A beer called Punk IPA is set to be banned in Scotland over concerns that its name could encourage heavy drinking and antisocial behaviour.
Maker BrewDog supplies the beer to supermarket giants Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, as well as off licence Oddbins.
But regulatory body the Portman Group said the name breached its marketing rules. Punk is currently marketed with the slogan, ‘This is an aggressive beer, we don't care if you don't like it’.
The body also ruled against two other BrewDog beers – Rip Tide and Hop Rocker.
“Our branding, our packaging, is a little bit edgy,” BrewDog co-founder James Watt told the Independent. “The word 'aggressive' is used because of the biting bitterness in it. It's a heavily hopped beer. It's not something you can drink a lot of.”
Last month the Portman Group kicked off a probe into Skull Splitter ale, which is made by an Orkney microbrewery and is named after a historical Viking earl associated with the island.
Earlier this year controversy broke out over a new high-caffeine energy drink dubbed Cut Cocaine, which critics said glorified the use of illegal drugs.
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