For a period of either side of 2010 the beer industry was shaken up by small breweries questing to brew the strongest beer in the world. Several European micro breweries put out different beers at ever increasing rates of strength, until Scottish Brewery Brewmeister took top spot with their Snake Venom Beer at 67.5% ABV.

As is the case with many records, controversy surrounds the worthiness of the title – and the enjoyment factor for these types of booze offerings can best be described as questionable. There’s plenty of gray area surrounding the process of brewing high alcohol content craft beer, but it’s certainly an entertaining sub genre of the beer industry.

Here are some of the world’s strong beer breweries that have laid claim to owning the biggest, baddest (and weirdest) ABV on the block.

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1. Brewmeister Snake Venom (67.5% ABV)

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At 67.5% ABV, Snake Venom from the Scottish Brewery Brewmeister (the international arm of Keith’s in Speyside) is officially the strongest beer in the world. Snake Venom Beer is a fortified Barley wine that uses smoked peat malt and is brewed in the traditional Eisbock method. It passed stablemate Brewmeister Armageddon (65% ABV/330ml bottle) as the world’s strongest beer in 2013, and according to reports tastes a great deal better than the previous strong beer from the Scottish brewer.

The high ABV smoked peat malt and champagne yeast used means the black Snake Venom beer has a heavy mouthfeel. The flavor is described as fruity and smooth with a heavy-duty fiery finish and bitter aftertaste.

Online retailers sensibly warn customers that they must accept the risks in purchasing an extreme beer of such potency and cap bottle purchases, which are supplied with a letter of authenticity and explanation of the brew from the Scottish Brewer. There’s also a yellow warning label around the neck if all else fails.