Drinks Beer The 13 Strangest Beers on Earth By Hillary Eaton Hillary Eaton Hillary Eaton is a food and travel writer who has lived in Vancouver, Los Angeles, New Zealand, Vienna, and Copenhagen. When not writing about the hospitality industry she is working in it. Responsible for multiple award-winning restaurants, her projects have earned accolades such as Food & Wine's Best Restaurants in the World (2020), Conde Nast Traveler Hot List (2021) and 50 Best Discovery. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 13, 2023 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Courtesy of Bompas & Parr and 40ft Brewery / Photography by Steve Ryan Over the past several years, brewers have been concocting beers with some exceptionally strange ingredients, and the trend doesn't show any sign of stopping. From Icelandic beer infused with whale testicles to a saison brewed with prehistoric, fossilized yeast DNA — oh, and a pilsner made from human pee — there have never been more inventive ways to enjoy what's traditionally been a simple malt and hop beverage. Cheers! 01 of 13 Odious Ale by 40FT Brewery Courtesy of Bompas & Parr and 40ft Brewery / Photography by Steve Ryan In terms of unusual sources for yeast, Roald Dahl's writing chair is one of the odder places where brewers got a swab of the stuff. 40FT Brewery used yeast from the author's chair to make their Odious Ale. Fun fact: The chair was custom-made to help Dahl write after he suffered a back injury during World War II. 40ftbrewery.com 02 of 13 Celest-jewel-ale by Dogfish Head Bloomberg / Getty Images If you've ever wondered what the far stretches of the galaxy might taste like, Celest-jewel-ale by Dogfish Head just might have the answer inside the 2013 limited-release meteorite beer. To make this spacey ale, the brewers took lunar meteorites, crushed them up, and steeped them in the beer like tea. Even cooler? At the brewery, the beer was served in koozies made from the fabric of astronaut suits. dogfish.com 03 of 13 Oyster Stout by The Porterhouse Brewing Co. Courtesy of Lars Dahlhaus While loading up your beer with crustaceans may not sound appealing, raw oysters were shucked directly into the conditioning tank to make this popular Irish oyster stout — and it was delicious. Thankfully, the beer didn't taste like a mouthful of briny bivalve juice; instead, the oysters left behind a subtle salty-sweet taste that had this beer selling out. porterhousebrewco.ie 04 of 13 Big Ass Money Stout by Evil Twin Courtesy of Lervig Aktiebryggeri In perhaps the most gimmicky beer collaboration of all time, Evil Twin and popular Norwegian brewery Lervig Aktiebryggeri took inspiration from our college needs and made a beer with frozen Hawaiian pizza and money. (They used real Norwegian banknotes.) Even though you'd think the whole pizza-money combo would've created its own special version of grossness, the final product boasted rich coffee notes and a high 20% alcohol by volume. eviltwin.dk 05 of 13 Snake Venom by Brewmeister Courtesy of DrinkSupermarket If you ever wanted to get super wasted off a few sips of beer, Snake Venom is the beer you've been waiting for. Dubbed the strongest beer on earth at 67.5% alcohol, you're going to want to split this super-strong bad boy with a friend, or seven. And you'll likely need to visit the U.K. to find it. brewmeister.co.uk 06 of 13 Pisner by Nørrebro Bryghus Courtesy of The Danish Agriculture and Food Council Attendees of Denmark's Roskilde music festival in 2015 may be surprised to hear their pee was likely used to make beer. More than 50,000 gallons of urine from the festival were collected and used to fertilize malted barley that was then harvested and turned into Pisner, the world's first beer made with human pee. Made in partnership with the Danish Government, the unique process was dubbed "beercycling" and intended to show brewers new ways to be sustainable. noerrebrobryghus.dk 07 of 13 Full Circle Pale Ale by Stone Brewing Courtesy of Stone Brewing Co. San Diego-based Stone Brewing kept water usage down during a statewide drought by using recycled wastewater to make their Full Circle Pale Ale. While using water that was once in the toilet sounds iffy, the water was treated, so it was 100% safe — and delicious — to imbibe. stonebrewing.com 08 of 13 Beard Beer by Rogue Ales Courtesy of Rogue Ales Even though it may seem like a Portlandia sketch, Oregon's Rogue Ales Beard Beer was actually made with yeast grown in now-retired head brewer John Maier's beard. What started out as a joke about Maier's face being an optimal place to grow yeast got the brewer thinking there could be some good stuff hidden in his beard. After testing nine beard hairs, they found that their hypothesis was right: The wild beard yeast is what gave this weird brew a pineapple-y flavor. rogue.com 09 of 13 Ghost Face Killah by Twisted Pine Courtesy of Twisted Pine With the goal of making the spiciest beer in the world, Twisted Pine's Ghost Face Killah uses six kinds of ultra-hot peppers, including one of the world's spiciest: the ghost pepper. While we aren't sure if we're brave enough to try this burning brew, we're thinking anyone who does should probably double-fist it with a glass of milk. twistedpinebrewing.com 10 of 13 Hvalur by Stedji Brewery Courtesy of Stedji Brewery This Icelandic beer was made with sheep dung-smoked whale testicles. Yes, that is a thing. The seasonal Icelandic brew used three testicles per tank and was meant to be enjoyed along such equally suspect-sounding local delicacies as cured sheep head and rotten shark. i-m.mx 11 of 13 Jurassic Saison by Fossil Fuels Courtesy of Chris Fravert What happens when a microbiologist finds yeast DNA in a 45-million-year-old piece of prehistoric, fossilized amber? They use it to make beer, obviously. Dubbed "Jurassic beer," this brew cornered the market on ancient yeast. Cheers to keeping it old(est) school. 12 of 13 Toast Pale Ale by Toast Courtesy of Mark Wesley Brewed with leftover bread scraps, Toast Pale Ale lets you get buzzed and cut down on food waste at the same time. To make the beer, restaurants and bakeries across London donate bread that would otherwise be thrown out. The bread is then toasted and broken down before going into the tank to get a second life as beer. toastale.com 13 of 13 Un, Kono Kuro by Sankt Gallen Brewery Courtesy of Sankt Gallen Brewery This sought-after Japanese brew was basically elephant-coffee-poo beer. Made by fermenting coffee beans that had passed through the digestive systems of Thai elephants, this beer took the animals-pooping-out-coffee-beans trend to the next level. sanktgallenbrewery.com Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit