Temp controlling a freezer

[DonMoleon]

I know it doesn't make sense, but I really don't enjoy hard alcohol, and it's very easy to put down a lot of Penguin. Be very careful if you find that beer. It was 35 quid for a 500ml bottle. They also make another beer called Sink the Bismark, which is the ice version of Hardcore IPA. At 42%, Bismark is the world's biggest beer, and if you can find it, it's worth drinking just for the novelty. I can't drink Bismark, but I also think their Hardcore IPA is horrid. That said, I can drink Bismark WAY easier than I can drink Jack Daniels whiskey, and Bismark is slightly stronger.

Good to know. I was looking forward to trying the hardcore IPA as well, but now, not so much...

[spiderwrangler]

They also make another beer called Sink the Bismark, which is the ice version of Hardcore IPA. At 42%, Bismark is the world's biggest beer, and if you can find it, it's worth drinking just for the novelty.

Supposedly Armageddon by Brewmeister is the biggest at 65%... but I would have guessed it to be 8+%, and question the truth of their claim... Not worth drinking for the novelty.

[Ozwald]

Personally, I think anything that's been iced shouldn't be included in the running for highest ABV. Or at least rate them however they came out of the fermenter. They didn't brew a 65%, they condensed a beer to 65%. Just my opinion on it.

[CRBrewHound]

Personally, I think anything that's been iced shouldn't be included in the running for highest ABV. Or at least rate them however they came out of the fermenter. They didn't brew a 65%, they condensed a beer to 65%. Just my opinion on it.

Agreed, in fact I have a hard time even calling it beer, I know people are going to throw out Eisenbock as a beer style. However, the style does not include multiple freezings to simply condense alcohol, it is to condense the flavors of the beer. This is a form of distiallation, especially when done with the simple goal of producing the highest alcohol product possible. My opinion is that it is a distilled spirit, not a beer.

[Ozwald]

Personally, I think anything that's been iced shouldn't be included in the running for highest ABV. Or at least rate them however they came out of the fermenter. They didn't brew a 65%, they condensed a beer to 65%. Just my opinion on it.

Agreed, in fact I have a hard time even calling it beer, I know people are going to throw out Eisenbock as a beer style. However, the style does not include multiple freezings to simply condense alcohol, it is to condense the flavors of the beer. This is a form of distiallation, especially when done with the simple goal of producing the highest alcohol product possible. My opinion is that it is a distilled spirit, not a beer.

I only disagree with the 'distilled' part. Concentration & distillation have a similar goal but are so different, not only in process but results. It's beer concentrate.... or extract, if you will

If they really were competing for highest ABV, I'd completely accept the pre-concentrated amount that the beer was actually brewed with.

[DonMoleon]

I only disagree with the 'distilled' part. Concentration & distillation have a similar goal but are so different, not only in process but results. It's beer concentrate.... or extract, if you will

If they really were competing for highest ABV, I'd completely accept the pre-concentrated amount that the beer was actually brewed with.

So then what beer has the highest ABV without distillation/concentration?

[Ozwald]

I only disagree with the 'distilled' part. Concentration & distillation have a similar goal but are so different, not only in process but results. It's beer concentrate.... or extract, if you will

If they really were competing for highest ABV, I'd completely accept the pre-concentrated amount that the beer was actually brewed with.

So then what beer has the highest ABV without distillation/concentration?

Utopias, AFAIK. ~28% for the last released batch I believe.

[DonMoleon]

Utopias, AFAIK. ~28% for the last released batch I believe.

I saw a bottle of Utopias on display (looked like it had been waiting for someone to buy it for a long time, as there was some dust building up on the case) back home recently. Is this stuff really good, or are people just praising it for it's extremely high ABV?

I see that it has excellent ratings on ratebeer.com, but I don't see how it could really be as good as a lower ABV barley wine, which is actually drinkable. As someone who isn't a fan of any type of liquor, I don't see the appeal of what is essentially beer that burns like whiskey going down...