Odd Brews

Part of my love for beer is its versatility - it can be made so many ways with so many different ingredients. I love to seek out and try unique brews - Dogfish Head is responsible for many of my discoveries, such as (in what I think to be ascending oddness):

• Fort - brewed with "a ridiculous amount" of pureed raspberries
  

• Black & Blue - fermented with blackberries and blueberries
  

• Red & White - belgian-style Wit beer brewed with coriander and orange peel, fermented with pinot noir juice; after fermentation, a large portion of the brew is aged in pinot noir barrels, while a smaller portion is aged in oak barrels, and then they are then combined
  

• Midas Touch Golden Elixir - inspired by the discovery of King Tut's tomb, apparently molecular archaeologists discovered what is thought to be the recipe to the oldest fermented beverage in the world - it is brewed with white muscat grapes, honey, and...wait for it...saffron!
  

There are a couple of brews that I have stumbled upon, but have not had the pleasure of trying yet, that blow those out of the water. The first one was inspired by the realization that...what goes best with a hot pizza? Beer of course! What's great to eat when drinking beer? Pizza of course! Well why not combine them? A couple of home brewers in Illinois developed their Mamma Mia Pizza Beer. This is great considering a recent climb in prices of both beer and pizza due to shortages of ingredients to both. Apparently it gives off a strong aroma of herbs and pizza topping when a bottle is opened, considering it's brewing process is quite literal: it's made with fresh tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil - what, no cheese?? I'm going to try to dodge shipping laws and search for it through e-beer-tailers (I just made that word up I think).

The other brew that I just read about is literally out of this world. As part of a biological study, Japanese scientists sent a portion of barley to a space station for about 6 months to test environmental and space travel impact on plants. Japanese brewer Sapporo has taken a portion of that barley, planted it, and is planning to brew a "SPACE BEER"!!!!!!! (You can only say that with a dramatic, loud voice) This won't be bottled until November and it will be a short supply that they are not even sure will be distributed, so chances are I will not be able to gain any special powers that it might hold. But cool nonetheless!