This Super-High-ABV Beer Was Only Served In Taxidermied Animals

Beer vessels run the gambit. Where once there were mainly pint glasses, steins, or mugs, many drinkers have become experts on which glassware is appropriate for different styles. Additionally, understanding how packaging affects beer is also important to those especially preoccupied with quality. But there is one brewery who decided to think outside the bottle for a very particular beer. While many things go into brewing it, like the key ingredient that makes beer bitter, with The End of History, BrewDog put perhaps the most distinguishing element on the outside of the bottle, packaging it inside a taxidermied animal.

The Scottish-based company BrewDog created The End of History with the express intention of it being the strongest beer in the world — a blonde Belgian ale flavored with nettles and juniper berries that weighed in at 55% ABV (for context, Bud Light is 4.2%). And while they managed to achieve their goal, perhaps what was most eye-catching was the presentation. In pushing the boundaries with this particular beer, BrewDog enlisted a taxidermist who converted genuine roadkill into packaging by wedging bottles inside seven squirrels, seven stoats, and a single hare. The company's artistic ethos is centered around rebellion and eccentricity, so this bold decision fits the bill.

In addition to the — shall we say, unique — packaging and history-making ABV, the price of The End of History would probably give some consumers pause. When it first launched back in 2010, the 12 bottles produced were each sold for between £500 and £700. But the brewery re-released the beer in 2016, and anyone who'd been waiting more than half a decade to get their hands on a bottle had to pony up a whole lot more: $20,000.

At that time though, purchasers were buying more than a very strong, very expensive beer — they were making an investment into BrewDog's U.S. expansion, giving them equity in the company to go with their taxidermied take-home purchase. For those looking to discover great beers while traveling, take note that the company's new facility is based in Columbus, Ohio, and features a craft beer hotel for those superfans who want to eat, breathe, drink, and sleep their passion. 

There may be misunderstood differences between light and dark beer, but there's no mistaking what makes BrewDog's high-ABV drink different. And while you can't get your hands on fresh bottles of The End of History anymore, you can sample the producer's many other options out in the wild, as BrewDog distribute both packaged and draft products widely.