Aldi lists Brewdog’s spoof ‘copycat’ beer

Aldi UK has listed a beer originally created as a spoof by Brewdog in response to the UK discounter selling a ‘copycat’ of the disruptive brewery’s famous Punk IPA.

BrewDog’s Ald IPA sitting next to the ‘copycat’ beer that sparked the collaboration

In August Brewdog co-founder James Watt released a tweet with a mock-up of the spoof “Yaldi IPA” after someone pointed out the supermarket had created a beer  of its own called Aldi’s Anti-Establishment Beer bearing a striking resemblance to the brewery’s flagship Punk IPA.

The discounter, which stock few big-brand products, is well-known for its ‘lookalike’ own label products, that play on the customers familiarity with the real thing but comply with UK copyright infringement law (although it has been caught out, for example losing a copyright infringement battle with the Saucy Fish Company in 2014 and a case with United Biscuits)

Unveiling a mock up for their Aldi-style copycat beer on Twitter, Watt challenged Aldi UK to sell in in their store, only for Aldi to respond that thy ‘would have gone with ALD IPA, send us a crate and we’ll talk…’ 

As there was already a Yaldi brewery, Watt rose to the challenge and two months later, the spoof brand is now on shelf exclusively at Aldi as a limited edition special buy from Thursday 15 October (RRP: £1.39 per 330ml can).

Aldi said it was “thrilled to be working with best-selling independent brewer to create a product everyone from hop-heads to novices are bound to love.”

Aldi’s managing director Julie Ashfield said the retailer couldn’t resist stocking ALD IPA, which supports its mission to work with the UK’s best independent suppliers.

“With customer enquiries through the roof after the conversation broke on Twitter – it really was a no brainer to give our shoppers what they want,” she added.

Watt said the collaboration had been one of its favourites to date. “it’s definitely one no one saw coming! From a mock-up on Twitter, to being stocked at Aldi stores across the UK, the response has been incredible.”

The beer is a 4.7% session IPA, based on BrewDog’s beloved Hop Fiction recipe

In addition, the two companies will be donating a tree to BrewDog’s Forest, to support the brewer’s commitment to reducing carbon and fighting climate change.