This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Introducing the £250 bottle of beer
London brewery Fuller’s is selling a ‘vintage’ ale priced at £250.80 a bottle.
While Fuller’s 2015 Vintage sells for £4.09 a bottle, the brewery’s 1997 is on sale online for £250.80 (Photo: Fuller’s)
The price of Fuller’s vintage 2015 ale sells for £4.09 a bottle – implying a 6,032% rise in value for the 1997 edition.
The 1997 ale was the first in Fuller’s Vintage Ale collection, all of which are brewed with ageability in mind.
The second-most expensive vintage is Fuller’s 1998 edition, which is priced at £237.60, followed by the 2000, which is £211.20, the Daily Mail reported.
Fuller’s website says of the 1997 Vintage Ale: “Whether it’s a car or a kiss, firsts live long in both the memory and the heart. This 1997 beer was the first in our Vintage Ale collection – and as it’s brewed to mature over the years, it’s a memory that can still be savoured even now.”
The huge price variation is due to the age and the rarity of the bottling, but also the fact that each ale is brewed with different hops each year, meaning there is a unique character for each ‘vintage’ of the ale.
Fuller’s 1997 Vintage Ale is available to buy online or at Fuller’s pubs across the South of England.
The Parcel Yard pub in London’s Kings Cross station is one of a small number of pubs or bars that sell a range of Fuller’s Vintage Ales. Others include the Admiralty in Trafalgar Square or London’s Pride in Heathrow’s Terminal 2.
“We have been producing a Vintage Ale every year since 1997 – and the older, rarer ones are now commanding a large price,” said Fuller’s head brewer John Keeling.
“There is a lot of interest in beer at the moment – and we are even seeing people looking to buy beer as an investment.
“Our Vintage Ale can be stored or savoured here and now and uses the best malt and hops the growers have to offer each year.”
“We suggest you buy at least three bottles,” he added. “One to drink one now, drink one in three years and save the other for a very rainy day when the value has increased – and just hope that everyone else hasn’t had the same idea.”
The cost of three bottles of Fuller’s 1997 Vintage Ale would be £752.40.
The beer is not quite the world’s most expensive beer, however. Find out what is in db‘ top 10.