 04:00, showing just what a modern and dynamic city Newcastle is. Norwich doesn’t have any late-night Greggs and it’s that sort of cosmopolitan and on-trend approach that we need here….

The Quayside Head of Steam I had visited earlier in the evening had opened in 2016, but this Head of Steam outlet in the city centre is much older and was opened in 1996 (and I think was their first). This bar set-up is a little unfortunate, the pub hadn’t updated its beers on Untappd, there was no blackboard and two customers were sitting in front of the pumps. The only thing I could do was to take a photo of the pumps and get the barman to read them out individually, a situation that wasn’t really ideal in a venue that was otherwise empty. The service was welcoming, although I was puzzled once again why this venue was so quiet for a Thursday evening.

I went for the Cloudy Lemonade from the nearly always reliable Vault City and the Papaya Don’t Preach from Brew York. Both beers were suitably refreshing, but the lemon curd taste from the Vault City was really rather lovely. The bar has now updated its Untappd list of beers and they have some excellent options, but as I couldn’t see at the time what else they had, I just left. My own radical opinion here, not that anyone will care, is that if they can’t keep Untappd up to date, then either list beers on a blackboard or take those chairs away from the bar.

Some of my professional photography skills, let’s call this artistic rather than on the slant. It’s a slightly odd design as well, the toilets are on the ground floor, but the bar itself is on the first floor.

The outside of Head of Steam and next door was the Newcastle Tap (the craft beers and pizza is visible at least) and unlike their neighbour, they had an up-to-date Untappd list and the beers were also clearly listed above the bar.

A fancy interior, I liked the barrel arrangement upstairs, that looked rather decadent I thought. They were serving pizzas as well, and although I had already eaten, they did look tempting, with 12 and 18 inch options. I managed to resist though, which I thought was quite impressive of me. This was another bar with a relaxed vibe and it felt suitably on-trend, with a mixture of cask and keg like the other pubs, but perhaps the widest range of cask options I had seen all evening, including at the Wetherspoons that I didn’t stay long in.

The bar is operated by Pivovar, who also run the Tapped Leeds amongst some others such as Pivni, Sheffield Tap and York Tap. I went for the John Barleycorn from Northern Alchemy, which was a little bland although it was well-kept.

The second beer I went for was the Honeycomb Pale Ale from Seven Bro7hers Brewery, lots of honeycomb here and a very nice drink to end the evening on. They make a chocolate honeycomb stout as well which I’ll look out for, that sounds like a liquid Crunchie bar to me and needs investigation.

Back to the hotel down these steps, I was quite pleased to see that there were numerous others walking up and down as otherwise it would have felt quite eerie.

Back under the High Level Bridge, which had been constructed between 1847 and 1849, designed by Robert Stephenson. It’s not the most subtle of structures, but it is an engineering marvel for the period and it’s Grade I listed. The top deck still carries trains over the Tyne, whilst the bottom deck carries cars (although recently it has been limited to taxis and buses) and pedestrians.

And a healthy evening snack in the Travelodge.

August 26, 2022
Brewdog Plus – A Quick Review

I mentioned in a post a couple of days ago that I had purchased Brewdog Plus. This is likely just a one-off for me, but I know I have a few Brewdog trips coming up in the next few months, so on this occasion I decided to go for it. It costs £99, but they give you £150 of credit at Brewdog (and I’m merrily working around their bars) which means that it works for me on this occasion. They also give you a free coffee every day as well, which is a handy little extra benefit, and although I can’t imagine I’ll use it, they give you free UK delivery on Brewdog on-line orders.

It is a bit of a decadent purchase, but is of course worthwhile for anyone spending over £99 in Brewdog over the year. I know a few people (well, two) who have purchased it for that reason, but the staff at a couple of bars I’ve spoken to have said that the take-up has been patchy so far. A few bars have had no idea how to deal with it, which is a QR code that they scan, but the outlet at Newcastle was very clued up. I don’t have shares in Brewdog, but it can’t be used in conjunction with Equity Punk discounts, which seems harsh for those who have loyally backed Brewdog financially. Perhaps they’ll change that next year.

For anyone who visits Brewdog infrequently, it’s of course not going to be worth it. I don’t think I’ll pop in very often just for a coffee, but it’s a handy little extra free of charge if I was visiting anyway. And, I can’t rule out just popping into the Norwich one every now and then to get a coffee, so it’s a nice bonus to have. I like that it’s easy to see the balance on the same web-page as the QR code, so at least that’s relatively clear.

Anyway, for anyone interested, sign-up is at https://www.brewdog.com/uk/brewdog-plus.

August 22, 2022
Thursday – Metro into Newcastle, Craft Beer and Peace at the Travelodge

Continuing on from the earlier riveting blog post, I was safely at Newcastle airport and ready to get to the city centre using the Metro system. I’ve used it before on a few occasions, but I’d entirely forgotten nearly everything about it. But, that’s the advantage in having a blog, the memories can all come flooding back.

