Beer challenge

My dad and I have been quietly engaging in a beer challenge: who can come up with a stronger beer. Guinness Foreign Extra Stout at 6% alcohol by volume (ABV) was his opening salvo. I responded with Amsterdam Navigator, which trounced it at 8.4% ABV. He edged me out with Carlsberg Special Brew, at 9% ABV.



I flattened him with the Amsterdam Maximator, at a mighty 11.6% ABV.





He ambushed me with the Damburger Extra Strong Lager, with a stupefying 12.2% ABV.





Damn! At this stage, as we are practically dealing with field artillery, I tried to rope in Saint Nick, with his little howitzer, the Samichlaus, a liver-incinerating 14% ABV, but the jolly saint was adamant that his Christmas brew be used only for peaceful purposes. Hmm... So I pondered on joining the unofficial nuclear club of Iran, Israel, and North Korea by acquiring the Sam Adams Utopia, a near-lethal 25% ABV, but it's a limited edition brew. It's expensive too, at US$100 a bottle. A trifle expensive for a silly game, IMHO.


So, I think I am going to go for broke and source for the Bavarian brewer Harald Schneider's ultra-strong beer. It's a cirrhosis-inducing 25.4% ABV, and it's in regular production too (i.e. probably cheaper than Sam Adam's Utopia). "It is so strong, that the brewer suggests consumption by a shot glass rather than a cold mug. [ . . . ] 'People will only be able to drink two or three glasses, otherwise they'll drop like flies,' he adds."

This, I believe, will make me the king of the hill :-P

By the way, I no longer drink (and I don't mean that in the Dean Martin sense*). Win or lose, my Dad has the (enviable) task of emptying the cans :-)



Ain't it a Kick in the Head!




[ * = "I don't drink anymore... I don't drink any less either." (Dean Martin)]