A few days ago I asked the question "When will it end" in reference to the on going arms race to see who can create the highest abv beer. Well another salvo has been launched, this time by German Brewer Schorschbräu as pointed out in a reply in the above linked post.
Schorschbräu, in response to Brew Dog's "Sink the Bismark" beer weighing at 41%, has promised to brew one to 45% using the traditional Eisbockverfahren method of freezing the beer, removing the water, and thereby concentrating the sugar and alcohol levels. in their press release they even called out Brew Dog for cheating by using Whiskey barrels to increase the beer (James of Brew Dog points out there was no barrel aging for this beer unlike Tactical Nuclear Penguin).
My question remains the same though, WHY? Whats the purpose? To create something that tastes like whiskey? Why not drink whiskey then? Is it a pissing contest, see which ones bigger? Isn't that a tad childish? Also what about the taste? Which of course is the key? With all due respect to the brewer's I'm just not sure how either of these would actually taste, and taste like you know BEER! Or some semblance there of. You've seen this week I like big beers, but they still taste like beer. Why can't we appreciate beer for all that it is, instead of trying to make it something that it probably shouldn't be.
Of course if I had the opportunity to try it I would, but honestly I can't imagine it would taste all that good, I don't believe you can hide the alcohol in something that big. So of course the question remains "When will it end?" A collaborative 50% brew to make up between these two warring breweries?
5 comments:
Eh, a battle between a Scotsman and a German. That's always entertaining no matter the context. These two could possibly be the most aggravatingly stubborn peoples in the world. If only they would battle over IBUs ... I could get on board with that.
I think the American craft beer scene was in the beginning throws of an IBU battle a few years ago but the hop shortage brought a quick end to it. I guess a war over the best "session beer" is too much to ask for.
Battle Session Beer, wouldn't that be nice?
Even the IBU battle wasn't between breweries trying to out do eachother, at least thats not the way I saw it, it wasn't personal, and no one went around doing arguably childish promotions about how hoppy their beer was.
I think we'll be okay. We'll probably get above 50% soon. Sounds like a lot of fun to me. The IBU battles, the malt battles. As long as they don't battle themselves out of business, it's fine.
Don,
Its that last thing that has me worried. These big beers aren't cheap to make, plus they take longer to ferment. For all the hype they get, they aren't making the breweries a whole lot of money.
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