Breakfast Beer Tasting: Brewdog There Is No Santa

I’ve waited till an appropriate time-i.e. after Christmas, to review Brewdog’s most controversial beer to date. Now as every Marx Bros fan knows, there is no sanity clause, but Brewdog may have risked the ire of parents up and down the land with the title of this beer. Imagine your nine year old pops down the offy to stock up for his big night in with the lads and comes across this. You could be paying for their therapy for years.

So what’s the beer actually like? Well it comes in the standard Brewdog 330ml bottle and is 4.7% by alcohol. It purports to be a “spiced Stout”; whatever that is. More of a Brown Ale in colour rather than a regulation Stout, it was lively and was topped with a large tan head.

The aroma was an enticing blend of sweet ginger spices and chocolate. Very Christmasesque and comforting. The body would be considered thin for Stout, but was quite smooth on the tongue. The flavours weren’t overpowering which made for an easy going, slightly spiced session ale. Think Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate Ginger biscuits with a pinch of cinnamon.

The finish was sweet ginger that dies away slowly. If you put aside any notion that this is a Stout, then this is a pleasant, if not outstanding beer. However, if you’re going to compare and contrast this with many other Stouts, I fear you will be disappointed.