The Thorri festival is held from mid-January to mid-February. Thorri is the fourth winter month in the Icelandic calendar and also the personification of frost in Norse mythology. Before the arrival of Christianity around 1000 AD, sacrifices were made during the Thorri festival. Modern times have changed the festival a little, and now the “sacrifice” is associated with eating of traditional foods and lots of drink.
No one has a problem with the festival, but the Stedji brewery has raised the ire of plenty of folks over its contribution to the festival. Not only that, but this is their second try at producing a beer made out of whale parts. Last year, the brewery introduced “whale beer” made from whale meal, which was primarily whale bones, in time for the festival.
At the time of the first whale beer introduction, Dabjartur Arilíusson, one of the owners, declared: “This is a unique beer, brewed in collaboration with Hvalur hf. Whale beer will include, among other things, whale meal. Whale meal is very protein-rich and has almost no fat in it. That, along with the fact that no sugar is added, makes this a very healthful drink and people will be true Vikings.”
Before it hit the shelves last year, the beer was banned by the Public Health Authority in Vesturland, where the brewery is located. It seems the whale meal also contained whale intestines, among other things, and failed public hygiene regulations. A few days later, the Minister of Fisheries overturned the ban, allowing the brew to be sold, and it sold out. Then in October, the original ban was upheld, but of course, there was nothing left to ban.
But now the controversy over using any part of the fin whale is being questioned, and it goes a little deeper than some people finding it distasteful to use whale testicles in making beer. It is more about a failing whale industry in Iceland. Fin whales are classified as endangered on the conservation red list. Iceland refuses to abide by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling and continues to kill fin whales. This alone has made many people angry.
Another thing “fishy” about the whole whale beer fiasco is that Brewery Steðji is promoting Hvalur hf, a whaling company, hence the name of the beer, Questions about the local Fisheries Minister overruling the ban last year in favor of the brewery raised eyebrows, leaving many to think the parties were in collusion with each other.
Vanessa Williams-Grey is an ardent anti-whaling campaigner, and in her blog, she says that this show of blatant commercialism is nothing more than an attempt to hang on to a dying industry. Calling the move cynical, but desperate, she says Kristjan Loftsson’s fin whaling company is “not only sponsoring the beer, but it’s also costing him a lot of money at a time when he is experiencing increasing difficulty in offloading whale meat, even to Japan.”
Kristjan Hjalmarsson doesn’t think too much of the new Hvalur 2 beer, and commented, “As an Icelander I am more than willing to say that this is one disgusting product and also happens to be derived from an animal that, unfortunately, was hunted and killed in a very barbaric and inhumane fashion. Stick this beer where the sun doesn’t shine.”
