History Ends: The Future Starts Here

Take that, Brewdog.  Some crazy cats in the Netherlands, ‘t Koelschip, have crafted a stronger beer than your taxidermy roadkill ale:

AMSTERDAM – A Dutch brewer with a penchant for competition has laid claim to creating the world’s strongest brew: a beer that is some 60 per cent alcohol by volume.

“You don’t drink it like beer, but like a cocktail — in a nice whisky or cognac glass,” brewer Jan Nijboer told Dutch news agency ANP.

Nijboer’s Almere-based brewery, ‘t Koelschip (The Refrigerated Ship), sells the new beer, which is 120 proof and dubbed “Start the Future,” in a one-third litre bottle for 35 euros ($45) each.

Nijboer told ANP he developed the new brew to keep up with Scottish outfits that were also pushing the boundaries of beer’s alcohol content.

His previous record-holder, a beer called Oblix that was 90 proof (45 per cent alcohol by volume), was eclipsed by a Scottish beer that reached 55 per cent.

That beer, dubbed “The End of History,” was announced last week by a small brewery called BrewDog. Only 12 bottles were made, each housed inside a stuffed dead animal and sold starting at 500 pounds ($780) each.

“It has become a little competition,” Nijboer said. “You should see it as a joke.”

Joke indeed.  And now, the joke is on Brewdog.