World's Strongest Beer released

[Dances With Possums]

If the devil himself drank beer, this is what it would be.

[Jason Perlow]

Wow. 666 calories per bottle.

Apparently it isnt the worlds strongest through. Samuel Adams Utopias beat it at 24 percent. But still, you could really get hammered on these.

I like the concept of christmas beers, and some I actually like drinking, like Samiclaus Dark, a swiss beer at 14 percent alcohol which -WAS- the world's strongest beer before some of these microbreweries started getting creative like Dogfish.

Another super strong beer I like is EKU 28, a German which is 11.6 percent.

[Jason Perlow]

There's a site called Superlager.com (click)which rates all the super strong beers. He doesnt much like EKU 28 but he has some interesting material up there.

[AdamLawrence]

How the hell does anyone manage to brew a beer that strong? I'm pretty sure that most brewing yeasts die at around ten or eleven per cent alcohol, so limiting the strength that can be achieved. Presumably they must use some other kind of yeast?

Adam

[Dances With Possums]

Jason,

I know that the thread title was misleading, but I had to have some hook to bring you guys into a post by a newbie. What I should have said is that it is the strongest beer brewed this year.

My friend MrMyke709 will register tomorrow and tell us all about it. After Michael Jackson, he is the world's formost authority on beer. :)

DWP

[Jason Perlow]

Cool. We could use a resident beer expert for sure.

[Stone]

Cool. We could use a resident beer expert for sure.

Oh boy, Tommy's going to be hurt by that one.

[Stone]

How the hell does anyone manage to brew a beer that strong? I'm pretty sure that most brewing yeasts die at around ten or eleven per cent alcohol, so limiting the strength that can be achieved. Presumably they must use some other kind of yeast?

Adam

According to the article, they add more yeast during the fermentation process.

My recollection about stout, however, has been that it is a lower alcohol content beer because the mouthfeel is produced by decreasing the fermentation, thereby leaving more large sugar molecules to provide texture. I guess I need to read up on stouts.

[LiquidBread]

I pretty sure they add sugar to get the higher alcohol content. It gives the yeast more food to eat thus producing more alcohol.

I actually had this year's version a couple of weeks ago. On tap at a great little bar in Haledon, NJ. This one was only 18% and I'm not sure why you'd wanna drink something stronger. I've had Sam Adams Triple Bock and this Dogfish Head World Wide Stout is much much better. It's actually drinkable. It's has a nice stout flavor that's over powered by the alcohol flavor, kinda of like a beer liqueur. If you see it, give it a try.

[col klink]

It's not just adding more sugar, sure you need enough sugar to ferment, but the alcohol byproduct is at some point poisonous to the yeast. Most ale and lager yeasts start dying at 8% alcohol. So to get higher percentages, the brewers will typically start with their main yeast and when they die off, they'll add something like champagne yeast which if I'm remembering correctly, can go as high as 18% alcohol. Champagne yeast is desirable because it doesn't add much flavor to the ale or lager and won't corrupt the primary yeast's flavoring very much.

[g.johnson]

It's not just adding more sugar, sure you need enough sugar to ferment, but the alcohol byproduct is at some point poisonous to the yeast. Most ale and lager yeasts start dying at 8% alcohol. So to get higher percentages, the brewers will typically start with their main yeast and when they die off, they'll add something like champagne yeast which if I'm remembering correctly, can go as high as 18% alcohol. Champagne yeast is desirable because it doesn't add much flavor to the ale or lager and won't corrupt the primary yeast's flavoring very much.

From the article

This year, the brewery scaled back to just three yeast strains: Belgian (also used in Dogfish Head's Immort Ale and Raison d'Etre), champagne (used often in high-alcohol beers), and "Yeast Strain X," which Calagione says "we don't talk about."

[hollywood]

If the devil himself drank beer, this is what it would be.

Compared to Utopias this, at $135--$150 per case, is a bargain. Utopias per Adams site retailed for $100 per bottle. I found a bottle for sale listed at $499.99!