There are so many craft beers out there that it’s difficult to keep track.

Every now and then, though, there are a couple that are hard to ignore.

Infusing weird flavours into perfectly respectable alcohol started with gin. I’m talking really weird, here. Turkey-breasts-and-engine-parts-weird.

Now the beer industry is getting on board by incorporating some very odd things into the brewing process.

Esquire looked into some of the wild and wonderful ingredients that have found their way into beer.

Starting with…

Lucky Charms Beer

This is a Saturday morning IPA by Smartmouth Brewing.

For this Lucky Charms–themed IPA, Smartmouth Brewing in Virginia used toasted marshmallows and cereal marshmallows in the mash. The result is supposed to remind drinkers of Saturday mornings spent planted in front of the TV, downing bowl after bowl of sugary cereal during a marathon cartoon session.

It sounds disgusting.

To each, their own, I suppose.

La Jornada Del Escorpion En Fuego Hacia La Casa Del Chupacabra Muerto

This Mexican beer, with an incredibly long name, comes to you from The Unknown Brewing Company and is made with agave nectar, serrano peppers and…wait for it…

99 real scorpions.

Nope.

Beer with a sting in the tail – fine. Beer with actual stings in – nah, I’ll pass, and stick to Sol Beer, thanks.

That’s the authentic Mexican beer that’s been around since 1899 when a brewer in a brewery near Pico de Orizaba, the highest peak in Mexico, created a light, refreshing beer made from the water closest to the sun.

The story goes that, as the brewer held up the beer, a ray of sun peeped through a hole in the roof onto the transparent bottle and, in honour of the sun, inspired the name Sol.

It’s the sun, after all, not the scorpions, that makes Mexico great.

Whale Testicle Beer

Beer geeks can get ready for the ultimate white whale of all brewskies – literally.

Hvalur by Stedji Brewery is a combo of pure Icelandic water and whale testicles smoked in sheep dung.

The sheep shit adds a smoke to the beer, the brewery says, while the whale testicles—one massive ball used per batch—help give the brown beer its porter-like flavor. Hvalur brewed in the winter months, when Icelandic people eat rotten shark and special meats in honor of Thor, the thunder god, like their ancestors did before them.

No comment.

Ghost Face Killah Spicy Beer

All the chilli peppers were used in the making of this beer by Twisted Pine Brewing Company.

Besides ghost pepper, there’s serrano, jalapeño, habanero, Fresno, and Anaheim peppers in this wheat ale. And it also has GhostFace Killah of the Wu Tang Clan’s blessing.

Plus they stylised ‘Killah’ with an ‘H’ so you know it’s hip.

More Testicles

If the whale testicles didn’t do it for you, maybe Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout by Wynkoop Brewing Company, complete with bull testicles, will.

Wynkoop’s ball beer started as an April Fool’s joke, but picked up so much attention the brewing company decided to turn it into an actual beer. Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout, brewed with sliced and roasted bull testicles, has a “meaty,” “savory” flavor.

Tasty.

Look, this is interesting and all, but if you’re going to actually enjoy your beer, keep it simple.

A six-pack of Sol Beer in the fridge means that you can enjoy sunshine in a bottle anytime, anywhere.

Again, each to their own, but I’ll take sun-infused over scorpion-infused any day of the week.

[source:esquire]