What’s that in my beer

You know, when you have had quite a bit to drink, most people would suggest that you have a ‘hair of the dog’. It is only an expression of course, used to refer to alcohol that is consumed with the aim of reducing the effects of a hangover.

But there are a few who take the phrase quite literally. Except that it’s not dog hair they are referring to, but human hair —beard, more specifically—of a master brewer. I kid you not. This man, John Maier actually believed that the yeast that inhabits his beard makes a world of difference to the bottled suds he peddles. He is not alone. There are several other drinkers who try and grab the limited number of Rogue Beard Beer—an American wild ale brewed by Rogue Ales of Newport, Oregon, using wild yeast originally cultured from nine beard hairs belonging to brewmaster, John Maier. That it flies off the shelves proves the popularity of this unique brew.

A human hair, however, is not the weirdest ingredient in your brew. The prime ingredient in the beer made by the Dock Street Brewing Co., called Walker, is goat brains. Yet another brew, The Rocky Mountain Oyster stout, contains private parts of a bull as its chief ingredient. Then of course there is this beer that uses weasel poop to give it a dark and smoky finish that it is so famous for. Mikkeler’s Beer Geek Brunch Weasel is an imperial oatmeal stout, brewed with one of the world’s most expensive coffees, made from droppings of weasel-like civet cats. While the coffee is much known, the beer is a lesser known product of the civet droppings.

Whatever the ingredients, these are brews for humans, at the end of the day. We point this out because there are certain breweries in the world that are blending a rich brew for dogs! Yes, Kwispelbier in Netherlands is the only beer brewed exclusively for dogs.

But enough of earthly things. Here’s something that’s out of this world. No, literally. The Sapporo Space Barley contains barley that was on the International Space Station, and the Celest-jewel-ale contains dust from lunar meteorites.

If you have enjoyed reading about the many weird beers and brews, I suggest that you quit reading this article and grab yourself a bottle since the stocks are really limited. Cheers!

The writer is a corporate executive chef for Mars Enterprises, Mumbai