When it comes to expensive brews, wines and whiskeys and sometimes champagne is what one thinks of. Expansive and beer, these two words are rarely used together. But, this humble drink does have some wealthy connections. Here are beers whose price tag will make many sigh!
BrewDog’s The End of History
When one thinks of Scots, what first comes to mind is Scotch whiskey. But, apart from whiskey the Scots are a pro at other kinds of brews as well. And, it will come as no surprise when we say BrewDog’s The End of History is not only an expensive beer but also comes in a very interesting packaging. With 55%, it is one of the strongest beers in the world and costs 80$ (around Rs 6000) for a 375 ml bottle. And, the bottle is packed in a stuffed animal (which the company claims were a result of a road kill and not harmed on purpose) specially made by a taxidermist. There are only 12 bottles. And the animals used were seven weasels, four squirrels and one hare.
Well, this one has quite an interesting story behind it. The company says the beer is brewed with water from Antarctic ice. It is said members of the Sea Shepherd Conservative Society brought melted ice from an Antarctic iceberg back to Perth, Australia. Nail Brewing managed to make 30 bottles of beer out of the ice and all proceeds from the sales went to Sea Shepherd to aid their fight in protecting the marine life. One bottle of the beer costs a whopping $765 (which is Rs 57,373 in Indian currency).
This German beer made a debut in 2011 and is said to be one of the strongest beers with a staggering 57.50% ABV and anything above this would be a violation of Germany’s 500-year-old Beer Purity Law. It was a limited edition beer with only 36 bottles made at that time. According to thedrinksbusiness.com, the beer is an Eisbock style beer and is made by “by freezing off a portion of the water, and removing it from the beer”. A 330 ml bottle costs $275 (Rs 20,624).
Untappd
Fancy some space-grown barley beer? Then the Space Barley is the one you might want to try. It is said Japanese brewer Sapporo used the barley sent to space in making this beer. In 2006, curious to find how barley would grow in space, Japanese and Russian scientists joined hands and sent a few barley seeds to the International Space Station. The seeds were planted on Zvezda Service Module. After spending five long months in orbit, the fourth-generation barley was brought to earth. And, these newly-returned-from-space barley then found its way to Sapporo’s beer bottle—congratulations, you now have ‘space’ beer! Six packs of this beer were sold in a lottery system for 10,000 yen (which is roughly around Rs 7099).
Samuel Adams’ Utopias is America’s most expensive beer and with an ABV of 27%, also banned in certain US states. The beer, which is produced every two years, is packed in a ceramic bottle which looks like a copper kettle. The beer was first released in 2002 and is made with caramel, Vienna, Moravian and Bavarian smoked malts, and four varieties of noble hops, according to thedrinksbusiness.com. The reason why it is released every two years is because each batch is aged for 18 months in Scotch, Cognac and Port barrels. Priced at $228 (Rs 17,099) for 750 ml it makes many beer lovers sigh not just for the price but also the availability!