Dog has its Day

In a quite astonishing U-turn, self-appointed industry watchdog The Portman Group have abandoned their 8-month crusade against BrewDog's witty labelling.

Understandably, managing director and BBC Three star James Watt is pretty pleased with the outcome.

"It is a victory for common sense, the intelligence of the consumer, small independent producers and freedom of speech; it is a victory that BrewDog had to fight tooth and nail for. We refused to roll-over and be bullied into changing our packaging by what is basically a cartel funded by our larger competitors. We were determined and stood our ground to keep our dream and our business alive...

"We feel our victory, and the fact we were determined to stand our ground sends a strong message out about BrewDog to the rest of the sleepy, stuffy and mediocre UK brewing industry. If the result means that the Portman Group does not unjustifiably bully another independent producer then all the effort was worthwhile."

A full retort can be found here on the brewers' own blog.

Merry Christmas guys!

• For the sake of balanced reporting, Portman's press release can be found here though, be warned, it doesn't make for anywhere near as good reading.

Thornbridge Take it Down South

Following hot on the heels of December's hugely successful Meet the Brewer session with the boys from BrewDog, LoveBeer@Borough are pleased to welcome the legends from Thornbridge to the capital on Saturday 17th January.

You can read up on LoveBeer co-owner Melissa Cole's recent brewing experience at Thornbridge Hall here on her excellent blog Taking the beard out of beer! Here's hoping that a cask or two of her 3.8% abv creation Heron finds it's way to The Rake next month for our scrupulation. Another lucky soul to step into the brewer's shoes for the day was one of our favourite beer writers the Reluctant Scooper, who also posted a typically excellent report on his own site. We're very jealous of you both.

Thornbridge, much like BrewDog, are one of the UK's most respected, pioneering and multi-award-winning microbreweries and it's great to see a cask outlet for their wares in London. If you are yet to sample the delights of the likes of Jaipur IPA, Kipling, and St. Petersburg Imperial Russian Stout be sure to get yourself down to borough market. Tickets can be purchased in advance from behind the bar at The Rake or from those friendly guys at Utobeer.