strong beer

[Ken Gargett]

this seems ridiculous. anyone tried these?

this from a UK wine mag.

The gloves are off in the battle to produce the world's strongest beer. Just months after Brewdog's 32% abv Tactical Nuclear Penguin got the health lobby all hot under the collar, WEST, the Glasgow-based independent brewery, is stocking the liver-melting 40% abv Schorschbock.

It is brewed by Schorschbräu, a craft brewer of speciality strong beer based in Oberasbach, in the middle of the Franconia’s lake region.

[JMH]

And here I was thinking that the Belgians sometimes got carried away. Any idea on the process they use to arrive at those %(v/v)s ken? Do they get the level as high as they can by brewing then top it up with ethanol?

I can't say I'd be at all interested in trying any of those. The strongest beer I've tried is Bush Amber (12%) and I can't imagine wanting to drink a beer any stronger than that. Producing something stronger just seems like a marketing gimmick.

[Ken Gargett]

And here I was thinking that the Belgians sometimes got carried away. Any idea on the process they use to arrive at those %(v/v)s ken? Do they get the level as high as they can by brewing then top it up with ethanol?

I can't say I'd be at all interested in trying any of those. The strongest beer I've tried is Bush Amber (12%) and I can't imagine wanting to drink a beer any stronger than that. Producing something stronger just seems like a marketing gimmick.

i'd be interested to try one purely to see what they are like but can't imagine wanting to regularly drink them. as to the making, no real idea but if forced to guess, i'd say that the yeasts have a major role - i know that a decade or two ago, yeasts were not strong enough to produce many of the wines with alcohol levels we see as commonplace today. now, they do it with ease. so if you are anti-GM, you'll need to be very careful which wins you choose.

[stargazer14]

I just read an article in a local brew paper about this - from what i remember yeast can not survive much above 29% so that has been the limit for true brewing.

There are also beers made using the ice method where the water is frozen and scooped off, and distillations of beer

but this is not 'real beer', more of a spirit.

There are whiskeys made from beer. (Charbay Distillery makes Marko K's - 99 proof)

Samual Adams makes the the highest traditional brewed beer available in the US - Utopias, at 27%.

[thechenman]

I often enjoy a Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA after a meal...that beer is 20% ABV, but there are many beers out there with much higher ABVs. Ultimately, it comes down to everyones individual taste, but a 40% ABV beer needs to come in either a very small bottle, or a very large bottle for sharing.

[Ken Gargett]

I just read an article in a local brew paper about this - from what i remember yeast can not survive much above 29% so that has been the limit for true brewing.

There are also beers made using the ice method where the water is frozen and scooped off, and distillations of beer

but this is not 'real beer', more of a spirit.

There are whiskeys made from beer. (Charbay Distillery makes Marko K's - 99 proof)

Samual Adams makes the the highest traditional brewed beer available in the US - Utopias, at 27%.

i reckon that if you went back 10 to 15 years, the yeast would have been dying in alcohol half that %. it is one of the reasons that a lot of wine has gone from around 12 to 13% a couple of decades ago to 15%+ these days.

[android]

this seems ridiculous. anyone tried these?

this from a UK wine mag.

The gloves are off in the battle to produce the world's strongest beer. Just months after Brewdog's 32% abv Tactical Nuclear Penguin got the health lobby all hot under the collar, WEST, the Glasgow-based independent brewery, is stocking the liver-melting 40% abv Schorschbock.

It is brewed by Schorschbräu, a craft brewer of speciality strong beer based in Oberasbach, in the middle of the Franconia's lake region.

Agree!

[Nedule]

I've been wondering about this beer also, curious to what it may taste like. Here's a video how they get it so strong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs2dZddriBo

[WYPirate]

Fermentable sugars are the key to alcohol content, and yeast strains hardy enough to survive the process. From the video, it seems Brew Dog already had a strong beer when they were cask conditioning it (probably around 16-18% ABV). The "Ice decanting" process they used simply removed the dilutive properties of the water, "concentrating" the alcohol. Almost like a distillation. One has to be careful messing about with fermentable sugars, going overboard can create a disgustingly sweet product, there is science involved. The strongest I've made was a Scottish Wee Heavy that came to a 14.5% ABV. It was DELICIOUS if I say so myself.

[bassman]

There is a German brandy made from beer. Can't recall the name though. I can't get into high alcohol just for high alcohol's sake. Some tasty moderate ones are Bell's Expidition Stout 10.5%, Victory Old Horizontal Ale 11.2% and Dogfish Head Palo Santo 12%

[mbrody]

DFH World Wide Stout is also pretty tasty and I think it is about 15%

Chenman, it's a good thing we don't live too close...

[samb]

Never even heard of it.

[thechenman]

mbrody...you said it. I don't think I'd be getting up for work the next day...

