BEER IN A SQUIRREL FOR $2OK

CRAFT BEERS enthusiasts are generally accustomed to seeing higher price tags for special, rare brews.  Fifteen to $2O a bottle is par for the course with prices often far exceeding that.  Goose Island has fetched $6O per bottle for its Bourbon County Barrel Stout Rare that was aged in Heaven Hill Distillery barrels and Samuel Adams Utopias typically sells for $16O or more.  But those sorts of prices pale when compared to BrewDog’s The End of History.  To get a bottle of this ultra-rare brew (which hasn’t been made in six years), it will cost you $2O,OOO.  That is, of course, a ridiculous amount to spend for a beer – even one that comes bottled inside of a taxidermied squirrel . . . and, yes, this one does.  But that money will also buy you an equity stake in BrewDog.  The brewer is in the midst of an equity crowdfunding campaign, hoping to raise $5O million for a new brewery in Columbus, Ohio and potentially brewpubs in other cities.  Ohio recently lifted its ABV limit on beers, meaning brewers could create beers with no concern about them being too potent.  That spurred the decision to make The End of History the first beer brewed at the new facility.  And James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog, says the incentive has convinced people to invest.  This beer is arguably the rarest beer in the world.  In its first run, back in 2O1O, only 12 bottles were made.  To make them as distinctive as possible, BrewDog struck up a relationship with a taxidermist (who goes by Simon the Stuffer) and bottled the beer inside of a squirrel.  Curious about the taste?   If you do decide to drop the $2OK and want to crack open the bottle instead of keep it as a showcase or investment, expect a Belgian style ale that’s made with juniper berries and nettles.  According to Watt, the beer carries a distinct presence of candied fruit and marmalade with an underlying peppery note.  “Everything about this beer is different to anything you’re used to,” he remarked.  “It’s convention-disrupting and limitless.  It’s designed to make you think differently about what’s in your glass . . . I mean, it’s packaged in a squirrel!”