Flying Dog v BrewDog - International Arms Race

I often question what goes on between the ears of those in charge of BrewDog, maybe it's a series of chemical reactions that turn into interesting decisions, as is the case with some people. However, I like to believe that instead of having normal ideas, these magical people have short clips of rainbows fighting wars with robot dragons and instead of thinking things like "I fancy a spot of breakfast," they actually think things like "Nah, I had breakfast yesterday, I want to learn how to unicycle on the face of a manticore!"

It is, I imagine, whilst having one of their legs gnawed to mush by a mythical creature that someone decided to team up with Flying Dog (it has dog in the title, the logic is there,) and make an IPA without using any hops. The thing is that when I think of an IPA, I instantly think of BIG hoppy flavours, I think of a rich depth of flavour that is both refreshing and warming. International Arms Race gives you none of those things! It is as far away from an IPA as you could possibly get whilst still technically being beer, not to say it was at all bad, it was just... Confusing.

Your first sip hits you like a bulldog with a surgically altered, boxing glove, mouth. It gives you the impression of being sweet, which fools you into thinking you're drinking something a lot closer to a shandy than the 7.5% beast it hides. It reminded me of when I used to go to the local shop after school, I used to buy a lucozade, a fistful of black jacks, fruit salads and palma violets and shove them all down my neck as quickly as I could when I got home. It was a fizzy, acidic, lemony, bitter, mess... And I loved it.

This beer is as complex as 3D chess and as misleading as a road sign that just has "farts" crudely written on it. If you're not prepared for what you're drinking then you're not going to have a fun time with it, it's definitely for seasoned veterans and beer revolutionaries. If you don't like it, which I didn't at first, then you should at least see out the bottle because I found that it grew on me like a tumour made of candy floss and the last few sips were a waltz through childhood with an alcoholic after taste that reminded me of... Slightly later childhood.

This, along with a whole lot of other BrewDog gubbins is available at The Bottle Shop in Canterbury, but a lot of the more standard (which is a ridiculous thing to say about BrewDog) beers like Punk IPA, Hardcore IPA and 5am Saint can now be found at most supermarkets. I've found that Sainsbury have the biggest range, though not the complete range... Which would be a terrible business move.

Food Suggestion: Something sweet. I don't think I've ever said this before but this could quite easily be a desert beer. Nothing fancy though, I'd quite happily pair this with a bowl of butterscotch angel delight, sit down in front of some Sponge Bob and veg out like a perfect mess.

Drink this if you like: Pannepot Grand Riserva is the closest thing I can think of in terms of flavour but it has the texture and feel of red bull with a colour and under taste of weak tea. There's not a lot like this out there, so drink this if you like pushing the boat out a bit.