From flickr user Bernt Rostad

The Phoenix New Times assembled a list of the worlds 10 strongest beers (even though the list is 11).  Most of these are OK for the novelty, but brewing for the sake of alcohol doesn’t usually result in good beer.

1. Brewdog The End of History (55% ABV)
2. Schorschbräu Schorschbock 43% (43.38% ABV)
3. Brewdog Sink the Bismarck! (41% ABV)
4. Schorschbräu Schorschbock 40% (39.44% ABV)
5. Brewdog Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% ABV)
6. Schorschbräu Schorschbock 31% (30.86% ABV)
7. Sam Adams Utopias (27% ABV)
8. DuClaw Colossus (21.92% ABV)
9. Sonoran 200 (19.37% ABV)
10. The Bruery Black Tuesday (19.5% ABV)
11. Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout (18% ABV)

't Koelschip logo

Less than two weeks after Scottish brewery BrewDog announced that it had broken its own record for the highest ABV beer, a Dutch brewery, ‘t Koelschip, has announced that their beer “Start the Future” comes in at 60% ABV, or 120 proof.

“You don’t drink it like beer, but like a cocktail — in a nice whisky or cognac glass,” brewer Jan Nijboer told Dutch news agency ANP.

Nijboer’s Almere-based brewery, ‘t Koelschip (The Refrigerated Ship), sells the new beer, which is 120 proof and dubbed “Start the Future,” in a one-third litre bottle for 35 euros ($45) each.

Nijboer told ANP he developed the new brew to keep up with Scottish outfits that were also pushing the boundaries of beer’s alcohol content.

There are more than a few people who think this whole arms race is ridiculous, and they may well be right.  But personally, I like the idea of people brewing beer in ways that it has never been brewed before.  I’m not sure I really care to do anything more than try one of these beers, but I appreciate the effort.

Beer, served from roadkill

We’ve written about Scottish brewery BrewDog before, but they’re in the news again for these completely awesome squirrel koozies, which come as part of their $765 per bottle, 55% ABV beer, “The End of History.”

The story here should be about a 55% ABV beer.  When BrewDog released the 41% “Sink the Bismark” earlier this year, there was an incredible amount of attention paid to the beer itself, and how BrewDog was pushing the boundaries of modern brewing.  “Sink the Bismark,” and I would presume “The End of History,” were brewed by freezing the wort in order to concentrate it, leaving a much more dense, port-like beer.

With their latest release, everyone (including me) is focusing on the packaging.  I suppose the publicity stunt is the right way to do it if they wanted the attention — people are only going to write about the highest ABV beer so many times.  “Sink” came in brown paper bags decorated with a hand-drawn penguin, “History” comes in roadkill.  If I was going to drop $765 on a single beer, I’d want to save the bottle, and no standard glass beer bottle can properly display both the price tag and the uniqueness of the beer quite like one wrapped in a dead squirrel.

Scottish brewery BrewDog has produced a 41% ABV beer, taking the title of world’s strongest beer.  Of course, there are plenty of people who hate it for reasons that have nothing to do with taste.

Alcohol Focus Scotland chief executive Jack Law said: “Over the past few months BrewDog have continued to produce stronger and stronger beers.

“By commenting on this irresponsible brewing practice we only serve to add to their marketing and therefore we have no further comment to make.”

Well, I’m happy to help their marketing if they’re willing to keep pushing the boundaries of brewing.  I highly doubt the beer will have a long-term mass-market appeal, but as an experiment in brewing processes it’s commendable, even if they are doing it for the publicity.