150-year-old ale is a mix of old and brew

A SCOTTISH brewer is set to open one of the rarest beers in the world — a 150-year-old bottle once brewed for an Arctic expedition — to create a modern version of the historic ale.

- Neil Pooran

Dougal Gunn Sharp, founder and master brewer of Edinburgh-based Innis & Gunn, will pour a bottle of Allsopp’s Arctic Ale into a new brew.

The original bottle is one of a handful still in existence that were made for the 1875 expedition of Sir George Nares, whose team set out to reach the North Pole.

The bottle was originally brewed in Burton upon Trent for British explorers venturing into the frozen north.

Mr Sharp acquired it more than a decade ago at auction for just over £3,000 — more than five times the estimate — after it was discovered in a Shropshire garage.

Another bottle of the same beer from an 1852 expedition later made headlines when it sold for more than $500,000 on eBay, although it is thought the transaction was never completed.

In partnership with the revived Allsopp’s Brewery, Mr Sharp now plans to use a quantity of the ale to seed a new limited-edition beer.

This will be called Innis & Gunn 1875 Arctic Ale — following the original Allsopp’s recipe.