Original OeTTINGER Malz doesn’t get much cooler than this: Jan and his father Mathias trekked all the way to the end of the world with our beloved thirst-quencher in their backpacks.
Over 12 months have already passed since the father-and-son team from the Southern Black Forest set off on their big adventure. Now, Jan has sent us a few snaps from their trip to the South Pole – along with a huge thank you to all the staff at OeTTINGER Brewery for the best malt beer ever! In fact, Jan has been a fan of this drink since his youth and has sworn by our Original OeTTINGER Malz since 2002.
Jan had actually wanted to bring along his favorite drink on a big trip since 2019, when he set out for the North Pole alongside his father. Unfortunately, their plans fell through due to travel policies: At this time, the label on the bottle declared “<0.5% alcohol” instead of “alcohol-free”, and so the Original OeTTINGER Malz had to stay behind at home. Undeterred, Jan resolved to take his favorite drink with him to the South Pole instead.
Preparations for the three-week expedition were demanding. Logistic challenges included finding kit that would withstand temperatures of as low as -50°C as well as carefully packing the four Original OeTTINGER Malz bottles individually into two separate cases to protect against the worst case scenario.
Their journey took them by plane from Basel via London, Santiago (Chile), Punta Arenas (Chile) and the Union Glacier Base Camp (Antarctica), before finally arriving at 90°S: The South Pole.
At Union Glacier Base Camp, Jan and his father had to sleep in a two-man tent, with outdoor temperatures ranging between -20°C and -30°C. However, the real challenge was protecting the malt beer from freezing. At night, Jan would take two bottles with him in his sleeping bag, storing the other two in the publicly accessible storage tent, where the temperature was always kept above 0°C.
Finally, father, son, and the Original OeTTINGER Malz arrived safe and sound at their destination. Jan writes: “We arrived at the South Pole on January 11, 2022 at 22:03 MEZ, bringing with us the first ever malt beer to make it as far as the South Pole. “
And that first malt beer on the South Pole? An Original OeTTINGER Malz, of course!
