Action Figures & Their Beers: You can't Seafarer than that!

by Beedo Sookcool
on 2011-04-27, 18:29:54

SEAFARERS ALE

There seems to be a recent rise in “charity” beer here in the UK. The first such brew I noticed was Battle of Britain Ale, brewed to commemorate the 70th anniversary of said battle, when pilots from Britain and other allied or occupied nations took to the air to defeat incoming Nazi planes. For each bottle of Battle of Britain purchased, the brewers donate 10 pence (13 - 18 U.S. cents, depending on the exchange rate at the moment) to the RAF Association’s Wings Appeal, to help retired or injured airmen and their families. Drink beer, get merry, help a worthy charity. Outstanding!

Seafarers is another such charity beer by George Gale & Co, Ltd., donating £5 ($6.50 - $9 American, again, depending on the exchange rate) to Seafarers UK (the leading British maritime charity) for every barrel-worth sold. At 4.2% ABV, it’s a mellow, golden ale fittingly brewed with Admiral hops (another variety I’d not heard of before). And naturally, the seafaring figures to go along with this beer are the Autobot hovercraft, Seaspray, and the Evil Warrior Mer-Man, both of whom were given the same cool burbly “underwater” voice by Alan Oppenheimer in their respective 1980s cartoons. Flavour-wise, this brewski is the ale equivalent of that oyster sauce you can get from good Chinese restaurants and take-aways. I’m not saying that it tastes vaguely like edible shellfish, but like oyster sauce, it’s also mellow, rich, and ever-so-slightly briny. It’s another of those bottles of suds that’s very nice, but if it weren’t for the worthy charity aspect, I probably wouldn’t make it my regular tipple. I bought several bottles over a couple of weeks for experimentation purposes, and there is nothing, flavour-wise, that can’t be done better or moreso by other beers as thirst-quenchers, snack-washer-downers, or taste sensations. It’s just a very good, smooth ale that’s nothing spectacularly outstanding apart from the charity aspect. However, it goes pretty darn well with seafood, I can tell you that. Placement-wise, I’d say it just about beats out the majority of beers available over here, but probably wouldn’t make my Top 20. Top 30, sure. But not Top 20.

Drink this if you also like: Any other good rich and mellow beer, fish ’n’ chips or other seafood, feeling satisfied (or, at the least, smug) about giving to charities while getting plastered at the same time.