Extreme Beer

This post is dedicated to my husband, who can chug a beer in less than 2 seconds. In fact, he's the Harvard Business School Unofficial Beer Chugging Champion, Class of 1999. I am a teetotaler, so we make a fantastic couple. [Note: quotes in this blog are from a WSJ article (subscription may be required), but I first read about this beverage in an issue of Maxim magazine several months ago. Go Maxim!]

Extreme sports you've probably heard of, but extreme beer? For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, extreme beer is made with "...wine grapes and chili peppers. It is aged for years in barrels and put away in cellars. Blended in the tradition of Scotch whisky, it's collected and resold for profit, like fine wine." Ken Wells, co-author of the aforementioned WSJ article, provides another definition here (subscription may be required):

"Extreme beer isn't so much a technical term as it is a catchword that has sprung up to identify breweries dabbling in beer styles (aged beer, ultrastrong beer, beer made with exotic ingredients) that are far from the everyday lagers like Budweiser, Miller and Coors that make up 90% of U.S. beer consumption."

Since extreme beer is often compared to cognac and wine, you'd think it's expensive. Well, you thought correctly! How expensive is it, you ask?

Alan Newman, co-founder of Magic Hat in South Burlington, VT, whose aged bottles of Humdinger Series of Magical Elixirs (11% alcohol by volume) sell for more than $20, says extreme beer makers are working hard to "dispel the American myth that all beer should be $1 a bottle".

Of course, Mr. Newman is the same guy who said, "Beer is liquid food."

Cheers!