BrewDog unveils new beer – and offers drinkers swap for ‘bad beer’

Scottish brewer BrewDog has launched a new lager – and will encourage consumers to upgrade by staging an amnesty on ‘bad beer’.

So-called ‘bad beer bins’ will be positioned in the company’s bars throughout the UK, as well as its locations in mainland Europe. BrewDog will urge consumers to swap cans of ‘bad beer’ with their latest release, Lost Lager.

It is a 4.7% ABV dry-hopped pilsner made with classic German Saphir hops, giving vibrant citrus and stonefruit notes. Made using Bavarian yeast, it has a crisp and clean taste, BrewDog said.

It is available in 330ml cans and bottles, as well as 660ml bottles, and will be available through supermarket chain Tesco as well as directly through BrewDog.

The beer collected during the amnesty will be recycled by staff, with some being donated to a UK university and used to create biofuel.

BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “Lost Lager is a crisp, clean pilsner with hints of spice and a zesty lime marmalade character. To mark its launch, we wanted to give beer drinkers a chance to taste a lager made with soul and passion, rather than the mass-produced fizzy yellow swill that the big breweries have been peddling for years.

“For decades, the craft of lager has been lost and forgotten, bastardised by mega breweries putting profit before flavour. But brewed right, lager can pack huge flavour and offer a really exciting style with depth and character. We have been working hard on nailing this recipe for months, and we know anyone who has a taste of Lost Lager will never look back.”

The company, which is currently focused on growing in the US market and Australia, will hope that the launch of Lost Lager will be better received than Pink IPA in May: the beer maker’s offering for International Women’s Day was a swipe at brands that target female consumers with lazy rehashed versions of the same product.

But it backfired massively on the Aberdeenshire-based brewer when it was accused of the very faux pas that it was trying to raise awareness of, and criticised for patronising women.

Earlier this month it released its first sour beers from its state-of-the-art sour beer facility, Overworks.