They’re at it again. The Icelandic brewery that raised conservationists’ ire last year when it released a beer made from the meat, bones, and oil of endangered fin whales has come back with another whale-based brew. This time, though, it’s upped the ante: The new Hvalur 2 beer is made with whale testicles.
According to Dagbjartur Arilíusson, co-owner of Steðjar Brewery, the limited-edition beer is being prepared for this year’s Thorrablot festival, a midwinter event celebrating the Norse god Thor. The festival embraces not just the god of thunder and strength but also traditional Icelandic treats: “We eat ram’s testicle, rotten shark, and soured whale fat, as we did in the old days,” he said. The whale testicles—one per vat of beer—are also being prepared in a “traditional” manner: dried in the smoke of sheep manure. (There are no trees in Iceland, so wood fires are rare.) The result? “An excellent smoke taste,” says the brewery, adding that whale meat makes a “very healthy drink,” helping people “become true Vikings.” The beer’s other ingredients are fairly normal: pure water, malted barley, and hops. Here’s the thing: Fin whales are an endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Iceland is the only country that still hunts them—a practice it resumed in 2013 after a two-year ban. Icelandic officials don’t agree that the whales are endangered, because their population is at its most plentiful in the North Atlantic. “Globally, fin whale populations were heavily exploited during industrial whaling,” Kate Wilson of the International Whaling Commission said. “Assessments of population status in the North Atlantic show populations to be in a healthy state.” She said the Icelandic commercial whaling program uses nationally established catch limits, and that the 88 member nations of the IWC remain “divided on the Icelandic hunt.”
We the undersigned ask that you make no more beer that uses whale parts. Some of the whale species that Iceland still hunts are endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There is no need to kill whales and brew beer using their testicles - or any other parts of their bodies - for the sake of tradition. We prefer our beer whale-free, thank you.
