What Are The 20 Highest Alcohol Content Beers In The World?

This list of the highest alcohol content beers in the world is here to help you find your new favorite brew. Whether you’re looking for a beer that will knock you on your butt or just give you a little buzz, there’s something on this list for everyone.

Who doesn’t love beer? Foamy, hoppy, and delicious, every sip is a delight. But as every beer drinker will tell you, not every beer is created equal and not every brew has the same alcohol content. That’s why we set out to answer the question of what beer has the highest alcohol content? 

Keep reading for our list of the 20 strongest beers available worldwide and find out what makes them a little more potent than the rest.

Top 20 Highest Alcohol Content Beers

1. Brewmeister Snake Venom Ale (ABV 67.5%)
Country of origin: Scotland

Brewed in Moray, this brew has the highest alcohol content. A beer of choice for connoisseurs, it is brewed with smoked peated malt and is repeatedly frozen, and the ice crystals are eliminated to form a pure beverage and ensure its status as the beer with the highest alcohol content.

2. Brewmeister Armageddon (ABV 65%)
Country of origin: Scotland

Another winner from Brewmeister. Armageddon formerly claimed the top spot for being the beer with the highest alcohol content. Its manufacturer makes use of Eisbock technology to extract the water from the beer, maintaining it at a very low temperature to give it the highest alcohol content. Beer brewed this way emits touches of caramel and herbal aromas.

3. Koelschip Start the Future (ABV 60%)
Country of origin: Holland

This beer is light yellow in colour and tastes tart and sweet. It has a heavy, flat taste and no carbonation. It is described as soapy and spicy by several customers.

4. BrewDog and Schorschbrau Strength in Numbers (ABV 57.8%)
Country of origin: n/a

A limited edition beer that uses the traditional Eisbock method, this collab beer is potent and delicious. It was a decade in the making and brought together two beer makers who were constantly vying for first place in the highest ABV contest.  

5. Schorschbräu Schorschbock 57 (ABV 57%)
Country of origin: Germany

There are strong aromas of caramel and cherry cognac in Schorschbock 57. It is laced with tobacco, raisins, and walnuts and is ruby-brown with a lacy tan head. It is sweet, non-carbonated, and leaves behind a strong alcohol burn. It is produced by the Schorschbrau brewery, which is well known for its robust brews.

6. BrewDog End of History (ABV 55%)
Country of origin: Scotland

A pale Belgian ale made with deep-freezing technology, it emits aromas of nettles, mead, and juniper berries. Because it’s a limited-edition beer, it’s really expensive. Each bottle is presented in an eye-catching box made by a taxidermist and comes with its own certificate.

7. Koelschip Oblix (45% ABV)
Country of origin: Holland

The same brewery that produced “Start The Future” also produced Obilix. It was the business’s initial foray into the world of limited beer. Its production was constrained by nature, but because of how strong it was, it had an enduring effect.

8. Schorschbräu Schorschbock 43 (43% ABV)
Country of origin: Germany

When you first taste Schorschbock 43, its expertly constructed characteristics hit you, hard. It has a little tan head with a chestnut brown body. In addition to its refined traditional beer ingredients, it includes fine brandy, tobacco, raisin, and walnut. Additionally, it has a lingering alcohol burn, just as “57.”

9. BrewDog Sink the Bismarck (41% ABV)
Country of origin: Scotland

A quadruple frozen, quadruple hops and bitterness, quadruple IPA, Sink The Bismarck could easily sink you after a few. This beer has no carbonation and has a syrupy, liquorice taste that gives you a bit of throat burn. It’s a bit reminiscent of a cough mixture, but not in a  bad way. 

10. Baladin Esprit de Noel (40% ABV)
Country of origin: Italy

An oak-aged beer with notes of wood and hints of chocolate, this beer packs a punch. It’s bright yellow and straw smooth and it’s been aged in oak barrels to give it its distinctive flavour profile. 

11. De Struise Black Damnation VI – Messy (39% ABV)
Country of origin: Belgium

If you’re looking for a Russian Imperial stout with the highest alcohol content, this one’s for you. Rich and creamy with chocolate flavours, this black beer has a definite heat that’s enhanced by its hints of roasted malt.

12. BrewDog Watt Dickie (35% ABV)
Country of origin: Scotland

When it comes to the highest alcohol content beer it seems that tasting like beer isn’t always a prerequisite. Watt Dickie is uncarbonated and tastes more like a spirit than a beer. However, it has a hoppy, malty taste that’s all beer. Injected with high-quality HGH, this brew has been subjected to a special freezing process that gets rid of the water and boosts the flavour. 