[android]

DFH World Wide Stout is also pretty tasty and I think it is about 15%

Chenman, it's a good thing we don't live too close...

One of those and lights out!

[Habanos2000]

and the point of such high alcohol content is, what again?

[groza]

There is a German brandy made from beer. Can't recall the name though.

Hufeisenbräu Bierbrand is a brandy made from beer with 40% ABV ... they call it "Franconian Whiskey"

[Loki]

Dog Fish Head produces a barley wine called Olde School that comes in at 15% abv. ,bottle conditioned. The side of each bootle instructs the buyer to dig a 2 x2 hole seal the bottles in a plastic bag cover with dirt and dig up a year later and enjoy. lol

I didn't dig a hole but have some that is 3-4 years old. I will try a bottle and post a review sometime soon.

[bassman]

OK, the beer brandy I have is Edelbrand Vallendar Bockbierbrand. Also 40% From Kail, Mosel, Germany.

[Ken Gargett]

just came across this article - seems they are getting stronger!

BrewDog: One beer too many? It may have started as something of a novelty, but BrewDog’s seemingly relentless quest to simultaneously break records and cause controversy is starting to verge on irresponsibility. The Scottish brewer this week announced the launch of a 41% abv beer, snatching the record for the world’s strongest beer back from German rivals Schorschbräu, which held the title for just two weeks with its 40% abv Schorschbock.

At £40 for a 330ml a bottle, only available via the BrewDog website, www.brewdog.com , Sink the Bismarck is a quadruple IPA that is stronger than whisky and vodka.

BrewDog says it developed the new beer, with the typically controversial name Sink the Bismarck, in order to “reclaim the world record – and national pride”, but the question of whether Britain really should be proud of such a record has to be asked.

The brewer is no stranger to controversy, having faced something of a backlash from alcohol awareness groups last November when it released the 32% Tactical Nuclear Penguin, which at the time also took the record away from Schorschbräu’s 31% abv effort.

Innovation and ambition are two characteristics well worthy of praise, but one has to wonder where this back-and-forth could lead.

BrewDog is renowned as an irreverent company which keeps its tongue firmly in its cheek. Indeed, when speaking of the running battle with Schorschbräu to produce the world’s strongest beer, BrewDog managing director James Watt said: “We will fight them in the mash tuns, we will fight them in the fermentation tanks, by golly we'll physically get into the freezers and fight them there if we have to.”

Yet despite the quirky nature of the business, this latest development seems to fly in the face of the efforts made by the rest of the drinks industry to promote a responsible attitude to drinking in the UK.

Brewdog’s announcement gave the health lobby another excuse to lay in to the drinks industry and seems to suggest the company paid little notice to criticisms it received from The Portman Group following the release of Tactical Nuclear Penguin.

Watt, however, claims the brewer is actually promoting a more responsible approach to drinking through releasing the beer.

“This is the beginning of the craft beer revolution in the UK, he said. “We are doing all we can to promote a new and responsible approach to beers in this country.

“We want the public to learn to understand, appreciate and respect beer. At BrewDog we want to highlight a different approach to beer, one which focuses on quality ingredients and craftsmanship and not marketing budgets, volume sales or binge consumption.

“Many fall down the monolithic corporate brewers rabbit hole, we are on a mission to open as many people’s eyes as we can. As a company responsible consumption and better education about beer is ingrained in all we do.

“Beer has a terrible reputation in Britain, it’s ignorant to assume that a beer can’t be enjoyed responsibly like a nice dram or a glass of fine wine.”

It’s a sound philosophy and the company has won praise for its innovative approach to marketing and indeed for its beers.

Yet with this latest move BrewDog is in danger of undoing any good work done before and placing itself firmly in the glare of the popular media, which appears to relish any opportunity it gets to criticise the alcohol industry.

Maybe BrewDog should say that the final shot has been fired in its battle with the Germans.

[Ken Gargett]

Given the price point it's just a novelty item, and should be treated as such - in other words it is best ignored.

yes, the price alone would put me right off.

[dogfishhead]

i reckon that if you went back 10 to 15 years, the yeast would have been dying in alcohol half that %. it is one of the reasons that a lot of wine has gone from around 12 to 13% a couple of decades ago to 15%+ these days.

You are right about the beer yeast not surviving, but for the higher abv they use other yeast like wine yeast or for even stronger beer they use the same yeast used for spirits.

[dogfishhead]

and the point of such high alcohol content is, what again?

You can drink less and have that same great feeling. O and less filling.

[thechenman]

You can drink less and have that same great feeling. O and less filling.

I say...Tastes Great!

[reg]

I've had a couple beers over the last few days at 10 or 11% ABV and its barely noticable that they were higher alcohol beers. Getting up past 20 though, I can't imagine