World’s Strongest Beer Update – The latest rumor has BrewDog hitting 55 % ABV and £500 a bottle!

According to this post by the good folks at BeerNews.org, BrewDog has possibly produced the world’s strongest beer at 55% ABV. The Scottish brewery is mum on the subject, but they are expected to make a rather big announcement tomorrow.

If rumor turns out to be truth, BrewDog will have concocted a recipe for a very expensive glass of beer. A collector’s item really. The reported price is £500 a bottle, but that’s because they’re are only a reported 12 bottles.

Oh, yeah, and apparently they’re marketing the bottles inside of some stuffed animal. It will be interesting to see what the latest gimmick is all about. It’ll be even more interesting to see if they really hit 55% ABV.

Read all about the battle for the World’s Strongest Beer here.

Prost,

GG

Glacier Brewing Company to release the Bald Beaver

Here’s the latest offering from Glacier Brewing Company. I wonder if the fact that there is no art work says something about the name or if the name says something about the fact that there is no art work?

Well, tomorrow is THE day.
We will be releasing the bald beaver into its native habitat: our tasting room!
This big beer will be served in nine-ounce snifters and is intended to be warmed and sipped.
This beer packs a very large punch so PLEASE treat it with respect. You know how a bald beaver can be!

Prost,

GG

World’s Strongest Beer Battle Update – More breweries seeking title of World’s Strongest Beer

Revelation Cat Craft Brewing of Italy jumped into the high gravity beer game recently with Freeze The Penguin

If you like beer, like I do, you’ll love this Gizmag article entitled “Man’s favourite recreational drug suddenly gets much stronger with extreme beers.” It not only details a fine history of beer, it takes you right through to the modern era and one of the biggest news makers in the growing craft beer industry.

The battle for the title of “World’s Strongest Beer.” As most of you know, BrewDog and Schorschbräu from Scotland and Germany respectively, have been duking it out to raise the ABV of their beers from 31 percent to 43 percent in just over a year using the ice distilling method. The article describes the battle and each new volley in depth. And, it appears the Italians and the Belgians may soon enter the battle.

An interesting set of numbers from the article:

The strongest beer in history had a 27% alcohol content in January 2009. By December, the record had risen to nearly 40% alcohol by volume – a 50% rise in potency in 12 months, despite 10,000 years of history.

I’ve often wondered if any American breweries are planning to launch a salvo over the Atlantic, but I’ve heard nothing definite yet. Our Montana breweries are out of the game, because they are limited to brewing beer under 14 percent by volume by the state. Would love to know if you know of any breweries in your part of the country looking to make a run at the title of “World’s Strongest Beer.”

A friend of a friend reviews the world’s strongest beer…while on a boat

On Friday, beer buddy Jon caught a Twitter post from a friend (Steve Leighton) in England who was about to sample Brewdog’s Sink the Bizmarck. (current holder of the title of World’ Strongest Beer) So he asked him if he’d be willing to do a video review to help some Americans understand this European war of the big beers.

Here’s the result:

Check out Leighton’s coffee blog.

Prost,

GG

Video blog – War for the world’s strongest beer decided by a naval battle?

The war for the world’s strongest beer is either heating up or it’s ended. I can’t tell just yet, but that’s because most Americans haven’t been able to taste Brew Dog’s Tactile Nuclear Penguin, Schorschbrau’s Schorschbock or the newest Sink the Bizmarck. Either way, this hilarious video from Scotland’s Brew Dog is both educational and funny.

Sink the Bismarck! from BrewDog on Vimeo.

Prost,

GG

The War of the Big Beers heats up in Europe

I have a growing suspicion that the next world war might not be fought over land, politics or ideology so much as bragging rights to the world’s biggest beer. As Scotland’s BrewDog retaliates against a huge German beer that dethroned former champion Tactile Nuclear Penguin, beer bloggers from around the globe are sounding off. Read this great post on BeerNews.org.

As for me, it’s really difficult to judge something before you’d tried it. I really hope some of these beers eventually make it to the United States, but I can be patient too. After all, the U.S. doesn’t have a history of jumping into war quickly. I have a feeling this war will come to our shores whether we like it or not.