13. Revelation Cat: Freeze the Penguin (35% ABV)
Country of origin: Italy

With a bit of a bitter burn and a strong sweet caramel and chocolate taste, Freeze the penguin will warm you right up. This beer has no head and is thick, dark and syrupy with a roasted woody aroma that complements its consistency. 

14. BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% ABV)
Country of origin: Scotland

Penguins seem to be a theme with the highest alcohol content beers, and that’s because so many of them are subjected to freezing conditions to refine their taste and ABV. Tactical Nuclear Penguin begins life as an imperial stout and gets aged for 16 months. It’s then stored at minus 20 degrees and then stored at minus 20 degrees and decanted periodically to create a brew that blocks your socks off.

15. Schorschbräu Schorschbock 31 (31% ABV)
Country of origin: Germany

Chocolate, coffee, cocoa, and molasses are what you’ll taste and smell when you crack open this beer with the highest alcohol content. With no carbonation and no head, 31 is rich and fruity, and very dark in colour. A bit like cocoa with an alcoholic burn, it’s warm and decadent and deserves to be savoured. 

16. Doggelander Malt Liquor (30% ABV)
Country of origin: Ecuador

Although it’s made in Ecuador, this beer has a distinctly American-style malt liquor taste and composition. It’s more fizzy and fruity than your usual high alcohol content beer and it has those typical American hints of sugar, rice and corn.

17. Samuel Adams Utopias (29% ABV)
Country of origin: United States

Beer that goes back to 1993. Why not? Samuel Adams Utopias is an old-school brew that’s made in casks that were around when Nirvana, Sheryl Crow and Bjork were topping the charts. This beer gets aged in casks that stored sherry, scotch, wine and run and then get blended to mellow it out a bit. 

18. BrewDog Ghost Deer (28% ABV)
Country of origin: Scotland

Although it’s near the end of the list of the highest alcohol content beer Ghost Deer isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s the strongest-ever fermented beer at this ABV and it owes its high content to natural processes. There’s no freezing, only fermentation and despite its whopping alcohol content it still has notes of milky chocolate and herbs. Drink it if you dare.

19. Brauhaus Südstern Schoppe XXL (28% ABV)
Country of origin: Germany

Dark and fruity, this XXL draws on German beer-making traditions to create a potent brew that packs a punch. A highly refined beer made using an Eisbock technique, this beer is strong but surprisingly easy drinking. 

20. De Struise Brouwers Special Darkest Night (26% ABV)
Country of origin: Belgium

What beer has the highest alcohol content and a bit of Slavic lore behind it? Special Darkest Night. This imperial stout is an ale that hits hard and has a decent malt backbone. Hints of chocolate, raisin and figs make it rich and smooth and it’s also very easy drinking – possibly to your detriment!

What Is High Alcohol Beer? How Is It Made?

The most popular way to measure the amount of alcohol in beer is by using the ABV; it just tells you how much of the beer’s total liquid volume is alcohol. Consequently, what causes one beer to have a higher ABV than another? The easiest method for producing beer with additional alcohol is to ferment more sugar.

Yeast consumes the sugar produced by malted grain during the fermentation process of beer, turning it into alcohol and CO2 as a result. If there is more sugar available, the yeast has more sugar to eat, which increases the amount of alcohol produced. Brewers will occasionally choose to add various sugars, such as brown sugar, dextrose, honey, or palm sugar, in order to boost the alcohol concentration and alter the flavour of a beer.

History, Trends, And Statistics Of High Alcohol Content Beer 

Craft beers are becoming increasingly popular, and many of them now contain more alcohol than before. The average ABV (alcohol by volume) of craft beers is 5.9 percent, compared to the 4 to 5 percent produced by most commercial breweries. Some craft beers have ABV counts as high as 68 percent.

This tendency toward increasing alcohol content is exploited by the American IPA trend among craft brewers, the majority of which have an alcohol content of between 6 and 10%. Even higher are double and triple IPAs. Today, the majority of craft brewers offer at least one higher ABV variation, which has been largely influenced by consumer demand.

The attractiveness is mostly a matter of taste. Higher ABV beers typically have a deeper, more nuanced flavour that occasionally leans toward the bitter. Fans of these heavier beers, some of which may be aged in barrels like stronger spirits, are drawn to their fuller tastes and tongue feel. To make up for its potency, they would have one beer with a companion rather than three or four.

Despite their greater price tag, higher ABV beers continue to be popular. With an ABV of 29 percent, a decanter bottle of Sam Adams Utopias can cost up to $200. Because it has a higher alcohol level and a longer shelf life, it is also more popular with brewers and drinkers.

So now you know the answer to the question of what are the highest alcohol content beers, which ones do you want to try? Just a word from the wise. Don’t try them all at once.