Fortunately, there were plenty of signs saying which ticket to buy as well as numerous machines which were easy to operate. It’s formally known as the Tyne and Wear Metro, although often commonly referred to as the Newcastle Metro. The network isn’t as popular as it once was and it feels a little tired, it’s not really a surprise that passenger numbers are lower than they were in the 1980s when the Metro opened.

I like using different public transport systems and this one seemed to run regularly, although the signage wasn’t always particularly clear on platforms. The prices are also expensive, but yet the penalty fare for not having a ticket is set at just £20. They’ve already increased fares by 10% at the beginning of 2022, so they’re going to struggle to raise them again, or at least, they’ll price even more people off the network. However, they get some lovely shiny new trains next year, so that might boost ridership. It’s notable though that the £3.90 to get to the city centre is more than to get from Heathrow to central London, which is £3.50.

It’s quite a complex network, but the airport service goes directly to the city centre and there’s no need to change.

It was all clean and comfortable, although I didn’t see any staff on platforms or walking through the trains.

After having arrived safely into Central Station, the next task was to check-in at the hotel, which was a very reasonably priced Travelodge on the Quayside. I had forgotten just how many steps I had to go down to get to the hotel, which was a reminder of how many I’d have to go back up later on.

The standard Travelodge set-up, this was once seemed to have been modernised relatively recently and it had air conditioning which sort of worked. It was nice and bright, with everything working as it should.

The windows didn’t open, but I was pleased at the views over the River Tyne.

As the hotel was next to the Quayside pub, operated by JD Wetherspoon, I popped in there on my way by. It’s not the first time that I’ve been here, I remember going here with Liam a few years ago. The pub seemed organised and clean, but the real ale selection was the weakest I’ve seen in any Wetherspoon pub, just some generic options from the generic Greene King. It’s a quite a well reviewed Wetherspoon though (well, relatively), although I’m puzzled by the recent review:

“Can’t believe I’ve just been turned away from the Quayside for wearing shorts on a hot bank holiday weekend”

I can’t imagine how bad they must have been for a Wetherspoons to turn someone away, I’m quite intrigued.

There didn’t seem much point in staying at the Wetherspoon pub if there was nothing interesting in terms of beer, but I was more excited about the next venue, the Head of Steam Quayside which was just a short walk away along the Tyne.

Views over the Tyne to the Sage Gateshead, and a BAM hoarding for those with good eyesight (or just strong observational skills).

The beer list at the Head of Steam Quayside, which is one of two venues that they have in Newcastle and I hadn’t previously been to either of them. The pub’s Untappd list was out of date when I visited, but it has been updated since. There’s a decent selection of cask and keg, with a range of different beer styles.

A quirky interior, I liked it. All very laid-back and comfortable, this is a pub that I’d visit regularly if I lived a bit nearer to it. It’s not actually as well reviewed on Google as the Wetherspoons that I walked into and then out of again, which seems odd. It mostly seems to be reviews about the food and service times, customers seem much happier about the beer.

I thought that this was creative (the light, not the arrangement of safety devices at the back).

The barman complimented me on my strategy of ordering three one thirds, so I decided that I liked him and that he had excellent judgement. He was conversational and engaging, indeed there was an inviting atmosphere to the whole arrangement. I had the Jellyfish Nebula pale ale and the Spree & Easy IPA from Tooth & Claw Brewing, although the little star of this show was the Maris the Dank Engine 2 from S43, an 8.1% Double IPA.

There’s an outside seating area as well for those who like sitting in the street, although it’s not really my thing.

As there are quite a few more pubs for me to still write about from my evening’s meander around Newcastle, I’ll break that into a separate post. I would claim that it’s to increase anticipation, but it’s realistically just so I can make progress in a slow and steady manner in actually posting things.

August 5, 2022
Monday to Thursday : Unlimited Chicken Wings at Brewdog Norwich, a Free Whopper and Limited Progress at the Ferry Boat Inn

Another one of my little complaints, this is the disgrace (I like using strong words to reinforce my anger, even though it makes me sound inarticulate and odd) of the former Ferry Boat Inn, a pub operated by Greene King until they closed it in 2010. After a series of business plans which fell through, it’s now going to be turned into flats for students. There are so many similar developments in the city that I’m not sure where all these students are coming from. Anyway, the development has stopped again now due to some odd financial arrangements, so the site remains in flux. What this site would have made is a excellent pub which could have been one of the best in the city, with a long heritage since around 1820. Who knew? Anyway, in around ten years there might be some cheap flats here overlooking the river which will probably fall down in around thirty years.

My friend James mentioned that there were free Whoppers being dished out around the country by Burger King. I didn’t want him to be lonely when he went to get one, so I accompanied him to the new Norwich branch. I know that since hitting 30 I’ve become old, but I’m sure that Whoppers were better back in the day…… It was quite fiddly to order them using the app, but there was such a queue that anyone could realistically just walk in and say they had ordered one.

Inspired by this food excitement, James and I went to Brewdog in the evening for all you can eat chicken wings. I mean, no-one can say that I’m not classy? Whoppers and chicken wings? Very decadent. I’ve worked my way around most Brewdogs in the country, and indeed many Wings Wednesdays, as although it’s not the best food that the chain does, it’s sort of affordable (for them anyway) and I know I’ll eat enough.

