BrewDog at it again (41% ABV beer)

[Yuri_Rage]

I'm making a run at the world's strongest beer. First, I'll brew a big IPA - 7% ABV...maybe even 8% if I'm feeling froggy. After fermenting and aging it to perfection, I'll add exactly one drop of it to a fifth of pure grain alcohol. Voila...199 proof beer. Winner. I'm calling it "Everbeer."

 

[steinsato]

A friend of mine will be cracking one of these open this Sunday. Whether its "beer" or not, I definitely am excited about trying it. All I can imagine is that it is going to taste like a hopped up whiskey.

 

[abweatherley]

from a Chemical Engineering standpoint. Freeze distilling is a misnomer anyway, anyone ever drank applejack, techincally that is freeze distillation they freeze about 40% of the water out of hard cider and distill the rest IE boiling and collecting the liquor, Eisbock is the same thing without the distillation process, al they are doing at Brewdog is freezing out the water there is no "distillation" going on. You could not recreate this process in a Home brewing situation.

 

[the_bird]

from a Chemical Engineering standpoint. Freeze distilling is a misnomer anyway, anyone ever drank applejack, techincally that is freeze distillation they freeze about 40% of the water out of hard cider and distill the rest IE boiling and collecting the liquor, Eisbock is the same thing without the distillation process, al they are doing at Brewdog is freezing out the water there is no "distillation" going on. You could not recreate this process in a Home brewing situation.

Could not recreate this process? Really? I've heard of people doing this plenty of times, all you need is a corny keg and a freezer. Put the keg in the freezer until the beer gets slushy, remove the ice with a (sanitized) slotted spoon (or something similar), repeat. Haven't tried it myself, but sure seems like something that would be easy to do if you're kegging and have a chest freezer.

Now, whether you can get up to the levels that BrewDog is doing, that might be tough, but there's nothing about the process that's not "do-able" at the homebrew level.

 

[abweatherley]

Yeah that's what I meant you probably couldn't get it past maybe 20% and that's if u started with a super high Gravity beer to begin with.

 

[the_bird]

You know how I bet you could do that? It'd be hard doing it with a cornie, but if you had a big conical in a freezer, you'd be able to get rid of the ice more easily.

Never say never in homebrewing - I know guys here who have made a Utopias clone, within 1% or 2% ABV of the original - that's FAR better than Sammy's version.

 

[DavidSteel]

from a Chemical Engineering standpoint. Freeze distilling is a misnomer anyway, anyone ever drank applejack, techincally that is freeze distillation they freeze about 40% of the water out of hard cider and distill the rest IE boiling and collecting the liquor, Eisbock is the same thing without the distillation process, al they are doing at Brewdog is freezing out the water there is no "distillation" going on. You could not recreate this process in a Home brewing situation.

I consider freezing a form of distilling, personally.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

That's just a semantics argument. No one is doubting the physics involved in freeze concentration.

Here's where the semantics do matter:
Freeze concentration is not generally considered distillation by the ATF. Therefore, you are free to practice it at home in the US (and also free to discuss the technique openly here at HBT).

 

[GregR]

I consider freezing a form of distilling, personally.

considering it to be distillation and it actually being distillation are two different thing entirely.

Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in their volatilities in a boiling liquid mixture.

I mean I consider myself to be an intelligent person. But in reality I'm a 26 year old community college student.

 

[BrewNinja1]

I mean I consider myself to be an intelligent person. But in reality I'm a 26 year old community college student.

Sorry, but I LOL'd at that one!

 

[Improbable]

Why not focus on what really is driving these guys? THEY'RE DOING IT AS A BIG MIDDLE FINGER TO THE NANNY-STATE!

At this point, they've won:

"Alcohol Focus Scotland, for one, is waving the white flag of surrender with the news of Sink the Bismarck: 'Over the past few months BrewDog have continued to produce stronger and stronger beers. By commenting on this irresponsible brewing practice we only serve to add to their marketing and therefore we have no further comment to make.'"

This is almost (if not more) absurd than the whole distillation argument.

How can anyone consider BrewDog's ridiculously strong beers irresponsible? On the website they're charging £40.00 for a single 330 ml bottle. That's $65. Does Alcohol Focus Scotland really expect people to spend that much on something just to get drunk?

There's all kinds of cheap wines, malt liquors, and disgustingly frightening (and just plain disgusting) stuff like Four Loko out there that should worry them much, much more than expensive boutique beers.

 

[jfr1111]

For that price you can get a good single malt scotch instead of something that might taste good or not and won't be readily available afterwards if it does taste good. I won't go into the whole "beer or no beer" argument since it's clearly a novelty brew. I don't think I could buy it if I wanted to: most of the stock is already spoken for if I remember right, so discussing its merits is a moot argument.

But it would be cool to use the freezing technique once, just to see the results at the homebrew scale.

 

[HItransplant]

But it would be cool to use the freezing technique once, just to see the results at the homebrew scale.

I agree, and its a clever trick. But... brandy is not wine, ergo, these freeze distilled products are not beer-- they are something else entirely. So, Ill have to second with what someone said earlier, beers like utopias, which clearly stay within the "beer" realm, are far more impressive.

just my $0.02

 

[slowbie]

I agree, and its a clever trick. But... brandy is not wine, ergo, these freeze distilled products are not beer-- they are something else entirely. So, Ill have to second with what someone said earlier, beers like utopias, which clearly stay within the "beer" realm, are far more impressive.

just my $0.02

Brandy isn't freeze concentrated.

 

[TXPhisher]

Lots of hate here... Has anyone else actually tasted this thing?

So my friend brought one over last night -- Merry Christmas! The taste is simply amazing--it's very hoppy, and still has a malt body. This is nothing like a whiskey or scotch. It is an entirely different hop filled beast. It's incredibly smooth and flavorful. It doesn't have the burn associated with a typical spirit.

I do believe it has a place as a beer after trying it. I would love to be able to recreate the shear amount of flavor contained in such a small glass. This means I will be trying... If it wasn't prohibitively expensive I would keep some around at all times -- it's that good. If you get a chance, try it!

 

[motobrewer]

my uncle made an eisbock once.

put a corney outside in -2F weather for an hour or so.

opened the lid, there was an "ice jacket" on the inside walls. hooked up gas and transferred as much out as he could before the ice fell. apparently it worked rather well for him, i never had it...

 

[scottland]

Sounds like hopped, carbonated Whiskey to me.