Brewdog

No matter how much of their signature craft beer you may drink, there’s no forgetting you’re in a Brewdog pub. Their branding screams at you from every angle: the bar, the beers, the walls and the bar staff’s T-shirts. It’s brash, noisy, colourful and self-consciously over-the-top, but then that’s how these self-styled ‘punk brewers’ do business – and it’s going down a storm worldwide.

Opened in 2011, the Glasgow branch of the Aberdeenshire-based company’s fast-growing international pub chain was one of the first opened (a second Glasgow outlet will follow in 2015 in the Merchant City). It does a roaring trade from its prestigiously situated premises, overlooking the grand Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery across the road.

Highly recommended among their beverages are a wide selection of standard continental lagers and soft-drinks. Only joking: it’s all about the Brewdog at this hopster’s paradise, plus selected guest brews sharing Brewdog’s craft-only ethics. As well as Brewdog’s standard suite of ales – including the 5am Saint red ale, Dead Pony Club pale ale and ubiquitous Punk IPA – expect an ever-changing cast of limited-edition, rare and experimental brews, from 9 percent CapDog black IPA to Russian Doll IPAs (a set four ales with varying ABVs). If you’re a bit unsure as to which will be to your particular taste, Brewdog’s ebulliently chipper, mildly geeky bartenders will supply you with advice and samples.

To sustain you in your drinking crusade, they do a limited but hearty selection of food, from 2-for-1 hot dogs and burgers, to stews cooked with their own beer. There are less in-your-face (and arguably better) craft pubs in Glasgow, but there’s no faulting Brewdog’s cocky and unswerving dedication to their cause, at the forefront of craft brewing’s challenge to dull, run-of-the-mill chain pubs and the bland beers that come with them.