One and Done
Watch for these beers: "Tactical Nuclear Penguin." "Sink The Bismarck." "The End Of History." "Start the Future." They're the worlds strongest beers, hitting as high as 60% alcohol (120 proof). People are calling them "superbeers," and brewers are competing to create the strongest one. I highly recommend this article that discusses a handful of the concoctions and the beer-crafting one-upmanship phenomenon that is getting beer drinkers drunker quicker. Excerpt:
The End Of History
After losing the crown to Schorschbräu again after just a weeks, Brew Dog seemed irritated and decided to go for the knockout punch. The brewers say that “this 55 percent (ABV) beer should be drank in small servings whilst exuding an endearing pseudo vigilance and reverence ”¦ this is to be enjoyed with a weather eye on the horizon for inflatable alcohol industry Nazis, judgmental washed up neo-prohibitionists or any grandiloquent, ostentatious foxes.” Indeed.
The name of this beer comes from philosopher Francis Fukuyama, who defined history as the evolution of political systems. He traced this through the ages to the Western Democratic system that Fukuyama considers the end point of man's political evolution and consequently the end of history. Brew Dog has said that The End of History is the last high-ABV beer it will brew and considers it the end point of how far it can push the boundaries of extreme brewed beer.
Only 12 bottles of this expensive ($780) blonde Belgian ale were brewed, using nettles from the Scottish Highlands and juniper berries. Because this beer is so rare, it comes with its own certificate of authenticity and is packaged in road kill, because what better way to enjoy an expensive and rare beverage than drinking it out of a stuffed squirrel? Never have taxidermy and alcohol been mixed in such a fine fashion.
And if you don't feel like spending a lot of money on your beer, Walgreens has come to the rescue: Big Flats 1901, its private-label beer. About $12 a case. I'm going to try it. I've read good things about their vitamins. I figure their beer must be fairly high-quality, too.
