Maine Brewers Are Selling Lobster-Infused Beer

Beer tastes great with a good lobster roll. But why drink a regular beer with your lobster roll when you can drink lobster-infused beer? That’s right: one intrepid local brewery is taking Maine’s notorious obsession with lobsters to a new level, reports Dan Nosowitz for Modern Farmer.

Oxbow Brewing in Newcastle, Maine is rolling out a 4.5 percent alcohol by volume brew, dubbed Saison dell’Aragosta, that’s made with real, live lobsters. The unique beer is a seasonal brew, and the company has only produced 3,000 bottles.

Tim Adams, Oxbow’s founder, came up with the idea while eating a lobster roll with his pal, Italian brewmaster Giovanni Campari, writes Steve Annear for The Boston Globe. "Aragosta" means lobster in Italian — hence the name.

Saison dell'Aragosta. Gose-inspired ale brewed w/ lobster. Collab with @BirredelDucato on sale tomorrow in portland pic.twitter.com/ouKXCSIun6

— Oxbow (@oxbowbeer) May 5, 2015

Adams and Campari came up with a brewing method: first, they boil lobsters in a mix of water, malt and grain. Once the meat is cooked, it’s removed for eating, and the shells (plus some sea salt) are placed back into the bubbling brew. After a bit more simmering, the brewers remove the shells. They add hops and commence with normal fermentation.

The result is apparently a cool, seaside saison—a pale ale with hints of citrus, herbs, salt and of course lobster. Adams and company tried not to go too overboard on crustacean flavor, so as not overwhelm the palate, writes Annear.

Lobster might not be for everyone, but keep in mind that there have been far odder additions to brews, from laundry whitener to dead whales.

Helen Thompson | | READ MORE

Helen Thompson writes about science and culture for Smithsonian. She's previously written for NPR, National Geographic News, Nature and others.