The world's strongest beer, Tactical Nuclear Penguin
This is one in a series of dispatches from our Foreign Correspondent currently on location in Scotland:
On exchange in Scotland, one of the biggest differences I’ve noticed between the UK and America is the drinking culture. (and we’re not talking about tea here…)
In the United Kingdom, the legal age of drinking alcohol is 18, three whole years before young people in the States.
Surprising to most Yanks, school social outings in the UK (and even academic ones) largely revolve around the local pub. Student societies are likely to organize their own pub crawls and professors are known to take students out for a drink and conversation. Because virtually anyone at the university is of legal drinking age, this is no problem.
That said, it’s also well-known that Scotland has a problem with alcohol. There is legislation in front of the Scottish parliament currently that aims to remedy this problem, dealing with alcohol prices and even (shock!) the drinking age.
While in the States there is a decent amount of discussion of lowering the drinking age to make alcohol consumption more regulated for younger people, the Student newspaper points out that the Scottish Government is considering raising the drinking age in certain circumstances.
Under consideration is raising to 21 the age for purchasing alcohol in off-licence shops (these are like liquor stores where the alcohol purchased would be consumed off the property). This is quite unpopular with students and legislators alike.
The ‘Alcohol Bill’, as it’s called, also proposed a minimum price for alcohol. The sponsor of the bill, the Scottish National Party (SNP), sees the bill as a way to combat the drinking problem:
But simply acknowledging we have a problem is not enough. Now is the time for action… No-one can seriously argue that selling strong drink for pocket money prices isn’t fuelling heavy consumption.
The second-largest party in the Scottish parliament, the Scottish Labour party, has said it won’t support the Alcohol Bill, which would effectively defeat the bill and its measures. Yet one expert believes there is a distinct link between low prices and alcohol consumption who is asking the members of the Scottish parliament to reconsider their opinions:
There is now compelling scientific evidence that clearly shows the strong link between alcohol consumption, pricing and harm.
While MSPs are deciding on legislation that has potential for influencing the drinking culture in Scotland, one Scottish brewery has decided to start marketing the world’s most alcoholic beer. Timely, eh?
