As long as craft beer is flying off the shelves, brewers will be looking towards the next unique flavor. We’ve seen “pizza ale” that’s brewed with oregano, tomato, basil and garlic. Rogue famously (and disgustingly) brewed “beard beer” made from the wild yeast of their brewer’s beard hair back in 2013. We’ve even seen belly button lint beer. Some may say we’ve taken the zany craft beer flavors too far, that we’ve jumped the shark. Now, it seems as if we’ve jumped the whale.
Australian brewers have used ambergris, commonly known as whale vomit, to brew their latest lager. It seems gross, but it has a cool name: Moby Dick Ambergris Ale.
“It tastes a little bit like the sea, it tastes a little bit like marine animals. It’s really interesting I think.”
Ambergris is a solid material that is most commonly used by the perfume industry to help scents last longer. Stories have circulated over the years of beach-goers stumbling onto pieces of the rare puke which has floated from a dead whale and landed on a beach. Finding a chunk can change lives with a sudden fortune. In 2013, a dog walker found a 6-pound piece that reportedly would get him a payment over 100,000 Pounds.
Rather than sell off the piece they found, the Australian brewers decided to use it as an exotic ingredient. Maris Biezaitis explained his motivation for crafting a sea-worthy ale to ABC.net:
“When I heard that ambergris was used in the perfume industry, I thought ‘I wonder if that could be used to flavor or spice up a beer.’ It was a relatively fresh piece, quite a smelly piece, so it was airing and curing in the backyard before I got hold of it.”
According to FOX News, some found the taste of the whale puke beer disgusting. Others found it “surprisingly sweet.” I’m down to try any food, but in this case, I’ll stick to belly button lint.
(Via FOX News)
