Now Beer This: Beer Weirdness

Give me an IPA and I’m good to go. I generally don’t need a wacky beer to make me interested. But that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in a little brewing wackiness — and I bet you are, too.

You name it, it’s probably been done to a beer. Want some animal organ in a beer? Done. How about a whole animal in it? Done. Serve the beer FROM an animal? Done. Want weed in your beer? Done. There are some beers that are way out there, so you’re only limited by the brewer’s imagination, the COO’s courage (read that as “state of inebriation at decision time”), and your adventurousness.

I don’t really need animal parts in my beer, but if you want to talk about some wacky options, let’s do it:

The idea of a breakfast stout (a beer containing many breakfast staples) is a done thing, but no one has done it like Funky Buddah with their Maple Bacon Coffee Porter. Obviously, this beer is going to taste only minimally like beer, with strong maple and coffee flavors dominating. There’s only so much “baconiness” that you can get in a beer, but they do it. And it’s fun. If you can find it, do it.

Relatively early in the craft brewing era, a man named Sam Caligione came along and blew things up. The founder of Dogfish Head is maybe single-handedly responsible for the obsession with over-hopped beers, and bless him for it. Another of his myriad contributions to brewing was his collaboration with Pennsylvania University’s Dr. Pat McGovern in the making of Midas Touch.

A chemical analysis of a 2700 year old vessel purportedly from the tomb of King Midas reflected a hybrid beer/wine/mead beverage that was like nothing being commercially brewed at the time. That wasn’t going to stop Sam, and you can now find this in your grocery store. It’s AMAZING to sip something that is nearly identical to the beverage enjoyed by a semi-mythical despot from 5000 year ago. And it’s good! If you have a friend that likes wine, but not beer, give them this. They’ll thank you for it.

Rogue, another frontrunner in the early craft brewing scene, gave us a beer with an unusually sourced yeast strain. Beard Beer was brewed using – you guessed it – yeast cultured from the beard of their master brewer. This isn’t as nasty as you think as it was really just yeast from previous beers he’d made/consumed. Don’t think about it too much, and it’s really not weird at all. Not at all. Keep telling yourself that.

To visit the super weird options, take a look at Brewdog’s The End of History. This 50% (yes. FIFTY PERCENT) ABV beer runs you about $700 and the bottle is nestled inside of a taxidermy squirrel. I’ve never had it, as it’s not so easy to come by and is quite dear for any budget, but if I get the chance, I’m taking pictures for sure.

What else is out there? Lots! Oyster Stout is actually a real beer style enjoyed for centuries in England. There are beers that are made with recycled toilet water, actual Norwegian bank notes, and sheep dung. The more I write about it, the more I think we brewers really need to talk to someone about what’s going on up here. But probably best not to think about it. Cheers!

 

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