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BrewDog Sells World’s Strongest Ever Beer in Stuffed Road Kill

At this point, there’s really no need for us to even report on the following story since it’s been covered by hundreds of sources in the last few days.  BUT, there are a casual beer drinkers who visit this site and don’t know about all of the extreme beer-geekiness that seems to now go down on a consistent basis.  So we’ve got to share this latest news.

BrewDog Ltd (Scotland), makers of previous strongest beers in the world (Tactical Nuclear Penguin, 32% ABV and Sink the Bismark!, 41% ABV)… as well as other quality beers with much lower ABV; have announced The End of History.

The End of History is a blonde Belgian ale infused with nettles from the Scottish Highlands and fresh juniper berries.  Oh… and the ABV?  55%

But the ABV is arguably not even the most eye-catching part of this newly released beer. That award goes to the packaging of the beer.

Only 12 bottles were made and each comes with its own certificate and is presented in a stuffed stoat or grey squirrel. The insane packaging was created by a taxidermist and all the animals used were road kill. This release is a limited run of 11 bottles, 7 stoats and 4 grey squirrels. Each ones comes with its own certificate of authenticity.

Read that last paragraph again.

Now read more explanation from the beer’s site:

This 55% beer should be drank in small servings whilst exuding an endearing pseudo vigilance and reverence for Mr Stoat. This is to be enjoyed with a weather eye on the horizon for inflatable alcohol industry Nazis, judgemental washed up neo-prohibitionists or any grandiloquent, ostentatious foxes.

The End of History: The name derives from the famous work of philosopher Francis Fukuyama, this is to beer what democracy is to history. Fukuyama defined history as the evolution of the political system and traced this through the ages until we got the Western Democratic paradigm. For Fukuyama this was the end point of man’s political evolution and consequently the end of history. The beer is the last high abv beer we are going to brew, the end point of our research into how far the can push the boundaries of extreme brewing, the end of beer.

At BrewDog we want to push the boundaries and challenge people’s perceptions about what beer is and how it can be enjoyed. We ultimately want to show people that there is an alternative to the mainstream, generic beers and make other people as passionate about craft beer as we are. We have pushed the limits of beers in many directions, ultra hoppy low abv beers (such as Nanny State), Islay Barrel Aged Stouts, Ageing IPAs on the Ocean and doing off the wall collaborations.

Another area we have explored is extreme ABV brewing. Using clowns, penguins and polar bears we have frozen, hopped and oak aged stronger beers than have ever before been made in the history of beer. This program has parented the infamous Tokyo*, Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismarck! The End of History, at 55%, is the final instalment of our efforts to redefine the limits of contemporary brewing.

Call it ridiculous. Call it crazy and insane. But we call it funny and genius marketing.

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again about these two guys who run BrewDog – they know how to get their name recognized around the world. Any press is good press and James & Martin are masters of creating a buzz around their brand. And it moves bottles. Just ask retailers in just about any state which sell BrewDog beers. They’ll tell you that the stuff flies off the shelves, with most of it costing a pretty penny.

And let’s give credit where credit is due.  Creating a 55% ABV beer isn’t easy.  We’ve had their 32% and their 41% ABV beers and both were very tasty.  Not an easy feat with such high alcohol content. Let’s not also forget that BrewDog’s tasty Hardcore IPA won the 2010 World Beer Cup Gold medal.  So let’s not be quick to dismiss this brewery as a camp who only produces insanely big ABV beers and makes funny videos about them.

Perhaps we’re biased in this whole thing since we were fortunate enough to hang out and chat with BrewDog’s James Watt a few months back when he was in town or maybe because we just love their Damn the Man -type attitude and their anti-conventional way of thinking and doing things.  They’re fun guys who love what they do yet don’t take it too seriously.

The purists may frown on this sort of madness, but those with an open mind who are able to think outside the box, surely appreciate what these guys are doing by turning the brewing world on its head.  It’s their company and they are free to do what they want.  Don’t like it? Don’t buy into the hype and don’t buy it!  Personally, we’re fans of sitting back and not only being entertained by the witty press releases and announcements, but also enjoy watching the media, blog writers and message boards go bonkers. We’re all just part of the game.

Check out the promo video for The End of History below and let us know what you think about this latest announcement from BrewDog.

Update:  BrewDog’s James Watt recently replied to criticism of this latest announcement with 12 points in all.  Here are some snippets:

- How many of the haters are stuck in a job they hate, working for a company that sucks, sitting on their ale soaked arses with nothing better to do than to become uber self righteous in a bid to justify their own existence?

- We love what we do, we have fun. Maybe we are not supposed to do the fun part. I might have to buy a suit.

- All the criticism would seem to suggest that we take things like The End of History seriously. Have you not seen the video? The whole thing done with tongue very firmly in cheek. Maybe sarcasm and irony does not translate that well on the other side of the Atlantic.

The End of History from BrewDog on Vimeo.

And a recent CBSNews.com interview with BrewDog’s James Watt: