I don’t recall mentioning it here before, but over the last couple of years I’ve been writing reviews for The Brewclub, an American beer website.
Here in the UK we’re lucky enough to not only have some of the finest brewers and ales in the world, but we are also able to get beers from almost everywhere else. Over the last couple of years not only have I tasted excellent British beers, but also beers from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.
But today the Scottish brewer ‘Brewdog’ announced a brew that I think I’ll pass on – “The End of History”.
They’ve declared that this is the last of their super strength beers – it’s brewed (and ice ‘distilled’) to 55% ABV (that’s eleven times the strength of premium lager), only twelve bottles have been made, and each bottle is ‘wrapped’ in a specially stuffed stoat or grey squirrel – and you’ll see from the picture that I’m not kidding.
One can only hope that the brew is more tasteful than the packaging.
Previously I’ve enjoyed Brewdog’s Tokyo Extra Stout brewed to 18.2% ABV, their Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% ABV) I enjoyed less.
This, to me is an ale too far, and I’ll pass.
Update – clearly there are people ‘out there’ with more money than taste… this very limited edition was sold out within 24 hours.
“One can only hope that the brew is morer tasteful than the packaging”
That’s funny Bob! Yeah, too far for me too. Shock value marketing very, very rarely appeals to me, and actually turns me off to an entire product line.
Interesting to see if all the hype is going to hurt them or not. I hear a lot of people, like Nate, saying that their recent antics have turned them off as customers. Its impressive what they’ve done to get awareness for their brand, but are they alienating their core?
To be brutally honest, @nate isn’t their core market… they don’t export much and have an IPA in at least one major UK supermarket chain, so any raised brand awareness should help them.
I think Joe Public will be saying “Brewdog? I’ve heard of them…” rather than “They’re the guys that stuffed an uber beer up a squirrel’s…”
And so, when the dust has settled, I think they’ll probably gain in the long run.
Ultimately, of course, the brand could be bought by a major brewer like Greene King as their ‘radical’ brand.
kerching!