Wednesday April 1, 2009

Big-ticket brew

By MICHAEL CHEANG

The world’s most expensive beer is yours for RM1,200 a pop.

TO most of us, a bottle of beer is something we guzzle without a thought. We could care less about the flavour, the aroma or even the work that goes into making that bottle of alcoholic goodness. After all, a beer is just a beer, right?

Well, think again. Imagine walking into a bar, ordering a bottle of Carlsberg, and after gulping it down like you normally do, the bartender tells you that that bottle of beer costs you RM1,200. Now do you regret not savouring the beverage?

The Carlsberg Vintage No.2, one of the world’s most expensive beers.

No, Carlsberg is not raising the prices of its beer. It may be hard to believe that a bottle of beer could cost so much, but that really is the price of a bottle of Carlsberg’s Jacobsen Vintage No.2 brew.

Priced at Euros 250 (about RM1,200) only 600 bottles of this vintage beer were produced, making it probably the most expensive and exclusive beer in the world now.

Produced by the Jacobsen Brewhouse in Copenhagen, it is the second brew to be produced under Carlsberg’s Vintage trilogy, with which Carlsberg aims to “push the boundaries for what a beer can do”, according to Morten Ibsen, brewmaster at Jacobsen, who developed the Vintage No.2 in cooperation with four other brewmasters.

To add to the exclusiveness of the brew, each Vintage bottle also features a hand-stencilled lithographic print created by Chilean-born artist Marco Evaristti, with the Carlsberg elephant as the recurring motif in five different versions.

So, what’s so special about this particular beer? For starters, the Vintage No.2 was matured in J.C. Jacobsen’s original crypt-like cellar that dates back to 1847 and stored in French oak casks for 100 days.

The brew itself is a Baltic Porter – a strong stout that originated from the 18th century Imperial Stout beer type that was originally made for the Russian Tsarina Catherine the Great – and has a jet-black colour and espresso-like foam.

Taste-wise, it reveals flavours of vanilla and cocoa/mocha, and has a distinct aroma with hints of tar and ropes, which come from the peat-smoked, Scottish malt brought from Scotland solely for this brew. The beer is perfect when taken with oysters, shellfish, Parma ham and cheese; or if you have a sweet tooth, it also goes well with chocolate and crème brûlée.

Now, most of us will have to be content with this description of the beer’s flavour, as chances are we will never ever get to taste it. And obviously, this is one beer you won’t be seeing in any bars or pubs around here, nor can you just grab it off the shelf in a hypermarket – it is currently only sold exclusively from the Carlsberg Visitors Centre in Valby, Copenhagen, and in five upscale restaurants in the Danish capital.

However, if you absolutely must know what a RM1,200 bottle of beer tastes like, you have two options – you can order the beer online at www.carlsberg.dk via the e-shop and get it delivered to your doorstep; or you can wait until Carlsberg Malaysia’s limited shipment of the brew arrives on our shores.

According to corporate communications manager Pearl Lai, Carlsberg Malaysia will be presented with four bottles of the exclusive Carlsberg Vintage No.2 by the Carlsberg head office. These four bottles will not be available for sale to the public but will be auctioned off to raise funds for charity instead.

“The Carlsberg Vintage No.2 is an exclusive collectible item and Carlsberg Malaysia plans to auction it to raise funds for charity,” said Lai. “Like wine connoisseurs who appreciate exclusive vintage wines, there are also beer connoisseurs and lovers around who enjoy beer brewed to perfection.

“These connoisseurs who appreciate the rich heritage of Carlsberg and are willing to support charitable causes will try to secure this exclusive Carlsberg Vintage No.2.”

Oh, and by the way, in case you were thinking of just keeping the beer around to show off, be warned – even the most expensive beer in the world has an expiry date. For the Vintage No.2, however, that date is 2059 – by which time the beer would taste even better, having acquired more sweetness and reduced its bitterness and smokiness.

That’s all very well for whoever is willing to wait that long for their beer to mature.

Me? I’ll stick to a nice ordinary bottle of ice cold beer that I can gulp down without having to worry about hurting my credit card.