In this version of Hopinions, Mario and I discuss the Brew Dog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismarck! super-strong ales. At such high alcohol levels, are these beers still beers? Are these beers any good or are they just good marketing? Is this even an issue worth caring about? Read on to find out!
A couple of weeks ago, Scottish brewery Brew Dog released what is now the world’s strongest beer: Sink the Bismarck! (StB), a quadruple IPA. Weighing in at a whopping 41% ABV, or 82 proof, this “beer” was brewed in reaction to the 40% ABV Schorschbock from German brewery Schorsbräu. In fact, both companies have been in a literal cold war trying to outdo each other for the past several months. Schorsbräu originally brewed up a 31% Schorsbock that Brew Dog countered with their much hyped Tactical Nuclear Penguin (TNP).
When I first heard about TNP, I was as excited as everyone else in the craft beer world. I wondered how they got the alcohol so high? I thought about how the beer would feel? Would it have a hot, alcohol quality or be extremely smooth? Most importantly, how would it taste? After all, the true measure of a beer is how it tastes and not how much alcohol it has. Sadly, I’ve yet to try TNP so I cannot comment on taste at the time of this post.
Strangely enough, when I first heard about StB, my initial thoughts were, “Really? 41%? Was this really necessary? What’s the point?”. I found my complete change in attitude surprising as I was all hyped up for TNP but StB seems a bit like… overkill. It’s one thing to have a concept of a beer you would like to make and quite another to make a beer to “one up” the guy next to you. Is the Brew Dog/Schorsbräu relationship really pushing the brewing envelope or is this just a pissing contest?
Strong beers are nothing new to the brewing world. Sam Adams Utopia used to be world’s strongest beer at 27% ABV, but it also tasted really, really good. Dogfish Head brews up two beers, their 120 Minute IPA and World Wide Stout, that both clock in at 18% ABV while Avery Brewing has their “Demons of Ale” series of beers that range from 14.5% - 15.1% ABV. You’d have to go all the way back to Samichlaus (~15% ABV) to find one of the earliest contenders to the title of World’s Strongest.
Brew Dog managing director James Watt has this to say about TNP and StB:
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.
Many of the beers I’ve listed above are as strong as, maybe stronger, than many wines. The few I’ve had the pleasure of trying have been in small quantities, usually in snifter types of glassware usually reserved for distilled spirits. So while I don’t disagree with Mr. Watt, can beers such as TNP and StB still be be called beer? Especially when their alcohol percentages rival those of distilled spirits?
There are no yeast strains, that I am currently aware of, that will withstand alcohol percentages as high as StB, let alone those present in TNP. In order to get beers that high in alcohol, Brew Dog has resorted to the same techniques used to make Eisbocks. Eisbocks are made by freezing a strong beer then removing the ice. Because alcohol freezes at a much lower temperature than water, the remaining liquid is a concentrated and higher alcohol beer. This is essentially a distillation process, which is why you don’t see this type of beer at your local breweries in the United States. If you did, those breweries would also have a distillation license (Hello, Anchor Brewing? Dogfish Head?). This technique differs from your typical distillation process in that it is heatless and concentrates both flavors and alcohol as opposed to just isolating alcohol.
I think it’s all great marketing. BrewDog isn’t going to make their money selling bottles of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, Sink the Bismark or even their beer on the other end of the spectrum, Nanny State (a 1% ABV hop bomb).
What this race to the top does is give them an easy way to advertise their other products. Have you noticed the major push BrewDog utilizes along side these releases? Their videos on the beer are seen by far more people than those that actually get a chance to drink the beer. Even if you haven’t had the Penguin or Bismark, you’ll probably try some of their Punk IPA or other brands just for a taste of what all the hype is about.
I have to say, I don’t know what Schorsbräu’s angle is in all of this. Maybe it’s because I don’t speak German and can’t view their videos or read their blogs, but I haven’t seen anything from their end other than bigger, crazier beers. They aren’t marketing their releases in the same way, and maybe it’s just a matter of pride to hold the title “Strongest Beer in the World.”
Your question though was what do I think of all of this? I have no problem with it. They’re having fun and, from the taste of Penguin I had during SF Beer week, making interesting beers that are worth at least a sampling. Do these beers warrant the steep price put on them (even steeper for us in the US when you tack on shipping)? That’s hard to say, but I can’t knock them for trying.