James can eat more than I can, he’s nearly to 40 than I am (in terms of chicken wings consumed, not age), but they’re delicious, although that sauce is a little vinegary so it soon becomes quite challenging to eat them. We managed to persist for a couple of hours though, with the service being a little sluggish at first although it then picked up and extra wings came flying our way (there’s a pun there) at some pace. They were generous in letting us have two blue cheese sauces, they really something to the chicken wings, mainly by hiding the vinegar taste which is in the sauce.

We then shuffled along the road to the Leopard, which I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions is one of the best pubs in Norwich (although the dog is I know annoying more than just a few customers now), with their selection of keg and cask beers. I went for the Have Your Cake and Eat It from Three Blind Mice which was pleasant enough, but it didn’t have enough dessert taste for me to really like it and I slightly regretted getting an entire pint of it. Interesting beer though and the staff here were as friendly as ever, it’s a very laid-back pub and the beer options are well balanced.

And in a switch of drinking partner from James (who needed to go home to get over excessive chicken wing consumption) to Nathan (who was propping up another bar in another part of the city), I popped to the White Lion before we accidentally both went to the King’s Head for goodness knows how long. We had to discuss the delights of Gorleston for the big day out that we were planning, although I expect we got distracted and talked about some other unimportant thing that had annoyed us both.

I’ve noted how food and drink obsessed this blog gets when I’m back in Norwich, but readers will just have to wade through this drivel….. At least the blog marches forwards several days at a time when I’m in the heart of Norfolk life, so there’s less to read.

June 8, 2022
Reading – Brewdog

Continuing my vague plan to visit every Brewdog in the country (along with many other similar plans that I have), this is their outlet in Reading, an impressive building which was constructed in the 1830s as a Congregational Chapel. Over the last decade, it has housed a number of different pubs and bars, but it has been a Brewdog for the last few years.

I’m not sure what is happening to the frontage of this building, it’s in a really poor state and it has lost the blue coating that Brewdog painted it not that long ago. At a best guess, they painted it without permission and have been told to remove it (this sounds like something that Brewdog would do), but they really need to do something about the current situation.

The beer selection, with the Coffee Stout confusing me as it had no brewery name by it. The staff member didn’t know and couldn’t find out, but she asked a passing manager who told me that it was brewed by Firebrand Brewing Company, a Cornish brewery. The member of bar staff was personable and engaging, but she accidentally poured me a pint instead of a half. She realised when pouring, but she tipped the remainder into another glass, although it was probably just easier to give it to me (not that I really wanted any more than a half to be fair) rather than have a bit of beer randomly sitting there.

There’s quite a large interior which is bright and comfortable, with another floor above.

There was a booth available which I thought looked comfortable, and was a pleasant environment to read a book on my phone. The beer is the Lil’ Beans from Double-Barrelled Brewery, which was better than I anticipated, with rich vanilla and chocolate notes. The brewery are local to Reading, so credit to Brewdog for making the effort to have this available to support local businesses. I was pondering why I had heard of this brewery and it transpires I had their ‘Infinite Reflections’ beer a couple of weeks ago in the Artichoke in Norwich, where I’ve also had the ‘Everything But the Bulbs’ beer as well. I’m going to see if I can get chance to visit their taproom over the next couple of days, probably not, but I shall do my best…..

Anyway, I had expected the bar to be a little busier, not least because Google warned me that it was “as busy as it gets”, which usually means that people are flooding out of the door. In the end I read a chunk of my book, a sign of a warm and comfortable environment, so all really very amiable with the friendly staff and clean surroundings.

February 17, 2022
Cambridge – Brewdog

This was the next pub that my friend Nathan and I popped to after visiting the Maypole, and this is the centrally located Brewdog that I’ve visited before. I thought that this was one of the better bars in their chain when I visited before, with everything on this trip being well managed so I don’t have much need to change my view about that.

There was a short wait whilst we were greeted at the front door, where customers are asked to wait. They were encouraging customers to order at the bar rather than using the app, so we did that. There was a decent selection of options, with a range of beer styles being listed there including sours and darker options.

Although the downstairs area looked quite busy, the upstairs was anything but, so I found us a table with a plug so we could keep our phones charged. This is important when your rail tickets are on your phones…..

This is the one third of the Carachino from Mad Squirrel Brewery, although it clearly isn’t, it was another Brewdog mispour. They’re managing to do this on around half of my visits, but I refuse to condemn their heavy handedness as it means more free beer….. As a drink, this was another beautifully decadent one, just suited to my tastes of an imperial stout (it weighs in with an ABV of 8%) with tastes of caramel. It was like drinking liquid Cadbury’s Caramel, although my comment about the rabbit from the advertising campaign was lost on Nathan. There was a full body, beautifully smooth taste of caramel and that rich flavour lingered beautifully. Sometimes these flavours can be dulled when drinking more than a third of a beer, but this one remained gorgeously decadent until the end. Very nice.

Anyway, service in the bar was fine, it was clean and everything felt organised and well managed. No negatives and this remains one of my favourite Brewdog outlets in the chain.

December 20, 2021