Top 10 Most Expensive Beers: $80 to $500

Do you like beer? I, for one, yes, but I prefer light classic lager or wheat beers. But that’s usually. Sometimes I am not alien to the craving for experiments. I would like to try a variety that I have not drunk yet.

If we talk about the variety of foam in the world, then 15 types define one of its types. There are also 120 brewing styles and this is not the limit, as brewers continue to experiment, bringing new combinations to the market, which may soon expand the number of brewing styles or even define a new type of beer.

Naturally, while studying the diversity of species, I came across expensive intoxicating drinks and decided to figure out what they are and why they cost so much.

What affects the cost of beer

Since the goal is to understand expensive varieties, I will try to conditionally divide them into groups with a brief description of what can affect the cost:

1. The main influence on the price is proportional to the time and raw material costs, that is, the longer we cook, the more expensive. Factors affecting the price include aging (not everyone does this, but many manufacturers of excellent stouts age their drink in oak barrels), and the number of ingredients involved in the brewing process, as well as the complexity of the brewing itself.
2. Collection varieties that have been released or are released in limited quantities (which in itself contributes a certain value). Here, the price can be influenced by the uniqueness of raw materials, the quality factor of which, perhaps, will not be found anywhere else.
3. Fame and reputation of the brand, where without it!

How beer is brewed

So, classic beer, the process of preparation of which in Russia is regulated by GOST, is brewed using water, hops, yeast and malt. Malt is germinated grains of barley.

1. First, the wort is prepared. To do this, the malt is crushed, water is added to it and heated. After some time, the resulting material is subjected to filtration, thereby separating the purified wort.
2. Then the purified wort is boiled, bringing to a boil, also at this stage hops are added to it.
3. This is followed by the fermentation process, when the wort is cooled and yeast is added to it. Finally, the beer is allowed to mature and filtered again.

This brief description corresponds to the technology for the preparation of top-fermented light varieties. But almost every manufacturer has its own beer production technology and is often kept secret.

What affects the taste of beer

Many factors influence taste. Modern brewers often do not reveal the secrets of their signature drinks, so I will say that the taste of beer is influenced, first of all, by the brewer’s intention, reflected in the complex, often lengthy (this applies to expensive varieties) brewing process and the correct selection of ingredients.

Several factors can be distinguished:

• manufacturing technology;
• ingredients used;
• exposure time;
• holding conditions.

Top 10 Most Expensive Beers

So we got to the most important, the most expensive beers. I’ll list them in order of price increase. The most expensive varieties:

1. Brewdog Sink The Bismark (Brudog Sink The Bismark) – $ 80 (2010). The drink is of the IPA type (Indian Pale Ale).
2. Samuel Adams Utopia (Samuel Adams Utopia) – $ 150 (2020). Each release is a blend of batches, some of which have been aged up to 16 years in bourbon casks, Portuguese muscat casks, as well as sherry, brandy and cognac casks.
3. Schorschbrau Schorschbock 57 (Shorshbrau Shorshbock 57) – $ 275 (2011). The answer to beer from the Brudog company with a strength of 57,5%. Only 36 bottles were produced.
4. Carlsberg Jacobsen Vintage (Carlsberg Jacobsen Vintage) – $ 400 (2008-2010). 1800 bottles were produced. Features include the taste of vanilla and cocoa with hints of peat and aging in French and Swedish oak barrels. By the way, the expiration date indicated on the bottle is until 2059.
5. Brewdog The End Of History (Brydog The End Of History) – $ 650-900 (2010). Produced in 12 bottles. Each is placed in a stuffed animal (hare, squirrel, ermine). In the composition, in fact, Belgian ale, mixed with nettle and juniper. Fortress 55,0.
6. The Lost Abbey Cable Car Kriek (The Lost Abbey Cable Car Creek) – $ 923 (1998). A beer specially created for the celebration of the new millennium. Highly prized by collectors.
7. De Cam & Drie Fonteinen Millenium Geuze (De Cam & Drie Fonteinen Millennium Geuze) – $ 923 (1998). Another sort of beer created for the celebration of the new millennium.
8. Nail Brewing Antarctic Ale (Nail Brewing Antarctic Ale) – $ 800-1850 (2010). A total of 30 bottles have been released, the beer is made from water melted from a piece of Antarctic ice taken from an iceberg in the Southern Ocean.
9. Cantillon Loerik 1998 (Cantillon Loerik 1998) – $ 2583 (2014). Belgian beer XNUMX years old.
10. Allsopp’s Arctic Ale (Alsopps Arctic Ale) – $ 503300. This beer was brewed for an expedition to the Arctic. Such a bottle was listed on eBay in 2007 and won a bid of $503300, but that doesn’t mean it was bought for such a staggering amount. To be fair, the majority of lots were well over $10000, so that still makes this the most expensive bottle on our list.

Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!

Personally, I would stop at position number two. I wonder what taste the barrel gives. What variety would you like to try?