From what I have heard about Sink the Bismark, it isn’t just a strong beer for the sake of being strong. It seems like a beer that has its merits. So where do you draw the line? If the beer’s quality diminishes I think it’s hard to encourage the breweries. Yet they are seemingly making quality beer at the 41% mark, so what’s wrong with that?
From: Peter at BetterBeerBlog
Well if they’re making a quality beer at 41%, then there’s nothing wrong with it. You bring up an interesting point with the marketing aspect of this story. A side effect to brewing such huge beers is the huge PR you get from them. All of a sudden, Brew Dog is on everyone’s tongue (literarily and literally). Whatever cost they spent making the beer they probably earned back with interest in the form of press. I don’t think they would’ve gotten nearly the same return had they took the same amount of dollars and invested it in traditional marketing. Let’s hear it for word-of-mouth.
On the other end of the spectrum, I don’t think they’re necessarily advancing craft beer if these beers were brewed as a marketing stunt. For all the positive press they’ve gotten, Brew Dog has also received negative press in the form of criticisms from alcohol abuse watch groups.
Chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, Jack Law, told The Sun: “The fact that they have achieved a new world record is not admirable.”
“It is a product with a lot of alcohol in it - that’s all. To dress it up as anything else is cynical.”
Personally, I can guarantee that if I’m ever able to land my hands on a bottle, I will not be pounding back pints. This is definitely a sipping beer. I’m a little envious that you were able to taste a sample during SF Beer Week.
Your aforementioned Nanny State 1.1% ABV beer was a Brew Dog reaction to all the negative press they received from the media. I want to know why it takes negative criticism to prod a brewery to brew up a low alcohol or session-strength beer? OK, over generalization, but there’s always the impulse to “imperialize” a beer but not so much the other way. I’ll be surprised when I hear a brewer suddenly blurt out, “I’m gonna brew up big flavor, big aroma beer with huge hops and malt character… and then sessionize it!”
I will agree with you in regards to the enigma that is Schorsbräu. You’d think that brewing a huge, 30% ABV strongest beer in the world-type of beer would be call for yelling from the rafters but I didn’t even know about them until I heard them mentioned in the same breath as Brew Dog. Chalk it up to conservative German sensibilities?
Why does everything have to be in the name of advancing craft beer? BrewDog brews tasty beers and sells them. That alone “advances craft beer” in the fact that more craft beer is available. They don’t have to have a greater good in mind.
Those same groups who had a problem with Tokyo*, which is where all of this began, will tell you that BrewDog and their marketing style is aimed towards teenagers and that they copious amount of alcohol units in each bottle (that’s how the neo-prohibitionists measure alcohol in the UK) is conducive to binge drinking. Never mind the fact that teens couldn’t stomach the stuff or that even the biggest craft beer drinkers would prefer to split these bottles 5-6 ways, if not more.
That’s where Nanny State comes from. We don’t need the government telling us what we can or can’t drink.Does it not seem hypocritical that beer can be damned for selling 12 ounces of 18% beer (As Tokyo* was when released) but bottles of booze can be bought far easily at much lower prices in much larger quantities?
The fact is, high ABV beers are not for everybody. If you’re not interested in Sink the Bismark, there’s nothing wrong with that. Will I be drinking it? Once I get my hands on it, definitely. Has the whole arms race with Schorsbräu brought more attention to BrewDog? Without a doubt.
In the end you have to decide for yourself if you care or not.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 10:07 am and is filed under Hopinions, Uncategorized.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
3 Responses to “Hopinions: Sink the Tactical Nuclear Bismarck Penguin!”
I looked into ordering a bottle of TNP when it first came out, but when the shipping came out more than the beer and it was over $100 I thought twice. What kind of shape will that poor beer be in by the time it makes it’s journey to the states?
A better option would be to enlist someone as a “courier”. Anyone heading to the UK soon?
March 4th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Great jobs guys! You made me go to the BrewDog site and contemplate ordering TNP and StB…….so because of our damn dollar who wants to go halvsies?
March 5th, 2010 at 9:08 am
I looked into ordering a bottle of TNP when it first came out, but when the shipping came out more than the beer and it was over $100 I thought twice. What kind of shape will that poor beer be in by the time it makes it’s journey to the states?
A better option would be to enlist someone as a “courier”. Anyone heading to the UK soon?
March 5th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Check out what Roger Protz, the guy who saved Real Ale in Britain, had to say about TNP.
http://www.beer-pages.com/2009/11/brewdog-go-bonkers.html
Me thinks he takes it all a bit too seriously.