$2,000 Beer

$2,000 beer, Hypercolor cars, Google's Quantum AI Lab and more in our weekly look at the web

Leave it to Portland—land of microbrews, fine coffee and facial hair—to produce one of the world’s most expensive beers. Recently fetching $2,000 per bottle, Hair of the Dog Brewing Company’s Dave barleywine is aged for 19 years in oak barrels and glass bottles. The dark, strong brew clocks in at 29% alcohol by volume, making it more comparable to a spirit than a beer. The …

The Ultimate Swiss Army Knife

Modular phones, petrified bird photography, the Empire State Building's green roof and more in our weekly look at the web

Cumbersome? Yes. Ornate? Certainly. Over the top? Absolutely. The Wenger 16999 Swiss Army Knife from around 1880 has roughly 100 functions—some necessary and some superfluous. From a built-in saw to a piano tuner, this knife can help with just about any pre-digital task. It even has a fully functioning .22 caliber pinfire revolver for those impromptu duel challenges. Regardless of its ridiculousness, the knife is …

A Phone Worth Keeping

Modular phones, petrified bird photography, the Empire State Building's green roof and more in our weekly look at the web

When your phone dies, generally only one component has stopped working. Phonebloks is proposing a forward-thinking system—a modular phone built of replaceable and customizable parts, that could be repaired in the same way we fix cars. The message is sweeping the globe right now via the viral amplification service Thunderclap, where a video explains not only the issue with electronic waste but that this problem …