If you like your beer ice cold (and you’re not someone who adds ice to it) well crack open an Innis & Gunn 1875 Arctic Ale and set sail to adventure.
A 150-year-old beer – enjoyed during an Arctic expedition – is being opened to help brewers re-create another batch of the legendary brew.
Originally brewed in 1875 for a British expedition to the North Pole, Allsopp’s Arctic Ale was packed with calories and alcohol to help explorers survive the cold. The beer is more of a survival food than a refreshing drink. It contains six times the calories of a regular beer, enough sugar to avoid freezing at –40°C (–40°F) and an alcohol content of over nine per cent ABV.
Now, Dougal Sharp, the founder of the Innis & Gunn Brewery, is teaming up with Jamie Allsopp, a descendant of the original brewer, to revive the recipe for a limited-edition release, which will be called Innis & Gunn 1875 Arctic Ale.
Allsopp said in an interview with the Daily Mail
“When Dougal told me he planned to use one of his to help recreate it, I honestly thought he was mad – but I love it. It’s one of the strongest and most extraordinary beers ever made – more like a Madeira than a modern ale – and its legend has only grown with time. The idea of physically pouring history into a new brew is a kind of alchemy. It’s never been done before, and it’s the perfect way to reconnect with a moment in brewing history that’s fascinated people for nearly 170 years.”
