It’s been announced (a little bit early by all accounts) that the guys over at Brewdog have done it again, Created the world’s strongest beer and grabbed the headlines by calling it “Sink the Bismark” a reference to toppling the German beer that knocked Tactical Nuclear Penguin off the top spot.
Sink the bismarck?
Now yet again i find my self wondering why?
Why does it matter who has the strongest beer in the world? why call it something with so many possibly historical and racial connotations? Publicity that’s why! Yes I know I am fuelling it by writing this blog post but I really do wish Martin, James and Co would get back to brewing really good drinkable beers.
I for one would love to see Chaos theory make a return, I also love the sound of their abstrakt beers – beers that genuinely sound interesting and beers that I really want to drink. I don’t care who brews the strongest beer, it’s almost become a “who has the biggest dick” competition and in my opinion it’s not what the brewing world needs.
Yes it could just be seen as a bit of fun but again, it all seems a bit childish and petty, what the beer world needs is for people to talk about the beer not about the marketing!
Would I like to try it? … Yes I probably would, which beer geek woudln’t? Will I be buying it? probably not…£40 for one bottle is just too much.
You can read more about “Sink the Bismark” here (which is where i got the image from) and no doubt on various other blogs later today. As of yet there isn’t much info kicking around, just that its over 40% and it’s set to become the world’s strongest IPA
yes I completely agree with you andy
I think you know my views on this one ;o) Agree with you, it’s been so long since anyone’s talked about the quality of their beer I’m beginning to wonder just how good Brewdog are at actual brewing!!
This is an inappropriate, insensitive and unnecessary PR stunt. To suggest it’s meant to be ‘tongue in cheek’ is trying to make fools out of all of us – James is not naive or stupid, he knew the kind of reaction this would get which is why he did it, and to court publicity in this way is shameful.
You could argue that we’re fuelling his PR stunt by talking about it but their stunt only pays off if people buy the beer and I haven’t seen much evidence yet that people will!
They are very good at brewing. How many breweries have such a solid core range of beers after less than three years, coupled with a steady stream of specials? It’s the lazy German-bashing that would be more at home in The Sun that gets my back up.
Barm – Agree about them making some great beers, if they hadn’t done the video and hadn’t called it what they did then no doubt everyone would be talking about the beer….but yet again they have in my opinion gone about it the wrong way and set out to get publicity through shock.
In my opinion the last few “stunts” (the whole complaint thing for one) have been a bit childish and have caused people to talk more about the marketing than the beers.
I too would really like them to make Chaos Theory a regular – it packed a great bittery punch and was pretty distinctive, yet I could drink it all night, with food, introduce non-beer-geeky friends to it, etc.
I’m not so keen on the publicity stunt side of things – but I have to say I was very impressed with the TNP I tasted – I thought it would be all hype and undrinkable but that wasn’t the case at all. I guess if they have managed to again make a really worthy beer, I can forgive them some of the publicity-courting posturing!
Without a talented marketing effort brew dog would be no where near the size it is today and may never have made to long enough to make chaos theory??. Unfortunatly to grow you need to advertise and market yourself with more than a good product. One of the quickest and easiest way to do that is via shock and awe. How many good products never made it because nobody had heard of it?
I wouldn’t agree that “what the beer world needs is for people to talk about the beer not about the marketing!” because without the marketing the scene would be quite dull to the average person. Having this kind of marketing makes for a very easy entry point for newcomers who need stories like this to become interested.
Having said that I will conceed that the Beer is Just as important as the publicity and that the marketing should be positive marketing, even if it is harder to do.
Sink the Bismark seems to me to be the F1 car of the automotive industry. The reason they create the F1 cars and race is to get there name out there and to create something people can link to the more common cars they sell. you wont buy a maclaren F1 car… but you might buy the mercedes associated with that name/brand/car.
SO while you might not buy Sink the Bismark, by making it they have you talking and thinking about the beer. you cant really afford it but you might buy some of the cheaper stuff to be part of the Brand… you might even invest in the company!
How is that for some stiring up some points?
This is the opinion of a Belgian who loves Scotland, drinks beer and has a long lovestory with Single malt whiskies !
Please do not insult beer brewers by naming that “Sink the Bismarck” beverage “beer”, because it is not ! Yeast is dying at + or – 13% vol.Any so called beer with more than 13% alcohol must be made by adding some spirit. The “Sink the Bismarck” at £40 the small bottle does not deserve even a try.
Drink real beer and/or good whisky, the best way of enjoying Scotland.
> Any so called beer with more than 13% alcohol must be made by adding some spirit.
Ever heard of eisbock?
> The “Sink the Bismarck” at £40 the small bottle does not deserve even a try.
I’m not sure why the thought of experimenting and experiencing is deemed inherently wrong, just because it is not the “norm”.
The opinions on http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/brewdog-sink-the-bismarck/118414/ would appear to disagree with a “not even worth trying” p.o.v., anyhow.
ymmv (& plenty good drinking to be had in your own country, of course 🙂
lighten up. who actually cares. came on here to see if anyone had tried it. obviously not, just moaning about it!
Joe, ive tried it , you can read what i thought here
https://www.beerreviews.co.uk/beer/getting-my-head-around-the-worlds-strongest-beer-sink-the-bismarck/
WOW, das habe ich mir sofort gebookmarkt :-).