Trashy Blonde

This is the beer that gets most laughs because of it's name. "Is it aimed at women?" someone asked me. I'm not sure I'd aim that phrase at many women I know. Or don't know for that matter.  What is it with beers supposedly aimed at women? Just because it's fruity, or low in alcohol, or mentions a hair colour, then people automatically think women will like it. Personally, I find nothing more attractive than a woman supping an ale or stout from a pint glass - two things women aren't supposed to do. Women are supposed to drink beer like this: http://feministing.com/2011/09/02/finally-a-beer-just-for-women/   Which on first glance looks good and fun, until you read the marketing blurb "it contains less carbonisation and less bitterness". They might aswell say that it contains no flavour, has no calories and is quite similar to water. In fact, just call it water.

Women should be able to drink whatever they want. They've got the same tastebuds as us men, and in fact have got a little more going for them then their male drinkers. When I worked for Coors Brewers, we had a tasting panel that met every Monday morning to taste the batch of beers that were about to be released. They had to decide if they were worthy of leaving the brewery that afternoon. Of course, everybody wanted that job. Unfortunately, that job was only available to women. Not because women have better taste buds (or employment records), but because women are more eloquent. Generally if a man tries a beer he'll declare that "it's the best beer I have ever tasted". If a man tries a bad beer he'll declare "it's the worst beer I have ever tasted". "Give me another to make sure".  However, give a woman a good beer and she'll be using words like citrus, floral, soft, malty, zingy etc etc. A bad beer gets a similar treatment - albeit in the negative sense. So not only should we be giving more beer to women, but (and I never thought I'd hear myself say this), but we should also be listening to them more. Only when it comes to beer of course.

Here's the review:

Trashy Blonde (ratebeer.com rating 86) is described as a "Statuesque fruity ale". Fruity - there's that word again. Coupled with the fact that it's 4.1%,  I approached this Brewdog with the view that it's the lesser of it's two other stablemates.
WRONG!  It poured out of the glass like a block of ice cream, the large creamy head almost falling out of the glass. The smell - and here's where I will gladly use the F word - is of...not cherry, not raspberry or the usual fruit beers we've got used to in Estonia - but of passion fruit. This comes from the hops that they use - a combination of American and New Zealand. It's dark golden in colour - which I suppose where it gets its name from.

A real suprise. It's much more bitter than I thought it would be. Really pale ale tasting - with hops at the forefront, then the malt, then back to the hops on the finish. It's the fruit in the hops that is the real killer taste for me though. Not as zesty as Punk, but really fresh and grassy and nice and dry. Almost a bit like Huvila Pale Ale (similar abv too), but because of these new world hops, it's got that added dimension to it. It's also nice and creamy - that head stays the same thickness all the way down the glass.

My new second favourite beer. In fact, I think it actually runs close to first place with Punk. Punk is what it says it is. I can't spend all day listening to the Dead Kennedys or the Clash - but I do enjoy listening to them when I am in the mood or in between easier listening music. The same with Punk IPA - it's best taken in small doses to really appreciate it. Say once or twice a day. Trashy blonde on the otherhand is much more accessible. It's a 4.1% session pale ale. Alternate between the Punk IPA, finishing off the night (or morning) with a 5AM Saint, and I think the Brewdog portfolio taste experience has been found.

So tell your wife that this beer is NOT for women. Otherwise she might never shut up about it.