Release of Icelandic whale meat beer sparks outrage

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Release of Icelandic whale meat beer sparks outrage

January 09, 2014 - 17:24

Conservationists condemn beer as immoral

Humpback whale

A soon-to-be-introduced Icelandic beer containing whale meat has sparked outrage amongst conservationists. Deemed “immoral and outrageous” by one group, the beer is a collaboration between Icelandic brewer Steðji’and whaling businesses Hvalur to coincide with a mid-winter honouring the Norse god Thor.

The brewery suggests the beer is healthy as it has no extra sugar and mainly because whale meat is high in protein and very low in fat. The 5.2% beer claims all that those who consume it will turn out to become “true Vikings.” The meat used in the beer is produced after whale meat is boiled down to extract oil.

Steðji’s operator Dagbjartur Ariliusson states the beer is being produced for the pageant in which people today gathered and celebrated “as we’ve performed for several centuries and eat cured food, which includes whale excess fat, and now we have the beer to consume with this meals.” The beer will be offered for a limited time only in Iceland and will not be exported.

Environmental team Whale and Dolphin Conservation slammed Hvalur’s “desperate hunt” for new marketplaces for its meat. “Demand for this meat is in decline, with much less and fewer folks having it,” said Vanessa Williams-Grey, the group’s Icelandic whaling campaign chief.

“Even so, lowering a stunning, sentient whale to an ingredient on the side of a beer bottle is about as immoral and outrageous as it is attainable to get,” she added.