Beers of the Month - June 2009

My beer of the month is Brewdog's How to Disappear Completely which I sampled from the cask at the Rake. It's a completely bonkers beer: 3.5% ABV but packing an obscene 198 IBUs of bitterness, due to the brewers hopping it every which way they could with Columbus and Centennial hops.

Named after their favourite Radiohead track, Brewdog are dubbing it an "imperial mild". You have to love hops to enjoy this beer. The aroma is likely sticking your head in a sack of fresh hops and inhaling. On the tongue it is scorchingly bitter. You feel like you're either getting tongue cancer or being cured of it, and to be frank, you don't care which. In an earlier age, this would have been sold as a patent medicine. If you're down with the hops though, it is a delight as the sessionable strength means you can drink it for hours. Just don't expect to be able to properly taste what ever you drink directly after it.


It was a reasonably quiet month for drinking and no beer stands out to be highly commended, so instead I'll tip my hat to the wonderful samples of Harvey's beers provided on their superb brewery tour. Guinness may waffle on about waiting for two minutes for the perfect pint, but the waiting list for the Harvey's tour is over two years - and it is worth the wait. Ian Burgess was a superb host and incredibly generous to the Ratebeer crew, allowing us samples of some special brews, both old and new, and it was a great evening. The engraved souvenir tasting glass says it all: "Many a soul hath found good cheer in harmony with Harveys beer."