BATTLE FOR WORLD’S STRONGEST BEER TITLE

There’s been a bitter beer battle going on for some years between the Dutch and the Scots and it just keeps getting stranger. The title of World’s Strongest Beer has gone back and forth now several times between Dutch brewer ‘t Koelschip (The Refrigerated Ship) and Scottish brewer BrewDog. First, BrewDog released Sink the Bismarck which clocked in at 41% ABV. ‘t Koelschip answered with Oblix which was 45% ABV. In July, BrewDog went over to the macabre side with their release of The End of History – a 55% ABV beer that was served in stuffed stoats, squirrels and a hare. The twelve bottles sold out in four hours at a cost of 5OO pounds (US$785) each. But the victory was short-lived as the Dutch quickly countered with Start the Future, a whopping 6O% ABV brew, or 12O proof, which sells in a 1/3 liter bottle for the modest price of about $45 each. Makes you wonder, or cringe, at what’s coming next.