The world's most expensive bottle of beer is being shipped – very carefully, we hope – to Somerville. According to the Somerville News, a resident of the city will pay over $500,000 for an unopened bottle of Allsopp's Arctic Ale on eBay.

The beer was brewed in 1852 and is 155 years old. The Somerville News provides the history of the beer, a special mix with high-alcohol content that went on a trip to the Arctic when Sir Edward Belcher (yes, Belcher!) hunted for a missing expedition. The original eBay entry offers more details, and Seattlest also marvels at the beer's illustrious history.

But one beer lover's gain is another's loss. Seattlest notes that the beer first appeared on eBay and was sold for a measly $304. The buyer turned around and sold it for $500,000. The seller – a guy from Lynn, actually – is probably wishing he got that sucker appraised at Antiques Roadshow before putting it up on eBay.

Then again, the seller probably never expected someone would pay that much for a bottle of beer. The buyer, who goes by the handle "v00d004sc0re," didn't look like the type who would be that loaded (with money, beer, or anything else). In the past, "v00d004sc0re" was more interested in buying up old Sepultura records. Also, the Somerville News said that "v00d004sc0re" listed Somerville as his or her address, but the location wasn't listed when we looked.

A last note - the arrival of this brew might be a good sign for Somerville. If the buyer has that kind of cash sitting around, then he or she might consider opening a brew museum – which would give the guv'nah yet another reason to get that Green Line extension done.

Image of the bottle in question from eBay.