BrewDog - Punk IPA

We’re particularly excited about getting to enjoy fresh Punk IPA a little more often. This is BrewDog’s massively popular flagship, and it’s definitely an explosion of hop aromatics and flavors, packed into an old-world-minded ABV level of 5.6%. It’s juicy, particularly tropical, and just packed with vibrant citrus and other fruitiness. It’s a showcase of new-world hops.

Punk IPA pours a lightly hazed, creamy orange color that’s capped by off-white foam. Tiny bubbles, with good retention and particularly nice lacing. The hoppy depths ahead are hugely apparent from the nose. There’s fresh, pithy grapefruit and plenty of sweet oranges and lime, in addition to more tropical angles like mango and lychee. The core of its hop presence lands quite citrusy and lemony-grapefruit focused, but this quickly expands to all sorts of different fruits and herbal turf. The malt presence keeps quiet and out of the way, as we usually prefer from IPA, and it’s just enough to underpin the hops. Spend some time with the aroma here.

This lands especially crisp, touching down with bright orange and grapefruit and herbaceous elements, totally led by its new-world hop additions, with just a subtle kicker of caramelized sugars chilling out underneath, barely there. This is a playground for new-world hops: all the herbal-orange complexity and pithy grapefruit, the latter almost approaching sweet pomelo. We found notes of candied oranges, kaffir lime, mineral undertones, and even some potent, firm piney bitterness at the far end of things. The modest ABV and streamlined body keep this feeling particularly drinkable, letting one focus on the depths of hop character. For how much is present hop-wise, this is an absolute pleasure to drink—and a hint of what’s ahead.

Given the hop focus, we’d encourage folks to enjoy this one as fresh as possible. We’d love to traditionally pair this alongside a spicy curry—but fish tacos also feel like the right move.