$500K For a Bottle of Beer

Ah, Ebay. Purverour of the strange and the wonderful.

Recently an auction ended for a bottle of beer which finally sold for over half a million dollars. This bottle of Allsop's Artic Ale is allegedly the oldest known sealed bottle of beer. According to the auction description, it dates back to 1852 and was brewed especially for an arctic expedition put together to search for one Sir John Franklin. Acompaning the bottle is a hand written note. It reads:

This ale was specially brewed and bottled in England, in 1852, for Kane’s Expedition in search of Sir John Franklin. A portion of the lot was cached in the Arctic; and was afterwards taken back to England, where it was bought by Allsopp, from whom Mr. Jus. Fennell obtained a part.

This bottle was given to me by Mr. Fennell May 13, 1919. Should I depart from this (by that time probably) dry world before consuming the contents, let my son and brethren perform my duties and enjoy my rights in that respect, on the eve of my funeral (if they find it in time) – unless such act be then illegal, in which case those of the aforesaid trustees who sufficiently learned in law shall advise ac-????? To the rule of ey fares.

Two bottles of this ale were guests of honor at the banquet given to Shackleton and Peary, in Boston, some years ago. (1907/1908) The skeletons of said guests were preserved as mementos of Sir John Franklin! (Useful suggestion regarding the “cast off shell” of the spirit.)

Signed: Percy G Bolster

According to the auction Percy Bolster was an attorney in the Boston area in the early 20th Century.

But is that the real story of this bottle of beer? The evidence is pretty sketchy and even though the bottle is obviously aged, is the beer really 155 years old?

Well, that's all interesting but the real question here is what would you do with this beer, assuming you could afford it?

Story via Geoff Kaiser's blog.