Brewdog Creates New "World's Strongest Beer"

by David Kiley (RSS feed)
Jul 23rd 2010 at 4:01PM

Scottish microbrewery BrewDog has created what it's claiming is the most alcoholic, most expensive beer in the world. It's called "The End of History", and has an alcohol content of 55 percent ABV. Cost: £500 for a bottle. (Their previous world's strongest beer offering, unveiled last year, was called Tactical Nuclear Penguin.)

The name comes from a quote by philosopher Francis Fukuyama, who claimed, "What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such."

The beer, which comes infused with juniper berries and highland nettles, is being produced in a limited run of just 12 bottles. Brewdog achieves the high ABV by freezing the beer down to -70 celsius repeatedly. The water freezes before the alcohol does, and the ice crystals are extracted, concentrating the flavor and the alcohol content.

It is actually a very old method of creating liqueur. American Colonials brought the practice to the U.S. from France where Normandy apple growers still make hard cider, and then freeze it several times until they have what some call "Apple Oil" that has typically has between 20-25% ABV depending on how much ice they can get out of the barrels before they start drinking it.

The price is so high because it takes about 200 bottles of normal beer go into one bottle of the highly-alcoholic end-product.
The packaging is...interesting. Each beer comes safely encased in a small furry animal. A Doncaster taxidermist stuffed a bottle into seven stoats, four squirrels and a hare, before dressing them up in various different outfits.

What does it taste like? Tsting notes from the brewery indicate cinnamon, honey and biscuits. Tartness from the berries, a bit of mint from the nettle, and a bit of bitterness from the alcohol."
A stoat will cost you £500, a grey squirrel or hare costs £700.

Previously, Brewdog made a beer it pitched as world's strongest: The name, Tactical Nuclear Penguin. Penguin was 32 ABV. It was a double cask matured uber-imperial stout. Nuclear Penguin sold for £30 a bottle or £250 per bottle which included a share in BrewDog PLC (value £230).

Tags: beer, Brewdog, The End of History, worlds strongest beer