18.2% beer row leaves bitter taste

Published on Tuesday 4 August 2009 22:04

A ROW is brewing in Holyrood over a motion condemning a Scottish company for producing the strongest beer in the world.

The Liberal Democrat justice spokesman, Robert Brown, has put down a motion attacking the new Tokyo* beer, believed to be the strongest beer in the world, produced by the Aberdeenshire-based brewery BrewDog.

Mr Brown called the beer's 18.2 per cent alcohol level "reprehensible in a society where the medical evidence shows that, across all age groups and socio-economic categories, individuals are drinking too much alcohol".

But Mr Brown's motion has been attacked by the company as a "nanny state" approach,

and Green MSP Patrick Harvie suggested his Liberal Democrat opponent was missing the point on Scotland's problem with booze.

"I doubt we'll see fans of Buckfast switching to niche micro-brewery beers like this, and Robert Brown should therefore simply calm down," he said.

"He shouldn't attack a small Scottish company which makes some great beers."