More about BrewDog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin

32%!!! The world's strongest beer.

Hey all. Just wanted to follow up yesterday's posting with this video. JUST IN CASE anyone doesn't know what Tactical Nuclear Penguin is, here's a cool video that BrewDog produced about it:

BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin (has arrived!)

Back on 12/21/09, I had just finished up my online Christmas shopping and I had nearly broken my bank account. But while I was doing some browsing on BeerAdvocate, I came upon a thread that said that BrewDog was now selling its new Tactical Nuclear Penguin, billed the strongest beer in the world, via its website. I must have been in a post-e-commerce haze, because something in my brain told me that I had to buy a bottle. At £35.00 or $56.67 per 12oz bottle, its no cheap beer. Despite my curiosity for Sam Adams Utopias, I've never been able to bite the bullet at ~$180/bottle. So this seemed to make sense to me.

Somehow, the shipping was only $11.33 from SCOTLAND. How does that make any sense? I placed the order pretty much thinking it was a mistake all around and mainly forgot about it. Then, the other day a package showed up at my apartment. I opened it up and this was the first thing I pulled out:



"Yeast Samples For Analysis"! Well, they're not lying! HAH! That's great stuff.



Is that a penguin I see? A Scottish penguin?



Why, yes! Yes it is! So there it is, in all its glory. Now the real question remains. WHEN DO I DRINK IT? I can't imagine aging it, I'm too curious/thirsty to do that. So perhaps a special occasion? Or on the other hand, just a random Friday night? What say you?

Collecting Beer Bottles is Dangerous

What am I doing? Why do I have all of these? I love The Bruery, but its really pretty unnecessary. Especially living in an apartment in Brooklyn (aka not much space). And of course, this is only a small portion of my ever-increasing empty bottle collection. I KNOW for a fact that most/all of these are going into the recycling when I move next month, so I took the opportunity to snap a photo for my records.

Why do beer geeks save beer bottles? I guess in a way its like a trophy. Most of the empties I save are rarer beers that are normally hard to get. But these Bruery beers are mostly widely available. I think it started because I REALLY enjoy the labels on all of these bottles. They're very well designed and nice to look at.

This is Why I'm Poor: Holiday Beer Haul

I think my wallet imploded after recent trips to Oak Tree Buy Rite ( best beer store in NJ) and New Beer Distributors in Manhattan (best beer store in NYC). Interesting how the two best beer stores in our area both have terrible websites. Someone get them some web developers! Now I can't take 100% full credit for buying all of those beers, I split this up with my friends Jeff and Josh. But here's what is pictured:

4 x 12oz Founders Breakfast Stout
12 x 12oz Founders Imperial Stout (4 cellared)
2 x 750ml Brooklyn Black Ops (1 cellared)
1 x 750ml Unibroue Chambly Noire
1 x 750ml The Bruery Rugbrød
1 x 750ml Captain Lawrence Nor'Easter
1 x 22oz Cricket Hill Nocturne
1 x 12oz Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron (cellared)
1 x 12oz BrewDog/Stone Bashah
2 x 12oz Boaks Monster Mash
1 x 12oz Boaks Two Blind Monks
1 x 12oz Boaks Double BW
1 x 12oz Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2009 (cellared)
1 x 12oz Flying Dog Horn Dog
1 x 12oz Anchor Old Foghorn Ale
1 x 12oz Fuller's ESB
1 x 12oz Philadelphia Walt Wit
1 x 12oz Samuel Adams Imperial Stout

Whew, what a list. Of course, among the stuff that wasn't immediately cellared, a lot of it has already been consumed between Christmas, New Year's and you know...week nights. The standouts among this haul were the Fuller's ESB, the Founders Imperial Stout and the Boaks Monster Mash. Oh yes, and of course the Captain Lawrence Nor'Easter.

Jolly Pumpkin Noel De Calabaza Special Ale

Well well well! Lookee here! It's been a little while, but I'm back! I hope everyone's holidays and new years were memorable. Mine were definitely memorable, but at the same time not easily recalled, as I had a LOT of great craft beer.

As you can see above, one of the beers I cracked open over the holidays (during the biggest snow storm in recent memory) was the Jolly Pumpkin Noel De Calabaza Special Ale. Also you can see that I was having some issues taking a quality photo out in the foot of snow. I think this is clue #2034 that I need an SLR camera. Someday.

Anyway, the BEER! It's fantastic! It's listed as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale at 9%, but it almost seems like it could be qualified as a Sour Ale. Lots of funk in this one, but not overwhelmingly so. This is was quite possibly my favorite beer I had over the holidays and I highly recommend sharing this one with a friend.