Perhaps the Japanese have a surprise high-ABV torpedo in their arsenal that might awaken the sleeping giant?

Prost,

GG

BrewDog's second volley!

Tactile Nuclear Penguin dethroned by a German beer that rings in at 40 percent

Somehow I missed the news that the Scottish brewery that makes Tactile Nuclear Penguin, at one time the world’s strongest beer, had been outbrewed by a German brewery. Given Fox’s propensity to report on extremes, I’m not surprised by this story about the world’s strongest beers.

Prost,

GG

Scottish brewers claim Tactical Nuclear Penguin is the world’s strongest beer

BrewDog - Fraserburgh, Scotland

According to this article in The Guardian, a Scottish brewery is claiming to have brewed the world’s strongest beer. At 32-percent ABV, the Tactical Nuclear Penguin would eclipse the Samuel Adams Utopias, which boasts a 27-percent ABV. Retailing for £30 per bottle or £250 for a bottle and one share in the company, it certainly is less expensive than Utopias, which is is selling for $150.00 a bottle stateside.

BrewDog, which began brewing in 2007 on the north east coast of Scotland, has a reputation for brewing beers that test the boundaries of a marketing watchdog firm that keeps a strict code of conduct for how brewers may name and market their beer. Many of their earliest beers were investigated for having names like Punk IPA, Riptide and Hoprock, and one beer, called Speedball, was banned by the watchdog firm. The company later renamed the beer Dogma, according to The Guardian.

There is something about this brewer in Scotland that I like. That they stand up for their product, which is so much more costly than standard beer as to make it cost prohibitive to youngsters, is a good thing. It’s one thing to put Joe Cool on a box of cigarettes and market them to children, it’s another thing to brew specialty ales and market them under distinct names that create some visual of what the beer tastes like.

It’s the same here in the states. Rather than fight the large, commercial breweries who produce alcapops and inexpensive high-gravity ales that are so much more accessible to the masses, the government picks on small breweries that do not have the money to hire large PR firms and lobbyists to protect their interests.

That big, industrial brewers would put millions of dollars into marketing alcohol to children, while at the same time giving a lot of money to alcohol treatment programs is a testimony to how out-of-balance big financially interested companies are. A brewery in a small town that produces many styles for its patrons should not be marginalized by society’s bigger demons, namely money and greed. Craft brewers are not the problem in this country or in Scotland. Big money can effectively hide the sins of the corporations, but it’s time for people to wake up and see that they have been seeing through a lot of wool.

Well-crafted beer in any form has been a mainstay in many communities around the world for the last 10,000 years. The neo-prohibitionists out there would mistakenly characterize beer as the demon and not the designed marketing and carefully measured campaigns to bring cheap, alcohol products to the masses.

For Montana legislators, you have a chance to help make brewing a big industry in Montana and a tourist attraction. Is there underage drinking in Montana? Of course. Is there an issue with over-consumption on Montana’s reservations? Of course. Can you trace this problem back to the microbrewery’s in this state? Absolutely not. Where is the problem then? Cheap, under-regulated liquor and malt beverages that find their way into grocery stores, convenience marts and gas stations is part of the problem. Making drinking sexy and desirable through high-dollar ad campaigns is part of the problem. Politicians looking the other way while big beverage companies sell cheap alcapops everywhere is part of the problem.

Montana’s craft breweries are not the problem. In fact, I’d go so far as to say they are part of the solution. By promoting responsible drinking and limiting patrons, Montana’s craft breweries have created a desirable environment to bring your kids and enjoy good conversation over a round of interesting libations. Montana’s craft breweries bring communities together, they do not split them a part. It’s time to get real and allow them the same rights and responsibilities of any other business in this state.

Prost,

GG

Sam Adam’s newest version of Utopias banned in Montana and 12 other states

It’s reported to be about 27-percent alcohol, and it has pushed the boundaries of modern brewing techniques. Sadly, you will not get to taste it in Montana, as it is clearly over the state’s newly instituted 14 percent ABV limit.

From the Associated Press -