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Breweries can get very creative when it comes to dreaming up ways to try to make their offerings stand out from a very crowded pack. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find a grosser gimmick than the one that resulted in bear poop being harnessed in a beer that a producer in Oregon has unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.
In 1516, the German kingdom of Bavaria adopted a law known as the Reinheitsgebot, which mandated any beer that was brewed in the region could only contain three ingredients: water, barley, and hops (yeast was not specifically mentioned but was considered an integral part of the process to the point where its presence was assumed).
Brewers in Germany were eventually given a bit more leeway, but the law left an indelible mark on the country’s beer culture that can still be felt today. However, it also served to hamstring the kind of innovation associated with America’s craft brewing scene, which is currently experiencing a downswing in the wake of the massive boom it experienced over the past couple of decades.
That explosion was made possible with the help of particularly creative breweries that harnessed unconventional ingredients and unorthodox methods to whip up some attention-grabbing creations, as places like Dogfish Head, Evil Twin, and (for better or worse) the now-defunct Rogue Ales made a name for themselves by continually pushing boundaries.
I’ve come across countless stunts while keeping tabs on that industry over the years, and I have to give credit where credit is due to a brewery in Oregon for managing to surprise me with the route it decided to take for a new collab.
Portland’s Breakside Brewery is releasing a limited-edition beer infused with bear poop
Some breweries are able to do pretty well for themselves by simply making fantastic beer, but it’s usually pretty hard to succeed if you don’t know how to market it.
There’s usually no better way to grab some free press than brewing a beer that contains something most people would agree doesn’t belong in a beer, like the bull testicles that were harnessed for Wynkoop’s Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout and the roasted goat brains that made their way into a concoction produced by Dock Street.
You could theoretically consume both of those ingredients on their own if they were prepared correctly, but I don’t think the same could be said about bear poop. However, that didn’t stop the folks at Breakside Brewery in Portland, Oregon from turning to some scat for a new creation.
The beer, dubbed Nature Calls, is the result of a collaboration with the Portland-based Columbia Sportswear, which tasked the folks at Breakside with figuring out how to incorporate bear poop into the brewing process.
According to a press release, the brewery was provided with some black bear droppings sourced from Montana that were “infused” into water from the Bull Run River before it was processed to make it safe to drink. That water was then used to brew the light lager, which also contains honey and huckleberry.
Nature Calls will be served up at the tent Columbia will be erecting near Levi’s Stadium ahead of Super Bowl LX, and it will also be available for a limited time at Breakside locations.