Somerville shopper buys $500,000 bottle of beer online

By George P. Hassett

This week, an eBay shopper from Somerville bought the world’s most expensive bottle of beer for more than $500,000. And now the bottle is on its way to the city, bringing with it a story steeped in history.

An eBay shopper going by the name of “v00d004sc0re” bought the bottle, brewed in 1852, for the hefty price of $503,300 in the online auction. The buyer’s information is private, but he does say he lives in Somerville according to eBay profile. An email was sent to the auction winner through eBay’s Web site, but there was no response by The Somerville News presstime.

Robert Kyle, a writer for Antique Week magazine, said the unsealed, full bottle of Allsop’s Arctic Ale is the world’s oldest, and now, most expensive bottle of brew.

Kyle said the 155-year-old bottle has traveled from England to the Arctic and is now expected to reach Somerville. Sir Edward Belcher originally took it to the Arctic in 1852 in his search for a lost captain and crew who left London to find the Northwest Passage seven years earlier and never returned. Before taking off on the voyage, Belcher asked the London brewer Samuel Allsopp to bottle a special, high-alcohol batch for the long trip. The high-alcohol content would preserve the beer and keep it from freezing, Kyle said.   

Belcher never found the lost seamen but one of the bottles of beer he bought for the trip ended up outliving everybody. One hundred and fifty-five years later, a bottle of Allsop’s Arctic Ale turned up on eBay after being in the family of a Lynn man for generations. The Lynn man had inherited the bottle and, not realizing its worth, sold it online for $304 to an eBay user going by the name of “collectordan,” according to Kyle, who did not spot it until after the auction ended. The bottle then reappeared on Ebay, this time being auctioned off by “collectordan,” who originally priced at $150,000. A bidding war raised the price up to $503,300 when the anonymous Somerville shopper with the user name “v00d004sc0re” finally won the prized bottle of brew.

Kyle said the mystery man may have spent a good chuck of change for a single bottle of beer, but if he is a beer fanatic or a high seas history buff, he got a priceless item.

“There is no way to put a value on something this rare and unique. That's why many people put their property in auctions. The market decides what something is worth,” he said. “This bottle has the benefit of being a cross-collectible.  It appeals to the breweriana collector who specializes in anything beer related, and it's a fascinating artifact for students and scholars of British seafaring history and the quest for the Canadian Northwest Passage.”

While most old beer bottles contain little atmosphere or historic value, Kyle said this particular one reeks of “romance, legend and lore.”

Kristen Todeschini is the beer manager at Downtown Wine and Spirits in Davis Square. She said even though the bottle is more than a century old, it may still be suitable for sipping if the alcohol content was high enough. She said her store carries four packs of Flag Porter beer for $15. The beer, she said, is made with yeast from an English shipwreck in the 1890s.

Aside from Flag Porter, she said there are few beers that can match Allsop’s Arctic Ale when it comes to history and price. However, she said most older beers do not taste very good and are important because of their history, not their flavor.

“I might take a sip, but I don’t think I could drink a whole bottle of (Allsop’s)” she said.

Still, she said she is curious about a person who would buy a half-a-million-dollar bottle of beer. “I wonder if he shops here,” she said.   

Comments

[Democracy]

Come on guys, how can you be so f*ing gullible? It's an obvious hoax. Bidder is not going to pay. It happens frequently for these kinds of BS items.

[Rhea]

Beer bottle collectors do exist!

[First Somerville Police Journal]

Talking about antiques and history, I have the first Somerville Police "log" ever written that dates from 1870 to 1874. What a peek into Somerville's history this book is.

[Democracy]

Yes, sure, they probably exist. But it's much more likely somebody played a prank upon seeing a stupid alcohol bottle being originally prices at 150K! I've seen this for many items of this kind.

>>
Beer bottle collectors do exist!
>>

[Democracy]

Here is "v00d004sc0re"'s profile. New member, 23 items bought, all records at about ~$10 each or less. No trace of a $500K bid win occurring last week. Please, check your facts before reporting.

http://myworld.ebay.com/v00d004sc0re/

[coolest]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260145824374&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=016

let sleeping dogs lie

[Democracy]

Obviously, the bidder is not paying. Sorry you got your hopes up:

http://myworld.ebay.com/v00d004sc0re/

[Democracy]

Still waiting to see collectordan's positive (or negative) feedback on v00d004sc0re's feedback list for the winning bid on 08/12/07...

http://myworld.ebay.com/v00d004sc0re/

[CQ]

It's not a hoax. There are a dozen unique bids at a half million or higher, some 150+ bids in total. If the top bidder doesn't pay, the seller will proceed down the list, odds are he won't have to contact too many people.

[Democracy]

The winning bid is a hoax. Does not fit the pattern of the buyer at all. Have not checked the other ones.

[coolest]

hoax, scam, fluke, pansy
call it what you want
fit your patterns
demo

[Democracy]

Nope. Simple logic.
The only people who would bid $500K on an old beer bottle are alcohol addicts who are, ahem, DRUNK when bidding.
Good luck cashing in on your item, pal.

[Born Here]

A real Somerville person would buy it, then DRINK IT !!

[Fits his pattern!]

Did Bert G buy it?

[Democracy]

Who's Bert G?

[Born Here]

if you don't know, then your NOT from here....carpetbagger!!

[Democracy]

I'm from here, but I have no idea who Bert G is.

[mjc]

A nice little yarn, but take a closer look at the eBay listing. The clues are there as to why this item is NOT as advertised. Who knew it's so easy to put one over on Antiques Weekly?

[Democracy]

Yup. MANY bids retracted because of that. And the rest are from jokers. There are gangs of them on e-bay. When they see these kinds of phony items they jump on them for fun.

[Bronco]

This idiot brings shame to Somerville or makes me ashamed to live here. We need more rich yuppies to swing the balance away from criminal dirty types.

[mjc]

Seller is quoted elsewhere online that the winning bidder "absconded" -- whatever the heck that means -- and the deal will not go through. And what about all those underbidders? Don't any of them still want the item? Definitely something funny here ....

[golf1]

What is Tony L up to he's not running for Mayor this year.

[scott]

The bidders profile may not 'fit', but that is not unusual. Many celebrities and other well known people have someone do their bidding--to remain anonymous. The bidding certainly seems legit--at this level of collecting there wouldn't be much a person would want or need that was available on ebay.

[idate]

Hoax it was a fake bid see interview with collectordan You will read that the buyer called to tell him it was a fake bid.

[alan]

I have bierbottle from 19 century ( dobble stout london )