BrewDog

No brewery has shouted its way around the world quite like BrewDog: a Scottish outfit that turned punk attitude into a global craft brand, Punk IPA out front and bars from Aberdeen to Australia. It calls itself a punk; by now it is also an institution.

It began in 2007 in Fraserburgh, a fishing town in Scotland's northeast, with two twenty-something founders, a bank loan, and — as the founding legend goes — the dog the company is named after. The early years ran on provocation — stunts like The End of History, a 55% ABV beer sold inside taxidermied squirrels, and 'Equity for Punks,' a crowdfunding scheme that turned tens of thousands of drinkers into shareholders.

Now headquartered in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, BrewDog plc sells across the UK, Europe, the U.S., and Australia — about as close to a household name as craft beer has produced. The provocations have mellowed with scale; the core proposition hasn't: hop-forward beer, sold with a shout.

Punk IPA, the flagship, pours bright gold and leads with New World hops: grapefruit, tropical fruit, and a resinous pine note over a light caramel-biscuit base, ending in a brisk, assertive bitterness. It was designed to startle lager drinkers, and even softened a little over the years, it still snaps.