Posted on 09/29/2009 6:39:46 PM PDT by Daffynition
A brewer criticised for making what it claimed is Britain's strongest beer has unveiled an ale with a 1.1 per cent alcohol content, which it has called Nanny State.
BrewDog said it launched Nanny State in response to the outcry caused after launching Tokyo* with an 18.2 per cent alcohol content.
In July health experts said a high-alcohol percentage can cause as much damage as drinking to excess.
A 330ml bottle of Tokyo* contains six units of alcohol - twice the recommended daily limit.
BrewDog, based in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, said the stronger beer will help change the country's binge-drinking culture because it is so rich that people will consume less of it.
Richard McLelland, the firm's sales director, said today: ''We are very responsible retailers. People in the UK want to buy beer based on flavour not on alcohol content and BrewDog creates bold, dramatic, flavoursome beers.
''We've had to control the brewing process to create a very low alcohol content.
''Nanny State's available in cask just now. It is being bottled at the moment but it should be available later this week.
''Nanny State is mild imperial ale containing more hops per barrel than any other beer ever brewed in the UK.
''It is an extraordinary little ale, jammed full of all the brewer's favourite hops, giving it as much body and mouth feel as possible, ensuring that low strength does not translate into reduced flavour,'' he added.
Mr McLelland said the new beer had such a low-alcohol content that the Government did not class it as a beer and it was not subject to beer duty.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
And as Metallica would say, “More beer!”
Wolverines!!
ping
English reformers during from the late 18th century were trying to get people to switch from gin to ale/beer because of the alcohol content of gin. Now the Nanny staters are freaking out because of a strong beer?
“BrewDog said it launched Nanny State in response to the outcry caused after launching Tokyo* with an 18.2 per cent alcohol content.”
This must have been 8 quid a pint, what with their graduated tax, if not more. I doubt cellarmen would know how to deal with it, unless it was just at the brewery or something.
Crap! Their Tokyo* @ 18.2 is about $15 per bottle. That alone would stop binge drinking!~
it is worse, a graduated alcohol tax means it is rare in a pub to see anything much about 5.5% (and that is considered strong), unless it is foreign. Most Bitters and other stuff is between 3.5nad 5% or so..
[chuckle]
4.8 to 4.9 is normal for beer anyway. When you deviate from that by too much, the flavor tends to be off just a touch. What I mean is its off compared to what people are used to tasting.
Light beer is slightly lower than that, and the more expensive robust flavored beers are slightly higher than that.
“4.8 to 4.9 is normal for beer anyway. When you deviate from that by too much, the flavor tends to be off just a touch. What I mean is its off compared to what people are used to tasting.”
Yes and no. avg. abv has been pushed down in the UK by this tax, and beers with 7-9% work just fine provided the taste is ramped to offset the alcohol. In belgium, much of the non-lambics on a beer list anywhere would be 6-8%+ and many of them are fabulous (even 11% isn’t uncommon and there are some just fantastic 11% belgians of any number of styles). I use belgium as an example of where what people are used to is in many cases considerably stronger than that. Germany has a number of styles that are closer to 10 than 5% as well. The UK is something of an anomaly in this context (europe), at least in the barley belt countries.
Some american brewers are doing higher-alcohol work that competes in quality with the belgians, imho, though I usually don’t care for anything over 8-9% as a drinking preference.
Now, see, you are obviously a thinking man... :)
Did you ever drink “Old Nick”, Barley Wine, a drunk in a three pack, give me West Country Ales.
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