Brits To Have Opportunity to Get Falling Down Drunk on Beer

'World's strongest' beer with 32% strength launched

James Watt, pictured here, said Tactical Nuclear Penguin would sell for £30

A controversial Scottish brewery has launched what it described as the world's strongest beer - with a 32% alcohol content.

Tactical Nuclear Penguin has been unveiled by BrewDog of Fraserburgh.

BrewDog was previously branded irresponsible for an 18.2% beer called Tokyo, which it then followed with a low alcohol beer called Nanny State.

Managing director James Watt said a limited supply of Tactical Nuclear Penguin would be sold for £30 each.

"This is an extremely strong beer; it should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance"
*Tactical Nuclear Penguin label warning*

He said: "This beer is about pushing the boundaries, it is about taking innovation in beer to a whole new level." It is about getting more drunk to the pound, and gaining more pounds to the drunk.

Mr Watt added that a beer such as Tactical Nuclear Penguin should be drunk in "spirit sized measures".

A warning on the label states: "This is an extremely strong beer; it should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance. In exactly the same manner that you would enjoy a fine whisky, a Frank Zappa album or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost."

However Jack Law, of Alcohol Focus Scotland, described it as a "cynical marketing ploy" and said: "We want to know why a brewer would produce a beer almost as strong as whisky." Mr. Watt said in response: "Why would a whiskey maker produce a whiskey that is even stronger than beer? Is there some immutable law that decrees whiskey must always contain more alcohol than beer?"

Privately, Mr. Law admitted to some close friends, who asked to remain synonymous, that he was upset because he hadn't thought of the idea first. "The only reason any maker of alcoholic beverages makes them is to permit its customers to anesthetize their brains for a few hours, as a means of relaxing and losing all inhibitions about cheating on their spouses. If this beer can do it quicker and cheaper it's got a great future."

The beer has been launched on the day alcohol was at the top of the political agenda with the unveiling of the Scottish government's Alcohol Bill including proposals for minimum pricing on drink.

Meanwhile, BrewDog's plans for a new headquarters to produce millions of bottles of beer a year have been approved by Aberdeenshire Council.

The decision was taken at a full council meeting despite having been recommended for refusal by officers because the site at Potterton, near Aberdeen, is in the green belt. "Greenbelt, schreembelt, said a council member who refused to give his name, this will bring in sufficient new tax revenue to reduce everyone's taxes, and council members get free beer for life. Heck of a deal."