A bottle of Lowebrau lager, recovered from the wreckage of the German airship Hindenburg after it burst into flames as it moored at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937, sold for over $16,000 (£10,810)-setting the new world record for the Most expensive Bottle of Beer. The Most expensive Bottle of Beer, heat-damaged but still sealed, was sold with an account of its recovery signed by Mr. Smith. Fierce international phone bidding pushed up the price at Henry Aldridge auctioneers in Devizes, Wilts. The brown bottle of Lowenbrau lager was discovered in the wreckage by Leroy Smith, a fire chief on the scene. Smith discovered a total of six bottles and a pitcher at the scene of the disaster. He distributed four of the bottles as souvenirs to colleagues and one to the Lowenbrau brewery in 1977, where it still remains.

The previous Guinness world record for the highest price for a single bottle of beer is thought to be around £2,500 and auctioneer Alan Aldridge started bidding at £3,000.