BrewDog's Sink the Bismarck!

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BrewDog's Sink the Bismarck!

In 2009 BrewDog out of Scotland released Tactical Nuclear Penguin. This beer is massive coming in at 32% abv and toppled the record for the world's strongest beer. However a brewery in Germany, Schorschbrau decided to reclaim that title and released their Schorschbock- 40% abv (alcohol by volume) Eisbock.

An Eisbock is a German based Bock (lager) with an average abv of 9 to 14%. Schorschbock while considered an uber Eisbock is classified as a hyper beer by the Brewers Association. A hyper beer consists of any beer over 25% abv. An Eisbock typically should be high malt with high hops to balance allowing the beer to present sweetness and alcoholic flavors but not hot or too cloying. Schorschbock, being 40% abv, came across hot with high alcohol flavor, sweet, slightly sticky, and almost Brandy like. Overall this was not considered a great representation of an Eisbock but rather fit the category of hyper beer instead.

BrewDog having enjoyed the title of the world's strongest beer set out to change the game and reclaim the coveted title. Knowing that they would not only have to top the abv of Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32%) but still make a beer that overall was better than Schorschbau's Schorschbock in flavor, style, and appearance.
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Sink The Bismarck (Bismarck) was the brain child of James Watt, head brewer of BrewDog, and like Tactical Nuclear Penguin this beer shook the craft beer world. Changing gears and making a quadrupel IPA (Indian pale ale- very high hop profile) toppled Schorschbrau's Eisbock in one single blow. Bismarck comes in at 41% abv and started a new class of beer: quadrupel IPA. Indian Pale Ales typically pour amber in color, have very high IBU's (increments of bitter units) from the hops with intense notes of bitter, pine, chronic, resinous flavors and come in around 5.5% - 7.5% abv. IPA's are just the start and a lot of breweries have made Double or Imperial IPA's as well. These have all the same characteristics of IPA's however are more intense and higher in abv (7.5% - 10% abv).

Sink The Bismarck was brewed in the same manner as Tactical Nuclear Penguin. Once the ingredients for the beer are set to a boil in the copper (kettle) they become wort. After the wort has cooled the guys at BrewDog took Bismarck and placed it into large containers called ports. From here they froze the beer, four times, over the course of a month at a neighboring ice cream factory. Each port took seven days to full freeze at -120 Celsius. After the ports freeze a porthole is opened and the unfrozen alcohol pours from the frozen port to a unfrozen port and the processes is then repeated again; four more times in fact. By freezing the wort the water is removed from the solution (beer) and the abv increases. By freezing the beer four times this allowed BrewDog's to increase the abv from around 18% (after boil) to 41% for the final effect. Mixed with the massive amount of hops placed into the beer as well as dry hopping and then freezing the beer four times, the category of quadrupel IPA was born.

Sink The Bismarck quickly took the record for the world's strongest beer and one of the most priciest. While Tactical Nuclear Penguin ran around $85 a bottle Bismarck comes in at $100 even. The bottle is 375ml in size (just over 12oz) and is considered one of the rarest beers in the world. Unlike Tactical, Bismarck was only brewed one time. 300 cases (four bottles to a case) were released to the world. A rare beer in the states typically resides around 100 to 300 cases (12 bottles to a case). With only four bottles per case of Bismarck made for the world, not just the United States, this comes in at one of the rarest if not the rarest beer in the world.

I work at one of Denver, Colorado's best beer bars and I've had the pleasure of not only serving but tasting quite a bit by BrewDog's. Bismarck was one of the coolest beers we had the opportunity to get our hands on. Few beer bars will even pick up Bismarck because of the cost ($100) and the mere fact that you need to know someone who knows someone to get it. Having tried Bismarck a few times I wanted to share that experience with you. From the first pour to the last sip I will share with you an experience that so few in the world will ever have the chance to have.

I pour Bismarck into a snifter (same used for cognacs) because I really wish to accentuate the aroma of this beer. First pour shows zero head whatsoever. The abv (41%) is so high that there is no carbonation in the bottle. The color is a brilliant amber with a shadowed hue. What looks like oil deposits begin to form on top of the beer as it settles in the snifter.

The first sniff reveals a really sweet smelling beer. Hints of tropical fruit mixed with very resinous piney notes flood your senses and finish with a bit of heat as if you just smelled whisky. A few sniffs later reveal candy sweetness with hints of sugar but still tied together by pine and chronic style aroma from the intense amount of hops used to create this beer.
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The first sip of Bismarck is probably the most powerful sensation one will ever experience. Instantly that sweet piney aroma is thrown out the window by a torpedo of hops and high octane alcohol. Imagine 151 blended with bitter hops. My eyes begin to water instantly and my throat's on fire from the alcohol content. Remember that when tasting spirits (even though this is a beer) you need to wet the palate first with a taste of the spirit, this will numb your taste buds to the fire of the alcohol and present the character of the spirit on the second sip and so on. This is called Priming. Once your palate is primed from the first sip of Bismarck your ready to taste the character of this beer.

On second sip and further on you'll find that the hops are very present and the title of quadrupel IPA stands firm. However tropical fruit such as mango, pineapple, and papaya. Heavy oak tones remain that dance with hints of vanilla but always finish hot and boozie on the finish. This beer, while showing that a 41% abv beer can be sipped, shows great sweet tropical fruit, oak, and hot boozie finish.

The beer, while still full bodied, coats the palate from front to back nice and evenly. The finish is very strong and does not falter. Minutes after sipping this brew and the flavor still remains present. As the heat wears off the flavor of bitter hops remains, slowly creeping forward into the palate from the throat. This beer was made for more than one person to tackle. While serving I have seen as many as 16 people take Bismarck on and as few as three. This is not for the faint of heart so bring a friend when tasting.

Sink The Bismarck was released in 2010 and retook the title of the world's strongest beer from Germany and brought it back to Scotland and BrewDog's couldn't be happier. While only 1200 bottles exist in the world and will never be brewed again, take the opportunity, if it presents itself, and get your hands on a bottle. The cost is worth the experience. Too many things have hype behind it without a product that delivers but I am proud to say that BrewDog's Sink The Bismarck does. Drink responsibility and bring a friend.

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