BrewDog creates world's strongest beer

The BrewDog team have created "the strongest beer on the planet" breaking the previous record holder by 7% abv.

The whopping 32% abv Tactical Nuclear Penguin began life as a 10% imperial stout 18 months ago. It was then aged for 8 months in an Isle of Arran whisky cask and 8 months in an Islay cask, making it the brewer's first double cask aged beer.

The final stages involved storing the beer at 120 degrees for three weeks to get it to 32% abv. It was put into containers in the cold store of a local ice cream factory where it endured 21 days at penguin temperatures, explained the company.

"Beer has a terrible reputation in Britain, it's ignorant to assume that a beer can't be enjoyed responsibly like a nice dram or a glass of fine wine," said the company's James Watt. "A beer like Tactical Nuclear Penguin should be enjoyed in spirit sized measures. It pairs fantastically with vanilla bean white chocolate - it really brings out the complexity of the beer and complements the powerful, smoky and cocoa flavours."

A warning on the beer's label states: This is an extremely strong beer, it should be enjoed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalence. 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.

Of the 500 330ml bottles released, 250 will be available for £30 with a further 250 available for £250, the latter will include a share in the BrewDog company as part of its 'Equity for Punks' campaign, which is aiming to riase £2.3m to build a new eco-friendly, carbon-neutral brewery in Aberdeen.

The beer comes packaged in a brown paper bag with a hand-drawn penguin on it.