Dear Martin and James,

I give up.

I’ve railed against your over-the-top concoctions for the past couple of years. For some reason I ALWAYS feel compelled to post about your silly “stunt beers,” getting myself into a froth about how you are exploiting the pure nature of craft beer to make a name for yourselves. I’ve said you put style before substance, focusing on high ABVs and taxidermal shock value instead of flavor in your litany of extreme beers.

While I’ve been negative, I’ve also been playing right into your hands. You create these beers for attention and I can’t seem to stop giving you just what you want. Even now.

I’ve just read about Ghost Deer, the 28% ABV blonde ale dispensed from the severed head of an actual deer. You claim it’s the highest ABV fermented beer ever brewed and I’ll take your word for it.

Normally I’d climb up on my soapbox now and proclaim that you’re trading quality for buzz, craftsmanship for marketing, but not this time.

For some reason using a deer’s head as a kegerator goes beyond my ability to manufacture outrage. It doesn’t shock me or repulse me. Actually, I think it’s kind of funny. Hilarious even.

Why this change of heart? I think you’ve worn me down.

Tactical Nuclear Penguin struck me wrong (especially after tasting it), Sink the Bismark only made me more angry, and End of History almost gave me a stroke. I think Ghost Deer has now pushed me past the breaking point, blowing the fuse in the part of my brain that gives a damn about matters such as these. My filter is fractured, the scales have fallen from my eyes.

I thought you might like to know that I “get it” now.

You win.

Cheers,

Jim

P.S. Anything short of a live elephant that dispenses ale from its trunk and stout from the other end will be a let down from here on out. That, or something with a flaming marsupial. Surprise me.

UPDATE: An interesting response from a guy over at Reddit.com giving the U.K. perspective on BrewDog’s stunts.

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