The World's Strongest Beer: Tactical Nuclear Penguin
Back in 2009, we pushed the boundaries of beer with Tactical Nuclear Penguin, The BrewDog team pulled off our most audacious and ambitious project to date, and smashed a world record in the process. On Thursday 26 November 2009, we set a new world record after creating the strongest beer in the world. Weighing in at an ABV of 32%, BrewDog’s ‘Tactical Nuclear Penguin’ beat the previous record of 31% held by German beer brand Schorschbraer.
While the record for the world's strongest beer has changed hands a few times since then (including Strength in Numbers, our own team up with Schorschbraer in 2020 that clocked in at a whopping 57.8%), Strength in Numbers is still in the top 10 and holds a special place in BrewDog history.
Beer for the Dedicated
This beer was all about pushing the boundaries, about taking innovation in beer to a whole new level. It was bout achieving something which has never before been done and putting Scotland firmly on the map for progressive, craft beers.
The beer was bold, irreverent and uncompromising. A beer with a soul and a purpose. A statement of intent. A modern day rebellion for the craft beer proletariat in our struggle to over throw the faceless bourgeoisie oppression of corporate, soulless beer.
Where did the name come from?
The Antarctic name of this uber-imperial stout originates from the amount of time it spent exposed to extreme cold. It began life as a 10% imperial stout, aged for 8 months in an Isle of Arran whisky cask and 8 months in an Islay cask making it our first double cask aged beer. After an intense 16 months, the final stages took a ground-breaking approach by storing the beer at -20 degrees for three weeks to get it to 32%.
Getting to 32%
For the big chill the beer was put into containers and transported to the cold store of a local ice cream factory where it endured 21 days at penguin temperatures. Alcohol freezes at a lower temperature than water. As the beer got colder we decanted the beer periodically, only ice was left in the container, creating more intensity of flavours and a stronger concentration of alcohol for the next phase of freezing. The process was repeated until it reached 32%.
Can I still buy Tactical Nuclear Penguin?
This was an extremely limited edition beer of only 500 bottles, so has long since disappeared into the hands of collectors. For those interested in sampling our strong stuff, peruse our range of (slightly more sessionable) amplified beers below.