PRPG:

Some Weird European Beers

October 6, 2014

Keep these strange brews in mind when you get bored with all that pumpkin ale you’ve been drinking this season.

Aceto Balsamico BeerAceto Balsamico

It tastes like someone at the Emelisse brewery in the Netherlands dumped balsamic vinegar into this beer. And that’s exactly what happened. While the stuff tastes great on a salad or as the star of a reduction sauce, it’s not so great when mixed into a Flemish-style oud bruin (“old brown”) beer.

 

Flaming Ass Owl BeerFlaming Ass Owl

This Dutch beer is considerably better tasting. It’s noted for its rich body, smooth sweetness, and its not-so secret ingredient: Trinidad Scorpion peppers. The chilies are native to Trinidad and Tobago, and, according to a 2012 study at New Mexico State University, they’re the hottest peppers on the planet. (While the beer is definitely spicy, it’s not that spicy.)

Weels Banana Bread BeerBanana Bread Beer

This won the “Beer of the Festival” award at the 2002 London Drinker Festival, although it could do just fine on The Great British Bake Off, too. Made by England’s Wells & Young, it contains hints of lemon, peppery hops, and other ingredients that give it the unmistakable taste of freshly-baked banana bread.

 

Närke Bäver BeerNärke Bäver

We saved the weirdest one for last. This beer, which is crafted at Sweden’s Närke Kulturbryggeri brewery, contains what tastes like vanilla. However, that isn’t because its brewers put actual vanilla in the barrels. Instead, they used castoreum, a yellowish secretion that comes from the North American Beaver’s castor sacs…located right next to the anus. The beavers use the secretion to mark territory, but more decades castoreum has been used in perfumes and as a food additive because it tastes like, and is cheaper than, vanilla. If you think you’ve never had it, you’re probably wrong, because it’s frequently included in ice cream and innocuously listed in the ingredients as “natural flavoring.” The brewery has been featuring this beaver brew at festivals around Europe, and serve it from a tap that was built out of a urinal.