Why Triangle Craft Beer Won’t Be Brewed With Sheep Feces

A recent West Coast-style IPA from Iceland’s Borg Brugghus was made with malts smoked over a fire burning sheep droppings. It’s creating a stir online, and the beer is making its way to the states.

According to North Carolina’s beer aficionados, the N.C. Beer Guys, who have reviewed most of North Carolina’s craft beers, this type of fecal-based experimentation isn’t as wild as it sounds.

“This one’s a real odd topic, but not that far out,” says Beer Guy Dave Tollefsen. “Just last week Brew Dogs had an episode where they were trying to brew the most expensive beer. They were guided to use Kopi Luwak, which are basically coffee beans from the feces of a wild civet. Regardless of how ‘high end’ it makes the coffee, it would be one I would never try.”

And while he says he doubts anyone in North Carolina will pursue anything like this, he “can’t totally rule it out because everyone is trying to push the envelope when it comes to ingredients and flavor but there’s a limit.”

Apparently, it’s not being pushed very hard in the Triangle.

Fonta Flora Brewery, in Morganton, recently used carrots to make Alpha vs. Beta Carotene IPA. Ass Clown Brewing Co., in Cornelius, used wood to make Cedar Oak Ale, as well as Poplar Brown Ale and Honey Spruce Paradise Black Lager.

Perhaps the smaller the town, the more obscure the craft beer ingredients.

So where is the Triangle’s most unusual, exotic brew? Most likely, nowhere.

“In the Triangle, I haven’t seen ingredients that exotic yet,” says Tollefsen. “We asked (Sean Lilly Wilson) from Fullsteam (Brewing Co.) awhile back about the rumor of him trying to brew with kudzu and I think he’s dropped that.”