United Nations of Beer

The Ev-Ale Dead Beer Zombies T-shirt

by Tom Warin

The Ev-Ale Dead Beer Zombies T-shirt
(CafePress)

The Extreme Beer movement has revived old beer making traditions and invented a few new ones from whole cloth. Always on the search for something new, beer geeks have moved from dry-hopped ales, to sour ales, and on to barrel-aged ales.

Barrel aging introduces a whole range of interesting flavor compounds from the wood itself, the wine or spirit that was formerly in the barrel, bacteria hiding in the wood and oxidation from air that finds its way through the wood.

The latest trend goes one further. Coffin-aged ales are buried along with a corpse and then interred years later. Fans say that the character of the beer is different depending on the type of coffin, the particular soil in the graveyard and the relative corpulence of the deceased.

There have been a few isolated cases of zombieism, generally when trying to coffin-age Imperial Stouts, which are renowned for their reviving qualities. It is not recommended that brewers attempt to coffin-age these beers unless they have a dedicated zombie hunter on staff.

As a public service, The Ev-Ale Dead Beer Zombies T-shirt design has been distributed to brewers around the country to remind them to take care that their extreme practices do not unleash any kind of zombie apocalypse.