LONDON — It’s raining beer — sort of.
A brewery says it has created a new pale ale using moisture harvested from the clouds above southern Scotland.
Innis & Gunn is producing 500 pints of the limited edition Sky P.A. as part of crowdfunding efforts to secure future experiments in beer making and the expansion of the company’s bars and restaurants.
Dougal Sharp, the company's CEO and master brewer, said he was happy with the product eventually produced from the water, which he says originated over the Atlantic Ocean.
He wasn't aware of any other brewers who had previously attempted to make a beer in such a way.
“It tasted like good cleaning brewing water,” Sharp told NBC News on Tuesday. “We’re very pleased with the [beer] flavor, we’re very pleased with the way it turned out.”
A bespoke device fitted with a turbine and condenser was attached to a power kite above the Devil’s Beef Tub hollow in Moffat, Scotland, to capture the water which was then put through Innis & Gunn’s brewing process.
But not everyone is convinced cloud water will become a popular — or even niche beer — ingredient.
Matthew Curtis, co-author of the "Beer: The 100 Best Breweries in the World," suggested the project was a gimmick designed to promote Innis & Gunn’s crowdfunding and to keep up with edgy competitors such as Brewdog.
“It will certainly draw a bit of attention to them but I think the consumer is wise enough to see it is a bit contrived,” Curtis said.
Sharp admitted that Sky P.A. was one of the more costly beers his company has produced so moving beyond the limited-edition batch of 500 pints is unlikely to happen unless there is high demand.
“You never know,” he said. “If people decide that they like it then we’ll look at it.”