One thing is certain, breweries can always find a new ingredient to put in beer. Fruit is pretty common of course, but then there are additions like scorpions, beard follicles, or even cotton candy. Now – belly button lint.
Australian based 7 Cent Brewery has created a new beer using a yeast strain found in belly button lint. That's right. The stuff you pick out of that hole in the middle of your stomach. They call it – Belly Button Beer.
Brewers swabbed samples of the brewer's belly buttons and swabbing the samples on agar plates. After incubation, the brewery found and selected yeast colonies, grew the yeast to pitchable quantities, and well. It's beer time.
The base beer is a Belgian-style witbier (with license of course), brewed with orange zest and coriander. The belly button yeast gives the beer the Belgian character, with hints of clove and light banana. (And body soap?)
The orange zest and coriander seeds were used to help complement the yeast and a calculated amount of Riwaka and Mosaic hops were added to increase the citrus qualities and give it a refreshing hop kick. Four different grains were also used to add both body and complexity including: barley, wheat, oats and rye.
For those that might be a little grossed out right now, yeast is yeast, everywhere. Of course there is good and bad, and 7 Cent chose the good to make this beer happen.
I guess at the end of the day, what the hell? Why not? The bigger question is… would you drink it?
Style: Witbier (w/ Coriander, Orange Zest, Belly Button Yeast)
Availability: Australia
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