Dung-smoked beer to hit US shelves

An Icelandic brewery is preparing to launch a sheep dung-smoked IPA in the US.

Credit: Borg Brugghús

Fenrir, brewed by the Borg brewery, is the creation of brewmaster Sturlaugur Jón Björnsson, who said having the chance to brew such a beer was a dream come true.

Speaking to Icelandic news site mbl.is, he said: “It has been a dream of mine for many years, since before I became brew master, to create a dung-smoked beer. I love smoked food and I’d tried smoked beer. So I wanted to try and make a dung-smoked beer.”

The beer is now set to touch down in the US after an importer reportedly gave it rave reviews, however Sturlaugur said the beer was likely to split opinion.

“People either say that they hate the taste or that they’ve never tasted anything as good. It’s in fact a light IPA beer with a fresh citrus taste and aroma from the hop. Then a little heavier, dung smoked taste arrives but it all works out,” he said.

Its arrival in the US now rests on the approval of the US Food and Drug Administration.

Earlier this year another Icelandic brewery was attacked for attempting to launch a beer containing “dead whale” – or whale meal – a by product produced through the commercial processing of whales.

It was later banned after it was discovered that the brewery did not have a license to sell whale meal for consumption.

For a look at some of the world’s weirdest beer ingredients, click here.