At the BrewDog Micro Brewery, in Fraserburgh, Scotland, the whacked-out brewers have created the strongest and most expensive beer in the world.  In fact, it's called End of the World, and it's packaged in a taxidermied squirrel or stoat (weasel).  It's done through "Extreme ABV Brewing," and they have "frozen, hopped and oak-aged stronger beers than have ever before been made in the history of beer."  "ABV" is "alcohol by volume," and 55% means that the beer is 110 proof.  They only brewed 12 bottles of End of the World, a Belgian blone ale, the price was set at $765 each, and they sold out.

How do you drink it?  In their words: "This 55% beer should be drank in small servings whilst exuding an endearing pseudo vigilance and reverence for Mr Stoat. This is to be enjoyed with a weather eye on the horizon for inflatable alcohol industry Nazis, judgemental washed up neo-prohibitionists or any grandiloquent, ostentatious foxes."

And the significance of this beer? "The impact of The End of History is a perfect conceptual marriage between art, taxidermy, and craft brewing. The bottles are at once beautiful and disturbing – they disrupt conventions and break taboos, just like the beer they hold within them.  This beer is an audacious blend of eccentricity, artistry and rebellion; changing the general perception of beer one stuffed animal at a time."  For more information on BrewDog, go here.

Comment (0)

Why brew a beer so hot that it melts taste buds and brings tears to drinkers’ eyes? To do something different. In a world full of pilsners, pale ales and porters, thinking a little outside of the box keeps things exciting at Twisted Pine Brewery. “Ghost Face Killah” ghost chile beer packs the heat of six different chiles, including anaheim (New Mexican), fresno, jalapeño, serrano, habanero and the infamous ghost chile (Bhut Jolokia). The beer will be released at the Snowmass Chili and Beer Festival, June 4-5.

At a staggering 1,000,000 Scoville heat units, the ghost chile pepper is twice as hot as the nearest Red Savina pepper.  This has earned the Bhut Jolokia certification as the hottest chile pepper in the world by the Guiness World Records.

Based in Boulder, Colorado, Twisted Pine Brewing Company has been handcrafting beer since 1995. Read more about their other unique brews here.

Comment (0)

Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., the nation’s largest independent family-owned spirits supplier, has announced a licensing agreement with McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana, creator of Tabasco® brand Pepper Sauce, to produce Tabasco™ brand Spicy Tequila and has launched it in select markets.  It is now available in Dallas, Houston, Georgia, Indiana and North Carolina. They sent me a sample and I tried it straight up, licking salt off my hand, taking a sip, and licking a sliced lime.  I thought it was excellent, and the heat level is only about a one on a one-to-ten scale."We are tremendously excited about the prospects of Tabasco brand Spicy Tequila and this licensing agreement with McIlhenny Company," stated Heaven Hill Distilleries president Max L. Shapira. "Like our company, McIlhenny is family-owned and independent, so this is a partnership built on commonalities and mutual benefits." Paul McIlhenny,  who I interviewed for my video documentary, "Heat Up Your Life," added: "Tabasco brand Pepper Sauce and Tequila have been served together for a long time…it's a complementary taste combination that has been enjoyed all over the world."  Paul took really good care of the film crew when we stayed in one of his plantation mansions on Avery Island.  He personally made a crawfish boil for us, spiced up with guess what.

TABASCO-Rita

2 oz. TABASCO™ Spicy Tequila
1 oz. Orange Liqueur
2 oz. Lime Juice
Salt
Shake over ice and strain into salt-rimmed Margarita glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Bloody Maria

1 oz. TABASCO™ Spicy Tequila
2 oz. Tomato Juice
1 Dash Lemon Juice
1 Dash Celery Salt

Shake all ingredients with cracked ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass over ice cubes. Garnish with a lemon slice. For extra-hot Bloody Maria, substitute TABASCO® Bloody Mary Mix for tomato juice.

Comment (0)

Gwynne Spencer reports: "Mead was the first wine" is the motto of Bacchus Meadery.  Their new Vesta Mead takes on a unique red chile flavor that fires up your brain and taste buds. Named after Vesta, the goddess of the fire, this delightfully light and spicy mix of honey and whole red chiles is not sweet, as are many meads. Made only with pure Colorado honey from Mad Hava hives in Lyons, Colorado, and using an ancient formula of water, honey, and yeast, mead-making brothers Jason and Adam Kittel will soon begin taking orders for bottles and cases of Vesta as soon as they get this new flavor federally approved for their small meadery in Loveland, Colorado.

"Mead has always been linked with love, and so we located in Loveland," Jason admits. Mead was traditionally the drink for a month after marriage, to assure fertility and sons (thus the word  "honeymoon"). While Bacchus Meads take a little longer for birthing (4 months), they still have a delicate, non-sweet, non-cloying light clean taste, not chunky like some meads. The red chile flavor is unique to Bacchus.

"Now drink it just the way I tell you," advises Jason in his chile-red toga. "A little taste on your tongue, another little taste on the back of your tongue.....now shoot the rest of it all in one gulp and feel it on the back of your throat." An early morning taste-tester at the Mancos Renaissance Faire on June 28th smiles broadly, "Ahhhh.....mead for breakfast. It's what America needs." The heat in the mead comes from fresh whole red peppers resting in the mead, "like little tongues of fire." It lives up to its name, Vesta, whose sacred flames were kept alive for thousands of years.

At about $15 a bottle plus shipping (about $7), Vesta will be a great fall gift for balloonists and Bacchanalias. On their website, here, you'll also find: Stator, made from a very traditional mix of clover and wildflower honey; Priapus, a smoky sweet vanilla-and-maple mead made using a Celestial Seasonings tea; Cupid, with a bright "make you happy in the morning" cherry flavor with a dry start and a tart finish; Bellona, made with agave nectar begs for a sliced lime as an alternative to margaritas; Venus, an almond-tinged mead; Slascha, chocolate-spiced to warm your winter bones, and of course, Vesta, the chile-powered mead.

The Bacchus Boys will be offering taste testings at Castle Rock Wine Festival (July 25th), Palisade Pirate Festival (August 21), Breckenridge Wine Festival (September 5) and Colorado Mountain Wine Festival (September 19th). They are hoping to make it to this year's Fiery Foods show, too. For more information, call (303) 552-1987 or e-mail here.

Gwynne Spencer writes from her secret rebel base by the Mancos River under the watchful brow of Mesa Verde. Reach her here. 

Comment (0)