hamnöl

Bladderwrack is a seaweed that most of us have seen before: When walking on the beach on the North and Baltic Seas, you often stumble across coral-like bundles of algae that have thick bubbles on their branched arms. Children love to pop the air cushions between their fingers. The bubbles contain a gas mixture that ensures that the algae growing in the shallow water of the surf zone are buoyant. The seaweed can be used for all sorts of purposes: the algae are used as animal feed, processed into fertilizer, cosmetics or medicine and used in medicine.

But you can also make beer from it.

If you are suspicious of algae in beer, you should definitely try ham oil. The Swedish brewery Smögenbryggar’n has created a fine lager that contains bladderwrack in addition to the usual suspects, but tastes nothing like it. The brewing piece was flavored with the hop varieties Ella, Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin and, in addition to an elegant fruitiness, brings a crisp bitterness to the glass. Soft malt, juicy fruit and a hint of herbs combine to create a mild, refreshing beer with 5.2% alcohol content and a special ingredient that only has a subtle earthiness in terms of taste.

Bladderwrack or not, ham oil tastes pretty good to us.