Rogue Ales Developing Beer Made With Yeast Found in Brewmaster’s Beard

published Jul 3, 2012
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

It reads like a headline from The Onion, but this bit of news isn’t fiction: Craft brewery Rogue Ales is working on a new beer made with a strain of wild yeast produced from the follicles of brewmaster John Maier’s beard.

The brewery didn’t set out to make a beard-influenced beer. On a whim, nine follicles from Maier’s beard were sent into a lab for testing and, to everyone’s surprise, turned out to produce a yeast strain that was suitable for beer-brewing. Further tests confirmed that the yeast was wild, not one used by Rogue.

The brewery is currently working on test brews to find “the perfect style and yeast combination.” The final beer, called New Crustacean, will be released in early 2013.

What do you think? Is beard beer too weird or is it worth a try?

Related: Oyster Stouts? What’s the Weirdest Beer You’ve Ever Tried?