Action Figures & Their Beers - He is the night . . . .

by Beedo Sookcool
on 2013-05-06, 02:41:14

NEWCASTLE NOCTURNAL

. . . he is Bat-Bot! (Taken from the “Shattered Glass: Solar Requiem””box set.) By day, Ratbat is your everyday, happy-go-lucky member of the lazy, rich elite. By night, he switches his colour-change paint to a grey-and-navy theme, and takes wing as an anonymnous detective out to bring justice to wrongdoers! Sound familiar? Apparently, as an April Fool’s joke, the people behind TransFormers came up with the “Shattered Glass” Universe. It is to TransFormers as the “Mirror Universe” is to a certain incredibly litigious “Stellar Journey”-themed franchise. There are even Evil Autobots sporting swanky facial hair. As well as all manner of Heroic Decepticons out to stop the tyranny of the power-crazed Optimus Prime. And then the fans. Went. NUTS. Because Soundwave is amazingly cool as it is. Soundwave who fights like Snake-Eyes, listens to the Dreadnoks’ band (Cold Slither), and talks like Bill & Ted . . . well, that’s somehow three whole geek orders of magnitude even cooler.

“Like a night owl” and “tawny ale” say the labels. So why did I choose Bat-Bot?. Firstly, he’s nocturnal. Secondly, I don’t have any tawny owl action figures. And thirdly, I have only one owl-themed action figure (I coulda sworn I had two, but I can’t find the other one), and I have to split him between two other beers already. (More on that in the upcoming weeks. I hope.)

So what’s the beer like? Brewed with Rye malt, it’s got a slightly bittersweet taste that brings both espresso and dark chocolate to mind. For fans of the original Newcastle Brown Ale, it’s perhaps edgier and not as smooth in the finish. In fact, if you let the aftertaste linger long enough, you sometimes get a momentary flavour that is what you might expect the smell of stale pee to taste like. Probably good for accompanying rich winter feasts and snacks, but not for sitting down and quaffing in great quantities or refreshing yourself on a hot day. And have some water nearby to wash away the aftertaste.

Drink this if you also like: Guinness, Bad King John, Chocolate Tom, or any other chocolate/coffee beer.