$800: Beer made with ice from Antarctica

Global Adventures -

While explorers and scuba divers around the world may dream about participating in an expedition to Antarctica, an Australian brewery is cashing in on the idea.

Beer made from melted Antarctic Ice got the new title "World’s Most Expensive Beer." A bottle of Antarctic Nail Ale just sold for $800 at an auction in Fremantle, Australia.

The Perth based Nail Brewing Company says that only 30 bottles were created. In return for collecting some ice from Antarctica during their last campaign and donating it to the brewery, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will receive all proceeds from the sale of the Antarctic Nail Ale.

"Over 90 percent of beer is water, so the Antarctic Nail Ale could possibly be the world’s oldest and purest beer," said brewer John Stallwood in a statement. "It’s great to sell the most expensive bottle of beer in the world, but it’s all about a good cause. It’s also good that a beer about saving the whales is now the most expensive beer in the world, rather than high alcohol beer sold in animal carcasses."

Previously, the most expensive beer was called "The end of History." Brewed by Scottish brewery Brewdog’s, 11 bottles of the high alcohol beer (55 percent) sold for up to $765 a bottle. Beer that sells for over $30 per bottle is usually a small batch and numbered, Stallwood says. Typically, high priced beers are high alcohol specialty brews that age well.

Divers recently salvaged about 70 bottles of what is believed the world’s oldest beer from a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea

The almost freezing water temperatures did preserve the 200 year old beer that was resting on the sea floor at depths between 160 and 185 feet (49 to 56 meters) well.

Photo: Joe Mastroianni

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