(Aberdeen, SCOTLAND) – Brewdog‘s 4.9% black lager, Zeitgeist, has been available since the beginning of the year to some folks overseas but just got approval for export to the States. Maybe more interesting than the beer itself is the website that the brewery has devoted to it.

Zeitgeist is German for “the spirit of the times.” It looks like the Brewdog folks think we’ve lost a lot of our individual spirit. Various messages on the site critique the ‘status quo’ nature of our current society. Example:

“Zeitgeist encapsulates our view of contemporary society, yet simultaneously endeavours to improve it. There is too much conformity. Not enough thought, not enough individualism, not enough alternatives. Our military line ups represent conformity to a higher authority, be it political, brand, celebrity, religion or trend. The subjects in our dystopian landscape further seek to repress their identity through uniforms and masks. Yet underneath their body shapes reveal cracks of personality and individualism.”

It is an intriguing campaign and an aggressive one at that: “The slaughterhouse of conformity is not my destiny.” I have always felt that blanket anti-conformity messages are arguably conformist in themselves though . . . trying to breed a group of people to think a certain way. That said, the underlying message that the brewery is conveying should resonate with most craft beer drinkers. The choice of style is particularly interesting as well: lagers are the norm across most heavy drinking cultures though black ones are not. Lagers seem to be making a comeback of sorts after the glut of high alcohol beers that have dominated the ‘new beer’ space over the past year.

Side note: Brewdog 5am Saint Inconoclastic Amber Ale is another beer just recently announced on the Brewdog blog though no telling whether it will be imported to the U.S. yet. The Portman Group continues to give the brewery hell as well.