Star Wars Beers – Brews From a Galaxy Far Far Away

Those who know me, know that I’m an unapologetic Star Wars geek. I’ve built Star Wars websites, traded spoilers with insiders, read every novel I could get my greedy eyes on, and have spent more times watching the movies than what a lot of people would consider healthy. To say I’m a bit pumped about the release of The Force Awakens is a bit of an understatement.  I’ve already made plans to see it at least three times, and I have a feeling if it is any good I’ll be seeing it much more than that. With Christmas, Star Wars, and stout season in full effect, my wallet is currently waving a white flag. So, to kill some time, I’ve decided to round up some Star Wars themed brews to help you kill the time until the movie is released.

New England Brewing Co. – Imperial Stout Trooper

Style – Russian Imperial Stout   |   ABV – 9.2%   |   IBU – 25

I want this beer in my life, why isn’t it in my life? It combines Star Wars and imperial stouts. Two of my favorite things. If they put a trooper playing hockey and scoring against R2-D2, it might very well qualify as my favorite thing ever. I know you are saying, “But Blake, you are married, shouldn’t your wife be your favorite thing ever?” Seriously? First off, she’s not a thing. Secondly, even if she was, she’d admit she’d be hard pressed to beat a beer that has that on the label.

I’ve never had the opportunity to try this beer, but judging by everyone else’s reaction it seems to be a fantastic beer. There also appears to be a barrel aged variant,  cherry vanilla variant and coffee variant out there. They sound good enough to try a Jedi mind trick to get one.

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Toppling Goliath – Light Speed

Style – American Pale Ale   |   ABV – 5.8%   |   IBU – 71

This one may not seem completely Star Wars themed at first glance, because Star Wars is not the only Sci-fi to reference light speed. Once you realize the original name of the beer was Millennium Falcon because of it’s use of millennium and falconer’s hops, you’ll understand its inclusion on this list. One look at the label and you know this is a beer that is a pop culture homage to Star Wars. Aside from the cool label, this beer is a really solid brew. Toppling Goliath is becoming a giant in the craft brewing industry, mainly because everything they release is fantastic. We’ve even reviewed PsudeoSue on the site and gave it a lot of praise. Some of their beers are hard to come by, but luckily this one isn’t one of their super limited releases. Hopefully we’ll be able to get our hands on some soon and bring you a review.

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Revolution Brewing – Deth’s Tar

Style – Russian Imperial Stout   |   ABV – 11.4%   |   IBU – 40

We’ve been lucky enough to review some of Revolution’s beers already, and will hopefully be reviewing this one as well. (Check out the reviews of Fist City and Unsessionable.) The name is a play on brewer Josh Deth’s name, the dark color of the beer, and of course the fact that it is no moon.  The beer is separately aged in four different barrels (Old Fitzgerald, Old Forester, Elijah Craig, and Evan Williams) and blended to produce a heavy bodied imperial stout.

Judging by online reviews, this is one to seek out. It seems readily available for trade, and judging by responses would likely trade for a similar ABV stout from another area of the country. We are fortunate enough to be a short drive from Chicago, and Justin found one on his way to Michigan recently.  I’ll be checking the bottle to see if there are any exhaust ports that might cause complete destruction of the bottle.

Click here to check out our review.

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Snake River Brewing – OB-1

Style – English Brown Ale   |   ABV – 4.9%   |   IBU – n/a

OB-1, shortened from Organic Beer Number 1, is an organic brown ale produced by Snake River Brewing. Unfortunately, if you need this one for your Star Wars marathon this week, you’ll be out of luck as the beer is no longer made. If scores on site like RateBeer are any example, it looks like OB-1, much like Obi-Wan died in sacrifice for the greater good. The beer did win a bronze medal at GABF in 2008, so it couldn’t have been all bad. I’m thinking Snake River needs to bring it back with a new recipe and call it Old Ben and pair it with it’s beer, Old Greg.

