A Moray brewery that was accused of making false claims over the strength of a beer they claimed as the strongest in the world have been vindicated by a Trading Standards report.
Keith-based firm Brewmeister faced a storm of criticism last month when it was forced to admit that some early batches of their ‘Armaggedon’ brand contained an Alcohol by Volume (ABV) rating of 15.2% rather than the claimed 65%.
Brewmeister director Lewis Shand apologised for the error, saying that faulty batches were produced at a time when the brewery was a much smaller operation that was “less professional” than at present.
The row cast doubts over claims that the beer the company produced to replace Armaggedon, Snake Venom, actually lived up to claims that at 67.5% ABV it was currently the strongest ale on the market.
However, independent testing has shown that the Snake Venom brand not only meets its claims but exceeds them, having been measured at 68%.
In a report on the beer Trading Standards analyst Stephen Appleton said: “The sample consisted of about 275ml of a clear pale brown liquid in a labelled amber glass bottle.
“Information on the sample label included ‘67.5% ABV’. The food labelling regulations 1996 permit a positive or negative tolerance of 1% in the indication of alcoholic strength by volume for a drink of this description.
“The alcohol content of the sample was therefore satisfactory.”
Lewis Shand said: “We are delighted that trading standards has confirmed what we have known all along – Snake Venom is the world’s strongest beer.
“Unlike previous attempts and world-beating brews, the idea with Snake Venom was to produce something which still tastes like beer and is not masked by a harsh alcohol flavour.”
Mr Shand warned that the beer was not like normal beers in that it should never be consumed in the same way. He said: “We would not recommend drinking a whole bottle in one go – it should be savoured in small measures in a similar way to a fine whisky or brandy.”
Brewmeister recently moved into a new facility in Keith that allowed them to more than quadruple their production capacity as demand from customers around the world increased.