Beer Musings

Hvalur2: The Beer Brewed with Whale Testicles

Brianby
1 Comment on Hvalur2: The Beer Brewed with Whale Testicles
Stedji brewery in Iceland produces Hvalur2, a 5.2% ABV smoked ale made with smoked Fin whale testicles, initiated in 2015 for the Thorri celebration. This traditional beer, associated with Norse mythology and winter festivities, combines unique flavors of caramel and smokiness. It has garnered both attention and criticism in the craft brewing community.

The Stedji brewery in Iceland makes a beer called Hvalur2, which was first produced in 2015 for the Viking celebration of Thorri. In Norse mythology, Þorri is a personification of the winter season and the god of frost and cold, now represented by a midwinter month spanning parts of January and February. Thorri was often depicted as an old man with a long white beard and wearing a fur cloak. The celebration of Thorri is a time of gathering and traditional food, like sour ram testicles and fermented shark, often washed down with a schnapps called Brennavin, or the Black Death. 

From IcelandicRoots.com

Very much in this tradition Brewery Stedji produces Hvalur2 as an ode to Thorri celebrations. The beer is a 5.2% ABV smoked ale brewed with berry hops, and the smoked testicles of Fin whales. 

Dagojartur Arilíusson, the owner of the Steöji microbrewery, explains the brewing process in the following way: “We get the testicles frozen from the whaling company, and we have a licensed butcher chop it up for us to use. The testicles are cured according to an old Icelandic tradition. The testicles are salted, and then smoked with sheep dung. A whole testicle is used in every brewing cycle, and then the beer is filtered and pasteurized.”

Here’s the owner with the main ingredient! Screencap from this youtube video

That’s right! Whale balls smoked with sheep poop!

Assuming the information I’ve found online is correct, this whale-ball beer is in it’s 10th year of production, and is still being checked in on Untappd, where it has a rating of 3.024 out of 5, with just over 1,600 reviews. 

I assume the translation is responsible for the direct nature of the description: “sheep-shit smoked whale testicle”

Reviews I can find describe it as having a thin, caramel-forward malt, a subtle smokiness and an otherwise “interesting”, earthy flavor. 

By the way it’s really a missed opportunity that none of the reviews I could find begin with “this beer is nuts”. I’m just kind of disappointed.  

The brewery made a splash 10 years ago when the beer was first released, receiving attention and criticism from international news outlets, individuals, and members of the anti-whaling community, though the brewery maintains that the whales are harvested and butchered legally. It has since become known as the beer with the “strangest ingredient” in craft brewing.

So what do you think? Would you try it?