Action Figures & Their Beers -Taste the golden spray!

by Beedo Sookcool
on 2012-09-03, 18:26:01

SPINDRIFT

Britain is surrounded by sea. We’ve got lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, brooks, creeks, meres, marshes, lochs, canals, estuaries, wetlands, bogs, fens, springs, and all various kinds of waters dotted about the landscape. We’ve got water under the ground and coming at us in all forms from the sky. We’ve got water in every direction in four dimensions. Which is why there are so many words and terms pertaining to water in the English language. Spindrift, for example, mainly means “the spray blown from the crests of waves by the wind.” (Another, less common meaning is “driven snow.”) Right, so the best character to go along with this beer is some sort of sea character associated with spray . . . .

Having already used the official TransFormers Voyager-Class Seaspray for Seafarers Ale, I’m turning to an unofficial third-party mini-robot by iGear that converts into a brightly coloured hovercraft, who is named “Spray.” The fun thing about these fan-produced toys is that they sometimes contain great in-jokes. In the bio on Spray’s box, for example, it lists his brief stint as a voiceover artist for a certain marine-based Universal Masters character. Outstanding.

Adnams Brewery’s Spindrift comes in a disappointingly small 330 mL bottle, but at least the bottle is made of beautiful rich Bristol blue glass. The blurb on the front says: “Full of FLAVOUR with a touch of wheat to make it SPARKLE, a Specialty beer from our own SUFFOLK shores. Spindrift, with its bright, CRISP TASTE, evokes images of sea spray blown off a cresting wave. a refreshing ENGLISH BEER.” The back lists its ingredients including East Anglian malted barley and wheat, and hopped with several aromatic varieties, including English Hedgerow (a new one on me). “This beer is dry and crisp with aromas of tropical fruits.”

Well, I don’t get a great amount of tropical fruit aroma off it, but it’s certainly crisp and ever-so-slightly lemony. It’s one of those very, very beery beers that smacks you in the face with flavour, but doesn’t ruin it with a lingering bitter aftertaste. It’s got a dry, mellow finish, and a lingering, mild beery tang for the aftertaste. Bloody good for washing down snacks or enjoying after a long, gruelling shift at work. And, yes, this review's title pays homage to the extremely funny film The Big Hit. Somehow, it works perfectly here.

Drink this if you also like: Stroh’s, or any other really crisp, tangy, refreshing, really beery beer.