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Home / Lifestyle

Fancy a beer made with belly button lint?

NZ Herald
29 Jun, 2018 03:02 AM3 mins to read

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We ask GABS Founder Steve Jeffares if beer producers have crossed the line from creative, to just plain gross.

Ever fancied a beer made with crickets, milk, or even someone's belly button lint?

Well those looking to indulge in the most unique flavours the beer industry has to offer can raise a glass of the unusual - or, you know, just the world-reknowned-made-in-New-Zealand - at the Great Australasian Beer Spectacular (GABS) festival this weekend.

Almost 100 stalls will be plugging in kegs at the ASB Showgrounds offering samples of some new and often bizarre drops to satisfy a variety of tastes.

With ingredients such as bubblegum, cold brew coffee, sea water and breakfast cereal, we asked GABS Founder Steve Jeffares how beer producers manage to walk the line between creative just plain weird.

View this post on Instagram

Forget cricket and ball tampering. This is 'crickets and beer tampering'. #onlyatGABS ......... #Repost @shifty.lizard.brewing ・・・ When Shifty sat down in our latest team meeting and asked for more traditional ingredients in our newest brew, the silence was so obvious we could hear crickets. Did he not realize the point of the new brew for @gabsfestival was to branch out from traditional malt and hop flavours? Then with a cheeky grin he presented a box and the crickets became even louder. “Not traditional beer ingredients, my friends, traditional Lizard’s Dinner ingredients!” . . . #lizardsdinner #shiftylizard #crickets #beer #ingredients #craftbeer #hops #drinkcreative #willunga #melbourne #festival #beertography #instagood #instabeer #adelaide #lizard #frothies #withatwist

A post shared by GABS Festival (@gabsfestival) on Apr 16, 2018 at 1:25pm PDT

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Jeffares certainly doesn't think things are being taken too far, but knows the competition is certainly heating up among producers to create the most unusual offerings.

"Two years ago there was a group of brewers who cultivated yeast from their respective belly buttons. They produced a beer out of it and it became a worldwide sensation," he told Herald Focus.

While the drop born of tummy fluff certainly made waves internationally, he notes it's not just local brewers' odd creations that have the rest of the world talking about New Zealand beer.

"We have unique hop varieties other brewers across the world are clamouring for. New Zealand, for a relatively small country, does amazing things."

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View this post on Instagram

‪Guess what guys... we've just opened registrations for Festival Beers & Ciders. I know, right! Help us out and tag a brewery you'd like to see make something special for #GABS2018!‬

A post shared by GABS Festival (@gabsfestival) on Jan 28, 2018 at 5:26pm PST

As well as unique flavour varieties, brewers are also looking to have the most interesting artwork, ensuring their beer "stands out" to consumers who continue to show a "growing willingness to try new things."

If you want to get among the latest offerings in beer, wine and cider, then head along to the GABS festival this Saturday 30 June.

For more information check out their website.

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