Rare Arctic beer to be revived
Edinburgh brewery Innis & Gunn is set to open one of the rarest bottles of ale in the world to assist in recreating a version of the historic beer which was made for an Arctic expedition.
The original beer, named Allsopp’s Arctic Ale, was originally brewed in Burton-upon-Trent for the 1875 expedition of Sir George Nares to take with him on his mission to reach the North Pole.
Innis & Gunn founder and master brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp, who acquired the bottle more than a decade ago at auction for more than £3,000, has revealed that, in partnership with Allsopp’s Brewery, there is a plan to use a quantity of the ale to seed a new limited-edition beer.
‘Beer is meant to be shared’
The recreation will be called Innis & Gunn 1875 Arctic Ale and will follow the original Allsopp’s recipe.
Speaking about the plans, Sharp said: “It’s hard to overstate how rare this bottle is. Some people might think it’s madness to open it, but I think the real madness would be to leave it sitting on a shelf. Beer is meant to be shared, particularly on this, its 150th anniversary.”
Sharp explained: “This ale was brewed for a voyage of endurance and adventure, and I think it’s only right that it has one more journey – into the glass. There’s something very special about being able to taste a piece of brewing and maritime history. That’s why we’re doing this.”
Brewed in Burton-upon-Trent at Samuel Allsopp & Sons, the 9% ABV beer was originally created to provide sustenance for sailors enduring temperatures as low as minus 40C and was described as “strong and nutritive” and contained unfermentable sugars that could resist freezing as well as having six times the calorie content of conventional beer.
Partner Content
Records from the Victorian era have described the ale as dark brown and so thick it had to be lifted from the brewing copper in buckets.
Owing to its robustness, the beer accompanied several Arctic expeditions, including vice admiral Sir George’s 1875 attempt to reach the North Pole.
Jamie Allsopp, founder of the newly revived Allsopp’s Brewery and a direct descendant of Samuel Allsopp, said the collaboration with Innis & Gunn to recreate the brew feels like “a physical bridge to the past”.
Allsopp explained: “There’s something uniquely romantic about Allsopp’s Arctic Ale – it’s a story of heroism, endurance, and human daring. This was a beer brewed for explorers setting out to survive the extremes of the Arctic, designed to nourish them in conditions as low as minus 40C.
‘More like a Madeira’
Allsopp added: “It’s one of the strongest and most extraordinary beers ever made – more like a Madeira than a modern ale – and its legend has only grown with time. Very few bottles still exist, and I’ve only ever seen two come up for sale. So when Dougal told me he planned to use one of his to help recreate it, I honestly thought he was mad – but I love it. The idea of physically pouring history into a new brew is a kind of alchemy. It’s never been done before, and it’s the perfect way to reconnect with a moment in brewing history that’s fascinated people for nearly 170 years.”
The new beer will be released later this year in limited quantities across Innis & Gunn’s Taprooms in Edinburgh and Glasgow, at Allsopp’s venues in London, as well as a select number of other stockists.
In addition to this, a small number of hand-bottled editions will also be made available to collectors via a ballot.
Related news
Garrett Oliver explains why this 2025 collab beer is the ‘best yet’
