Darling beer’s better down where it’s wetter

Colin Joliat Staff Writer

People subscribed to the notion that form ever follows function for centuries. Then, Steve Jobs came a long and flipped the whole world on its head and started designing iEverythings, whose function followed their form. One market that has never held to either theory though is the beer industry, where things like blue mountains and unnecessary vents are now the norm.

TheEndofHistory 285x214 Darling beers better down where its wetterThere is no shortage of gimmicks in the beer world, from vortex bottles to pumpkin lagers. But while some companies dabble in the art, Brew Dog is truly a master of it. They first made news by putting “Toyko*,” which is 18.2% ABV, in 330ml (11.2 oz) beer bottles with a standard cap. If Brew Dog were in America, they would have likely suffered the same fate as Four Loko, but thankfully for them they are in Scotland. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t an outrage over it though. In the end they won out and created even stronger beers to celebrate. “Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% ABV) claimed the title of strongest beer ever, and then “Sink the Bismark (41% ABV) was made to reclaim that honor after a German brewery took the spot. They weren’t done though.

In 2010 came the greatest gimmick to date, “The End of History.” Not only was the beer 55% ABV, stronger than almost every liquor, it also came inside the body of a stuffed dead squirrel and cost $780. Chuck Testa would be proud. Even still, they weren’t satisfied with just making ridiculously strong beers, so Brew Dog set out to do something even more obscure. They created the first ever beer to be fermented on the bottom of the sea.

This is Sunk Punk, a 7.1% IPA that has been fermented at the bottom of the North Sea in order to break an age-old curse on the Scottish shoreline. The idiosyncratic India Pale Ale is the first beer to be brewed underwater and contains some hardcore maritime-themed ingredients such as buckweed, distilled sea-salt, rum and mermaids.

 

 

Now if that’s not a gimmick, I don’t know what is. It worked too because I wanted one enough to look into how much it would cost to get a bottle of “Sunk Punk” shipped to the United States. Unfortunately, my shopping cart will remain packed but stationary because it costs about $95 to ship plus the $16 for the beer itself. I guess this just means it’s time for a trip to Scotland.

For more, check out Sunk Punk’s blog.

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