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> trying to out do one another across different dimensions (though mostly hops)

In places with younger craft markets, it's like an even split between hops and extreme naming/label graphics. Here in Seattle, beer names are like Obscure Mythology Reference and you might enjoy the Wikipedia hole it starts you on while you imbibe. The first craft brew I remember seeing visiting my original home state, Virginia, was literally named Raging Bitch with a fierce looking dog baring its teeth and blood-like splatters of red ink. It was actually a pretty decent stout IIRC.

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Raging Bitch is made by Flying Dog brewery whose art is done by Ralph Steadman - well known for his collaborations with Hunter S Thompson. I started drinking it because of that fact after reading Fear and Loathing for the first time in college. It’s also nice and strong - 9% iirc

I love Steadman’s art but refuse to buy Flying Dog beer since their owner is a giant asswipe (don’t remember the details just something to do with mistreating employees).

Steadman also did the art for Anthony Bourdain’s cookbook - highly recommend that though.

edit: HST’s story on the Kentucky Derby features Steadman prominently and it’s my favorite of his after/along with Fear and Loathing and Hell’s Angels. It’s probably the most gonzo of the three as well.

edit: Corrected Flying Dog from BrewDog

Here's the HST piece in question - "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" - http://brianb.freeshell.org/a/kddd.pdf

I agree with the parent, it's a great piece and iirc it's where Thompson and Steadman first met up. If you're looking for something interesting to read during lunch today, this is for you.

As far as I know there is no relationship between BrewDog and Flying Dog despite the names

Oh whoops I meant Flying Dog.

I think you can quite correctly substitute Flying Dog for Brew Dog in the "owner is an asswipe and I won't buy anything from him" stakes:

'BrewDog, the fast-expanding craft beer firm, has apologised to former employees who accused the company and its co-founder James Watt of fostering a “culture of fear” in which workers were bullied and “treated like objects”.' [0]

0: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/10/brewdog-sta...

BrewDog is a sad one for me. It was nice to see a brewery in the region I'm from (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) becoming a worldwide success. But their "punk" aesthetic is a bit cringe for a big corporate company, and the owner turning out to be a dick is a real turn-off and the beer isn't good enough for me to overlook it. There's another brewery in the area that I've been meaning to try out (likely impossible to find in Czech Republic), they've leaned into their Aberdeen identity pretty hard which is cool but idk what their beer is like https://www.fiercebeer.com

> It’s also nice and strong - 9% iirc

As all good stouts should be, in my humble opinion!

My all time favourite beer is the BrewDog, Nogne and Mikkeller collaboration stout: the Black Tokyo Horizon. It's 17.2%!

Just a waste IMO. Yes, sometimes I want a strong beer, but sometimes I want to spend an afternoon drinking and chatting with a friend. But I still want something that tastes good in that case!

My favourite thing to come out of the craft brew movement recently is the renewed interest in session beers and generally great beers a 4% or lower. I love being able to drink lots of really nice and interesting beers and just not feel drunk.

The industry in Atlanta shifted to these types of beers right around the start of the pandemic. Every brewery here now has a lager, rice lager, or low-abv pale ale. The best is Halfway Crooks [1]!

[1] https://halfwaycrooks.beer/

Yeah the super-strong ones are fun to try every now and then, but having >2x the alcohol of a normal beer is not something to be taken lightly. I've found myself favouring lower ABV recently - I like drinking beer but I don't really like being drunk and at my age I do not handle hangovers well, (currently fighting through one)

Hardly a waste; I never do the “spend all afternoon drinking” thing these days, and if I really want to, well these strong stouts are excellent to sip over a fairly long period of time because they taste great slightly warmed up

17.2%?!? That led me down the rabbit hole to find out beers with very high alcohol content. Apparently Brewmeister Snake Venom, at ABV 67.5%, is the highest.

Yes those super high ones are usually freeze concentrated (partially frozen, then ice is removed which removes water, what is left is stronger) multiple times to reach such high ABVs.

The highest you will see actually fermented is usually around 18-20%, but there are specialty yeasts that can get up to 25%. Then you can get even higher with extended aging in spirit barrels where some ABV is picked up by absorbing residual spirit as well as evaporation increasing the strength. Sam Adams Utopias for example comes in at 28%

Worth mentioning, freezing and skimming ice is a clever distillation process. It’s also illegal under any other circumstances that distillation would be illegal, but nobody much cares.

Yeah these record breaking ones tend to come from Scotland where I assume it is legal. Or Eisbocks in Germany.

In the US I think it is technically illegal to make with a brewers license, though some breweries may make an Eisbock and sort of fly under the radar.

