Beer Tastings

Are You Tasting the Pith? - 28th June 2009

A Year of Beer 2009 #13 - BrewDog 77 and Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimp

Another part of our (hopefully) year-long video project, A Year of Beer. looking at the idea of beer and seasonality - how different styles of beer are more appropriate to different seasons, weathers, festivals and so on. There will also be a bit of beer and food matching thrown in because, hell, we love to eat as much as we love to drink.

This week: BrewDog 77 and Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimp

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BrewDog 77 and Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimp

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of BrewDog TV.

Well, that's how I could start I guess - it seems like I've gone a bit soft for those dandy brewpunks of late. It could have something to do with the fact that their beers just push all the right buttons for me, are packaged in a way that makes people look twice (and occasionally walk away), and that they produce beers that are challenging, but also accessible.

This was, as you might gather from the slightly shambolic just-out-of-the-shower appearance and spluttering, mumbled delivery, a happy accident. 77 Artisan Rebel Pilsner (don't blame me - that's what it says on the label) is a lovely, full-bodied lager, with some nice pale and slightly nutty malt character, appetisingly overlaid with some crisp, bittersweet grapefruit zest. Potted shrimps are tiny little fellows, cooked and sealed in spiced butter - mace and nutmeg is most common.

The combination is great - the toasted brown bread marries up nicely with the nutty malt notes, and the citrus twist cuts through the richness of the butter and the fairly robust prawniness of the potted shrimps.

If only mealtimes were this great every night. If only I'd bought more beer. If only there was some sort of forward planning, we might all live like kings. Oh well, if this is what can be scraped together by accident, then there's not really much to complain about.