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A hop skip away across the pond in Japan, people are enjoying an interesting concoction of a beverage recognized simply as “Bilk”. Can you guess what two beverages are used in the creation? Yes, that’s right, milk & beer (I guess I gave it away in the title).

A brewery here has succeeded in producing a low-malt beer with milk, after the drink was suggested as a product that would help use up surplus milk.

The drink, called “Bilk” will go on sale on Feb. 1. It reportedly has a fruity flavor that its brewers hope will be popular among women.

The idea for the drink was conceived after dairy firms threw out a huge amount of surplus milk in March last year. The son of the manager of a liquor store in Nakashibetsu, whose main industry is dairy farming, suggested the idea of producing the milk beer to local brewery Abashiri Beer.

Mmm. I can feel my stomach churning already with the thought of mixing dairy and beer. Knowing how Japanese food and beverages are, I think it’s safe to assume that they managed to get Bilk to taste just right. I’m actually going to keep an eye out and see if the local Uwajimaya has these on the shelves.