From dung-smoked whale testicles—stay with us—to chocolate oyster stouts, experimental beers are having a moment. It might be a marketing moment. But nevertheless, a moment so important we enlisted Alex Delany, our trusted beer expert, and Josh Ocampo, our eager but experience-lacking beer amateur, to try a few out. Armed only with a bottle opener and two glasses, they faced a single hour of eight weird beers, and like the last drink during a long night, learned that the best approach was to take a shot, and ask questions later.

Hvalur 2 brewed by Stedji Brewery in Iceland, made with sheep dung-smoked whale testicles

Josh: I was actually going to keep you in the dark about this beer, but I feel like as a general life lesson, if there's even a possibility of testicles being in or around someone’s mouth, both parties should be given sufficient notice.

Alex: Much appreciated. So we quite literally went balls to the wall with this first one. Off the bat, what was your immediate impression?

Josh: My first impression was: This tastes good. Really good. It wasn't nearly as salty as I'd imagine ocean-submerged testicles would be. It was almost coffee-like. Starbucks is really missing out on an opportunity to rebrand itself.

Alex: A whale testicle frappuccino? Was very pleased that a beer brewed with both whale testicles and sheep dung didn’t taste like either. It was a really solid amber style ale. Nice malt character, which lends itself to the caramel-coffee taste you had going on. It tasted suspiciously close to a Yuengling, which, being from Philly, is essentially water to me. It was somewhat comforting. Not much testicle taste, which is generally how I prefer my beers.

Josh: That’s where you and I differ!

The Verdict: A little malt and subtle caramel. Light on the testicles, big on the drinkability. Not for the faint of heart, but if you can get past the concept, a rewarding experience.

Squid Ink Beer, brewed by Pacific Brewing Laboratory in San Francisco, CA

Alex: So we started with some whale balls beer, it seemed logical to move on to another byproduct of the ocean.