Brewing high ABV beers is actually quite the challenge, especially once it gets above about 10%.

The grain to strike water ratio changes so much that lautering often gets “stuck” due to the thick consistency of the grain bed.

It’s pretty easy to get into the ~15% range with the right yeast (champagne yeast is the best starting point) and attention to sugar conversion (I wish I could remember the details here but I haven’t brewed for about a decade) and importantly for beer, good ventilation. I had a barleywine that should have been in this range ferment for about 12 hours and it clogged the airlock, exploded the carboy, and generally ruined everyone’s day. But not the way it was supposed to ruin anyone’s day.

It's not so much a problem of the yeast and attenuation. Nottingham should be fine up to 14% and for a high gravity beer somewhere above 75% attenuation.

The issue is yield and lautering. The mash is so thick, or rather there's so much of it, that proceses need to be adjusted to account for that, and from experience yields are much lower in a typical entry level craft brewing system (400L).

I miss GreenFlash's Barleywine - they put up a retired baseball card-style poster with stats for it.

67.5% just sounds..bad. I'd be hard pressed to find a liquor that's easily drinkable at that ABV.

Something like Utopias by Sam Adams is 28%, and even at that point, you drink it more like a liquor than a beer.

Since his non-German internet presence isn't great and iirc there's no Wikipedia article abut him I'd like to mention Georg „Schorsch“ Tscheuschner of "Schorschbräu" fame. He's quite the character and famous in German (home-)brewing circles because he's always chasing those high percentages (via the mentioned ice technique called Eisbock in German). His creations include the world's strongest Lager (16%) a pretty stronger Weizen (13%) and his high percentage entry, the Schorschbock (57%).

The Tactical Nuclear Penguin is 32% and frankly that was too strong haha but an interesting experience

Sink the Bismark was an interesting experience too - much like drinking a whisky more so than a beer

Yes! That’s the other one I was thinking of. We literally sipped it like a whisky haha

Those are some heavy hitters, would love to try that collab if I ever find it!

If you can find it, I can’t recommend it enough. I bought a carton of it, twice, that’s how great it is (in my opinion). Don’t ask how much the carton was though haha

Dry Irish stouts, like Guinness, are good and despite their reputation, are not (and should not be) anywhere near that strong. They come in at ~4.2% abv, like most "light" beers.

Ah, I had no idea about the artist! It came to mind because it’s pretty representative of the general theme I noticed, but also because the art was definitely striking in its own right.

I was just thinking that this weekend in the Seattle area as we wandered the aisles for six for the wife. It’s either an attempt to put the scariest-looking skull(s) on the label, or $SOMETHING $SEXUAL_REFERENCE $FARM_ANIMAL (e. g., Ass-Kickin’ Horny Goat Stout).

> It’s either an attempt to put the scariest-looking skull(s) on the label

One of the people behind Liquid Death water was on NPR some weeks back, and basically their entire deal, as told by him, was just taking canned water and applying craft beer branding.

Not to knock it, evidently it worked and, as far as the product and concept, was all they needed. Just thought it was funny—yeah, why not put an edgy name and skulls all over water?

That was CEO Mike Cessario, who's ex-Netflix. And it was Monster he was aping more than craft beer. (It was Kai Ryssdal who compares it to Arrogant Bastard beer.) https://www.marketplace.org/2023/01/25/liquid-death-is-an-en...

Simi related, but i’m really glad something like liquid death became a thing! I go to a lot of live events, especially concerts, and I can now reliably buy sparkling water at almost every event.

Beforehand my choices were absurdly overpriced beers, sweetened drinks, or plain water. I’m a big fan of sparkling water, so this new development is nice, even if I don’t particularly care about the branding gimmicks.

The only reason I haven't bought one of those at Whole Foods is I don't want to deal with the cops seeing it in the cup holder in my car. Much better to buy the plastiboard container that says "Just Water" on the side[1] and fill it with vodka.

(I am kidding.)

[1]https://dg6qn11ynnp6a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018...

Liquid Death water on the store shelf: https://youtu.be/pCbrpKhWOio

I've always joked they're spending more on graphic designers than brewers.

Sounds pretty good TBH, does the drawing of the goat have bloodshot eyes and maybe yellowed and/or missing teeth? Because I’d give that a try.

Flying Dog's Raging Bitch has a special place in my heart. It was the beer in my fridge many years ago on the day I got laid off. Got to drink that and watch the Women's World Cup instead of being at my awful job.

Pretty sure it’s an IPA. Sigh

You are correct

I’m my defense I remembered the artwork then I bought their stout whenever I visited until I couldn’t find it anymore

I did not sigh at your mistake, I sighed at the over-prevalence of IPAs.

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