Strongest Beer?
Scottish brewery claims a 53% imperial stout
A small Scottish brewery has produced what it claims to be the strongest beer in the world.
BrewDog, based in Fraserburgh, north-east Scotland, has released a limited run of 500 bottles of the 32% imperial stout named Tactical Nuclear Penguin.
BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “This is completely pushing the boundaries. This is about evolving the status of beer and changing people’s perceptions of it
“It comes with a small wine stopper; we’re encouraging people to enjoy this in the same way you would enjoy a whisky.”
Chief executive of the campaign group Alcohol Focus Scotland Jack Law said: “The fact they have achieved a new world record is not admirable, that’s for sure.
“It is a product with a lot of alcohol in it, that’s all. To dress it up as anything else is cynical.”
However, Watt claimed that this was untrue and pointed to the scarcity of a beer and its high price compared to the cheap multipack offers available from major brewers and supermarkets.
From what I heard they are freezing the beer to get the alcohol content. Is this not a form of distillation? Therefore, does it qualify as beer?
I agree that at 32% it can be questionable to call it beer, considering they use a “cold distillation” process.
However, Eisbocks are also made by freezing and then removing the ice to concentrate alcohol. If you subscribe to any beer style guidelines (i.e. BJCP), then Eisbock can be up to 33%, although the strongest I’ve heard of personally is Southhampton Publick House’s Double Ice Bock at 18%
So I suppose it’s all a matter of opinion.
They’re not exactly known for their QC. I can appreciate what they are trying to do however. And any publicity is good publicity.
Freezing the beer and pouring off the water is a process of fortification… is it not? Therefore this is “Fortified Beer”. I do believe that this process is actually illegal in the US, hmm i guess i side with the TTB on something:rolleyes:
IMO they are no better than the Cold-Filtered, Triple-Hopped, Micro-Carbonized crap out there. Well maybe worse, the big boys are making common practice sound like something special. Marketing Fortified Beer as if it were a traditionally brewed product is just dishonest.
To pile on some more of my opinions – I vote that Sam Adams still has the crown, any jackass with a really cold freezer could do what these guys have done.
If that’s the case, then someone ought to let all of the big boys who brew an ice beer know that it’s prohibited. Or maybe they get away with it because they lie and call it ice “brewing” and not what it actually is. Ignorance allows them to spout “brewed below freezing” and other crap (could you imagine how long starch conversion or hop isomerization would take below 32 degrees F?).
Okay, I’m getting down from my soapbox now.
They “get away with it” because they apparently follow TTB regulations:
“ATF has also examined statements of process for ice beers. Our examination has found that the volume removed as ice crystals does not exceed 0.5 percent of the volume of the beer entered into the process. ATF thus concludes that removal of up to 0.5 percent of the volume of beer through the removal of ice crystals is customary industry practice and results in a product which may be considered beer.”
Tho’ I’ve always wondered how Schneider Aventinus gets in to US with a TTB label approval and is sold as “beer” (I guess it’s classified as “beer”- the TTB COLA site is down right now, so I can’t check). Do imports not have to do a “SOP” with formula, etc? Same goes for the “gruits” that claim not use any hops, despite the TTB requirement of at least “7 pounds of hops per 100 barrels” for “beer”.
I just watched the video and these guys are hilarious. I give them the crown, they made this beer without the addition of sugars or a non-beer yeast to get the high alcohol. Most importantly, it looks like they are having fun with what they do. I would love to kick back and have a few Penguins with thse guys. Nice work Brew Dog brewers!!
Just another example of our bureaucratic leaders in action, getting deep into the pockets of the real policy makers.:mad:
So it should be okay if I add whiskey to a beer, as long as the alcohol rise doesn’t exceed 0.5% right? If we all start doing it, wouldn’t it become “customary”?