Ten years on from Tactile Nuclear Penguin, BrewDog have, once again, brewed a super strong beer - Strength in Numbers.
After a few years of rivalry with Schorschbräu, in which both breweries attempted to outdo each other with their strong beer creations, the brewers have come together to make Strength in Numbers.
This is the story of how we made the strongest beer in the world.
The beer is called Strength In Numbers & we made it with Schorschbräu. It weighs in at 57.8% (stronger than whisky!) & is available here: https://t.co/iyZnyYHYdf pic.twitter.com/HMc6Tseg6Z
— James Watt (@BrewDogJames) September 17, 2020
A decade ago the Scottish brewery created Tactile Nuclear Penguin - a 32% ABV ice distilled beer which, at the time, was the strongest beer ever made.
That was until Schorschbräu - a German brewery - created Schorschbock which came in at a 40%. BrewDog then retaliated with Sink the Bismarck IPA, which was 41%.
Schorschbräu upped the ABV in Schorschbock to 43%, which reigned as the strongest beer until BrewDog made a 53% beer titled The End of History in July 2010. This made the headlines as it was packaged in taxidermy.
Schorschbräu came back with Schorschbock at a whopping 57% and that seemed to be the end of it, until now.
The new beer, which is 57.3% is a collaboration with Schorschbräu and has been aged in barrels for ten years.
Strength in Numbers launched on 17 September and is available to buy on the BrewDog website, priced at £28.95.
Posting on their site, the BrewDog team explain how the high ABV is achieved, writing: "Strength in Numbers is a 57.8% beer that reaches is colossal ABV through the traditional eisbock method, which means freezing the beer and removing chunks of ice (water) so that you’re left with the concentrated high ABV liquid.
"The beer also features a blend of BrewDog’s own Death or Glory, an ice distilled Belgian golden ale that’s been sitting in whisky casks for 10 years."
The brewery made the news in May when they announced they’d be making a limited edition Barnard Castle Eye Test IPA, with proceeds going to the NHS.
This release was in response to the news that Dominic Cummings decided to ‘test his eyesight ’ by driving to to Barnard Castle during lockdown.
More recently the brewing giant has turned its sights to helping re-home and rescue dogs with their Street Dog IPA and a collaboration with ALDI.
The BrewDog ALDI beer, originally named Yaldi IPA, came about after a fan tweeted a picture of Aldi’s Anti Establishment IPA, and compared it to BrewDog’s Punk IPA.
In response to this, James Watt, posted on his Twitter: “I wonder what Aldi would call Elvis Juice?”
This was followed by a funny announcement of a BrewDog Yaldi IPA.
James wrote: “Inspired by ALDI’s take on Punk IPA from yesterday, we are making a new beer. YALDI IPA is coming soon! Maybe our friends @AldiUK will even sell it in their stores?”
The tweets lead to an exchange between the brewers and the supermarket and a joint venture was announced, with Aldi planning to sell the beer and pledging to plant a tree in the BrewDog forest for every case sold – a deal BrewDog said they’d match.
Scran episode 8: How craft beer conquered the world - with BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie
