Dead Stoat Beer: You Can't Make This Stuff Up, Folks

" 'Perverse' animal beer bottles sell out in hours"
BBC (July 23, 2010)

"A controversial beer served in bottles made from stuffed animals and costing £500 each sold out in a few hours.

"The End of History, made by Fraserburgh firm BrewDog, is 55% alcohol, and came in 12 bottles made using dead stoats, squirrels and a hare.

"Advocates for Animals had branded the bottles 'perverse' and a 'stupid marketing gimmick' and Alcohol Focus Scotland also criticised the move.

"One of the buyers told the BBC Scotland news website it was a piece of history...."

Apparently a dozen bottles were made - and sold out within four hours.

"Perverse?" Maybe.

Stupid? Considering how fast the things sold, I don't think so: unless the company lost money in the deal.

In good taste? With due respect to the ideal of being non-judgmental: that top-hatted squirrel makes most Elvis collectibles look elegantly sophisticated.

Still: somebody bought the things. I can't see drinking beer that's gushing from either end of a squirrel in evening attire: but, de gustibus non est disputandum. Which brings up an interesting point: did one of the dozen weirdly-encased bottles involve a toga? The BBC is silent on that topic.

The Advocates for Animals angle is, I suppose, inevitable: although I can't see an ethical problem with this packaging. Unless the squirrel was alive when that bottle - no, I don't want to think about that.

Too late. I did.

That "piece of history" thing is probably true. In the Lemming's opinion, BrewDog has set a new benchmark when it comes to dubious taste in marketing.

I wonder, though: "Dead Stoat Beer" - There's a certain ring to that. It could work as the name of a low-end beer-like imitation beverage substitute.