After growing tired of non stop talk of recession and with a post college urge to try pastures new I have found myself living in Edinburgh for the past month. After some research i found that brewing seems to be be somewhat limited in this part of the world. I am by no means a brewdog "punk" but I do see where their coming from when they complain that conservative ales blanket the market. After several very samey beer experiences it was so refreshing to find Brewdogs bar on Cowgate. To me it seems the bar is leading the way in the Anglo Irish beer world. Their attention to small details is a factor that I can see leading them to a very dominant position in these isles in the near future. Their branding is exceptional with several separate branded glasses for each style of beer.Not old fashioned pint glasses and belgian tulips but unique funking glasses that set the bar apart from other more old fashioned less brand conscious bars.Tshirts and hoodies are reasonably priced and very well designed and the everything else in the bar that can be stamped with Brewdogs logo has been tagged. The bar is minimalist and slick without loosing character or seeming cold. They add character to the bar by allowing their young staff to leave several humorous signs and scrawling s dotted around the bar. I was also surprised to find the staff were far less arrogant then their advertising would suggest. It seems to me that in Ireland some bar staff can become condescending or arrogant when they are working in and place that serves "world beers" or cocktails. The brewdog staff are also seemingly allowed to drink the beer they serve while working. In my experience this in Ireland is akin to injecting heroin in full view of the customers in terms of outrage and disgust that it will illicit not to mention and instant sacking. From what I can see this gives the bar a greater sense of comradeship between drinker and barstaff and improves the atmosphere of the place.It also shows a greater level of maturity in terms of drink culture within the bar in that one can be seen to drink without getting intoxicated. Perhaps I have missed this and the culture may well exist is some Irish brewpubs. The selection of beers is also remarkable in that they appear to have developed strong connections with foreign breweries that are truly unique within our market. Besides several unique non bottle available Brewdog beers on draft(imperial wheat,hello my name is ingrid) the bar also has draft taps for meantime,Mikeller and Stone brewing beers(about 2 styles for each brewery last time I was in).What is also a nice touch is that when one meantime runs out a new style is straight away wheeled out.They seem to have several reserves options constantly ready to go with no out of stock signs disappointing people coming to the bar. One last little touch was a respect for the customer(an extraordinary concept in some Irish pubs) half pints are exactly half the price of pints and when the pub has reached comfortable capacity no more customers are admitted. Now I do not mean when no one can no longer breath or move. I mean when it gets even a little bit congested the manager asks the bounce rs to not admit customers until some leave.From what I saw this was about 40 people in a space a little bigger than the Beirhaus.Thankyou for reading my overly long review.I would love to hear some feedback
