BrewDog lets world’s strongest canned beer loose on the market

Source: OLN

By Mathew Lyons

14 October, 2015

BrewDog, Scotland’s leading independent brewery, has launched what it believes is the world’s strongest canned beer.

Black-Eyed King Imp is a Russian Imperial Stout inspired by the flavours Vietnamese coffee. It has an ABV of 12.7%.

The stout is matured in bourbon casks for over a year before being further aged with vanilla pods and coffee beans.

James Watt, co-Founder of BrewDog, said: “We love big beers, big flavours, and challenging people’s perceptions of beer. Black Eyed King Imp is the ultimate embodiment of that philosophy.”

Black Eyed King Imp is available online direct from BrewDog at a price of £9.50.

It will launch in BrewDog’s UK bars from 6pm tomorrow, Thursday, October 15.

Established in 2007, BrewDog has produced a number of high-strength beers before, most notably the limited-release The End of History, which offered an ABV of 55%.

BrewDog has expanded rapidly in the last five years. It reported an annual turnover of £29.6million in 2014, up 63% on the previous year.

It now exports to 55 countries and owns 34 bars around the world.

Its expansion has been largely financed by four rounds of innovative crowdfunding, the latest of which closed last week at £10 million.

The scheme, named Equity For Punks, now involves some 35,000 investors. It has raised a total of £17 million so far.

Watt said: “Black Eyed King Imp is exactly the type of eccentric, artisanal beer we aim to invest in with the backing of our 35,000 equity punk shareholders.

“It takes time to tailor such a colossal, complex beer but with the support of the people who love our beer, this is what we can achieve.

“Our business model shortens the distance between us and the people who enjoy our beer, and gives us the opportunity to scale up without selling out.

“With this kind of support, we can continue pushing the brewing process to extremes to create something our Equity Punks want to drink and enjoy.”