Original Stormtrooper Galactic Pale Ale Beer Review St Peter's Brewery

I guess the first question I have to ask is how on earth, or how in the galaxy has someone managed to license an official beer for the imperial stormtroopers from the Star Wars saga? It doesn't really matter, I'm just curious and here it is. After a little digging on the website I found this is brewed at the Vocation Brewery in Hebden Bridge, but I've found pictures of this on tap saying brewed by St Peter's so I'm a little confused. I found this, and another version I'll crack open at some point in the near future on the shelves in B&M in Lincoln and as an 80's child I felt obliged to pick them up, especially as they were only just over one pound each. I guess it's time to see if the force is with them.

Galactic Pale Ale comes in a 330ml can covered in stormtroopers, stars, planets and general sci-fi bits and pieces which all make it pretty eye catching, especially if you're not expecting it. I really don't think anyone who has seen the films will think twice before picking one up at a discount price. There's a not exactly out of this world 4.8% alcohol content, which feels like just about the most bog standard amount you can find these days. I'm not really sure if I'm looking forward to opening this or not, but I really feel like I should have the imperial march playing in the background.

The beer pours a standard straw coloured pale yellow with a good foamy head, just like most pale ales. The aroma meanwhile has quite a sharp citrus feel mixed with mango. It's actually quite a strong smell, and not one I'm particularly enjoying, so I'm going to stop sniffing now. For the most part I imagine pretty much everything I've written about the beer probably sounds quite familiar, and it certainly has all the hallmarks of a pretty normal pale ale, which is a shame because I was hoping for something unique given the cans design and interstellar promises.

The texture is far from smooth, and the taste is very citrus heavy, which is disappointing. It's quite a sharp bitter taste, and I really don't like it very much at all, it's also a bit metallic. I guess it's fair to say Stormtrooper Galactic Pale Ale is just a bit gimmicky, and I guess the lack of clear brewery markings should probably be a sign that it's not a beer they're overly proud of. If you're a star wars fan you'll almost certainly give this a go, but if not you can probably give it a miss. I'm going to give Original Stormtrooper Galactic Pale Ale 3 out of 10, and at least one of those three is just because even nearly 50 years on from the original film stormtrooper's are still cool.