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Westbrook – Dark Helmet

Style – Schwarzbier   |   ABV – 5.9%   |   IBU – 25

Okay, so this one really isn’t exactly Star Wars related, but it’s pretty darn close. The beer takes it’s name from the wonderful Star Wars spoof, Spaceballs. Rick Moranis plays the thoroughly unmenacing Dark Helmet, a send up of Darth Vader. Spaceballs was given the blessing by George Lucas himself. Lucas loved the idea so much he had ILM do some of the special effects in the film.

Feel free to bitch at me in the comments for including something on a Star Wars list that isn’t truly Star Wars. Let the hate flow through you. Give into the dark side.

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B. Nektar – Episode 13 – B. Nektar Strikes Back

Style – Mead   |   ABV – 15.5%   |   IBU – n/a

Technically a mead (honeywine), and not a beer, Episode 13 still makes the list. Mead shares enough qualities with beer that people usually tend to lump it with beer, similar to how people treat cider, so we’ll give it a pass. This might be my favorite Star Wars themed label, and it’s impressive enough that I’d love to attempt a real life recreation at some point. The mead itself is supposed to be pretty solid as well. Very sweet with lots of bourbon characteristics. It also clocks in at an astounding 15.5% ABV. This one isn’t for lightweights, and probably not easily found at the Mos Eisley cantina. I expect this one belongs with the beautiful people in the clouds.

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Sierra Nevada – Empire Strikes Black

Style – Russian Imperial Stout   |   ABV – 9.8%   |   IBU – n/a

Star Wars and boozy imperial stouts seem to go hand in hand if this list is any indication. Maybe it’s just the brewer’s paying homage to the dark side? Craft beer giant Sierra Nevada paid homage to the empire with a really nice stout a few years ago. It wasn’t a major release, but it was featured in their Beer Camp releases in 2009.  You’d be unlikely to find one today, but one could only hope Sierra Nevada will create a sequel to this beer in time.

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Jackie O’s – Java the Stout

Style – Coffee Stout   |   ABV – 6.5%   |   IBU – n/a

Java the Stout has half a cup of coffee caffeine per pint according to the info on the Jackie O’s website. That alone is enough to make this beer impressive. The label and the name are enough to make you love the beer.  Jackie O’s makes a lot of really great (and really strong) beer, so you really can’t go wrong with this one. At the very least it’s bound to be more appetizing than Jabba himself. Bonus points if you can get your significant other to serve you this beer while wearing Leia’s bikini from Return of the Jedi.

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Empire Brewing – Strikes Bock

Style – Maibock   |   ABV – 6.5%   |   IBU – n/a

You know you’ve made it when Lucasfilm sues you over the name of your beer. Sure, they are doing it just to make sure their trademark is protected, but it still comes off as pretty silly.  It’s doubtful that anyone would actually confuse the two. Regardless, the beer still appears on their website, so if you want to enjoy this one you should be able to in the New York area. It’s a pretty clever name, and even if they end up losing the trademark battle, they might end up garnering some goodwill from people who hate seeing the little guy lose to the mega-corporation. Reminds me of a story I once heard of a tiny group of rebel forces who go up against an evil empire…

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Terrapin – The Dark Side

Style – Belgian Strong Dark Ale  |   ABV – 8.5%   |   IBU – n/a

One of Terrapin’s Side Project fantastic releases will attempt to lure you to the Dark Side of the Force.  Why’d they try to upset the balance like that, I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure I’d be popping the top with a red lightsaber. This was a one time release, so unless a friend has been aging one, don’t expect to be able to pick it up. Terrapin has a lot of great beers out there though, so if you run into one just pretend they are Star Wars themed and you are good to go.

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Pabst Brewing – Colt 45

Style – Malt Liquor |   ABV – 6.1%   |   IBU – n/a

If you are going to slam back any beer during a Star Wars marathon it should be Colt 45. It comes in convenient tall boys and 40 oz. bottles that are easy to sneak in using baggy pants or a purse. This premium malt beverage boasts an astounding 0 on RateBeer. If it is good enough for Lando, it’s good enough for you.

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Comment below and let us know if you’ve tried any of these beers and let us know which beers we missed.

Also be sure to check out Blake on ReelSpoilers Star Wars podcast next week.