# 130 Proof Beer - What Must it Taste Like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [October 28, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112 "2012-10-28T05:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/1 "2012-10-28T05:54:51Z")
[The world’s strongest beer](http://foodbeast.com/content/2012/10/27/warning-the-worlds-strongest-beer-is-stronger-than-vodka/). At 130 proof, 65% ABV, it’s more potent than most spirits. Has anyone tried any very-high-alcohol-content beers? As a drinker who drinks liquor DESPITE the taste, but likes beer, how would this compare to a standard beer? Sippable? I sure as shit can’t really sip whiskey… ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/2 "2012-10-28T05:56:20Z")
What’s the difference between stupid strong beer and, say, barley wine, or moonshine? ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/3 "2012-10-28T06:27:03Z")
Get some moonshine, add a few drops of Budweiser. That’s gotta be pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/4 "2012-10-28T07:52:56Z")
Can you get it in the United States? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/5 "2012-10-28T11:06:24Z")
Is it legal in Korea? Maybe if they don’t call it beer… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/6 "2012-10-28T15:32:56Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > What’s the difference between stupid strong beer and, say, barley wine, or moonshine? Barley wine is a type of beer. Moonshine is distilled. ETA: And what they are describing there sounds like freeze _distilling_ not freeze fermenting. It’s a way to concentrate the alcohol content of a fermented product by freezing and skimming off the water (which is mostly ice.) That’s the traditional way to make apple jack. You take cider, freeze it, and take off the ice, leaving a concentrated apple moonshine behind. I never realized this could be done to much more than around 80 proof. It’s also supposed to be terrible, at least in the case of apple jack, as it also concentrates impurities, methanol, fusel alcohols and the such, which your normal boiling-type distillation does not. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/7 "2012-10-28T16:04:26Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s many drinks you’ll drink, me lads, but this one beats them all: > One hundred fifty-three and one-half percent alcohol, > A beer, brewed in a tesseract, that’ll shoot you through the roof – > And if you don’t believe me, I’ve got lots and lots of proof. > > (final chorus) > Three-Oh-Seven Ale, me lads, Three-Oh-Seven Ale, > The finest drink that any bar has ever had for sale, > It’ll lay your whole damn world to waste, it’ll make you fit and hale, > It sticks to your mouth like library paste, > With a stronger kick than toxic waste, > There’s nothing that you’ll ever taste > Like Three-Oh-Seven Ale! From [307 Ale](http://www.tomsmithonline.com/lyrics/307_ale.htm) by Tom Smith ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/8 "2012-10-28T16:48:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I never realized this could be done to much more than around 80 proof. And I should note, even that is really high. A typical eisbock only gets freeze concentrated/distilled to about 12% (folks use both terms; some say freeze concentration is more accurate. See [Wikipedia article on fractional freezing for further info.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_freezing)). More extreme results tend to top off at in to 20-30% abv range. I’m really curious as to how they get it to 65%. I’m also curious as to why they call it “freeze fermentation” in their press materials. That term doesn’t really make sense as they are using it–the process they are describing is concentration or distillation through fractional freezing. That would be done post-fermentation, when you already have an alcoholic beverage to concentrate. Freeze fermentation, to me, would imply fermenting something at or near its freezing point. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/9 "2012-10-28T17:15:44Z")
ice beer is a marketing term used. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/10 "2012-10-28T17:22:43Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > ice beer is a marketing term used. Explain what you mean by this. “Ice beer” is a very real type of beer, made using fractional freezing. It is generally done to increase alcohol content. [Here is Cecil’s take](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1208/whats-the-deal-with-ice-beer). [Here is the Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_beer). ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/11 "2012-10-28T17:38:56Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > ice beer is a marketing term used. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Explain what you mean by this. “Ice beer” is a very real type of beer, made using fractional freezing. It is generally done to increase alcohol content. beer that has been put through a fractional freezing process will be sold as an ice beer. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/12 "2012-10-28T18:03:23Z")
I prefer 307 ale myself. [Tom Smith - 307 Ale - YouTube](http://youtu.be/umHGEn3YbTc) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/13 "2012-10-28T18:06:15Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > beer that has been put through a fractional freezing process will be sold as an ice beer. Well, if course, because that’s what it is. Beers that are put through a lagering process are sold as lagers. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/14 "2012-10-28T18:16:00Z")
If this is Armageddon, Ahm a geddon outa here! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/15 "2012-10-28T18:34:29Z")
I’ve drank Eku 28, which is 28% alcohol (56 proof) and it was pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/16 "2012-10-29T00:14:31Z")
I’ve used beer as a mixer for grain alcohol. It was not delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/17 "2012-10-29T01:11:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And I should note, even that is really high. A typical eisbock only gets freeze concentrated/distilled to about 12% Christ, why bother? I can ferment a Belgian ale to about 15% alcohol without any of their extra steps. 130% beer would taste like fizzy whiskey. At best. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/130-proof-beer-what-must-it-taste-like/639112/18 "2012-10-29T01:34:21Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Christ, why bother? I can ferment a Belgian ale to about 15% alcohol without any of their extra steps. > > 130% beer would taste like fizzy whiskey. At best. 130%? You mean 65%. And I doubt it would be fizzy at that point, unless it’s force carbonated. (And I suspect this “beer” isn’t, but I don’t know for sure.) As for “why bother,” I assume there’s just different flavor profiles from a beer that’s been concentrated to a beer with a high-enough gravity and strong enough yeast to yield similar ABVs.