Beer New World: Iron Maiden's Trooper Ale

I nearly made a big mistake today. A BIG mistake.

I was in Sainsburys, looking for some non-alcoholic beers and ciders to review (a torture not far off that of an Iron Maiden*), since so many people are staying off the booze this January. Walking up and down, not really looking forward to the task at hand, suddenly Iron Maiden's Eddie was staring at me from the shelf.

I hadn't realised that Iron Maiden were behind a beer, so as soon as I saw it, I was simply dying to try it and we all know, there is No Prayer For The Dying*.

I decided it was a perfect opportunity to drink something alcoholic rather than helping people out with their January dryathlon catastrophe (in all seriousness, it's a good cause, keep up the hard work!).

Iron Maiden's "Trooper" is brewed by the folks at Robinsons brewery in Cheshire, and to them, brewing good beer is A Matter of Life and Death*.

Maiden's lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, has always been a massive fan of good british ale, so when he collaborated with Robinsons, the outcome was sure to have The X Factor* and it really is seriously impressive.

This is a medium-dark ale, which is nice because I certainly don't have a Fear Of The Dark*. On the nose it is unmistakably malty, beautifully fresh and inviting. There's a slight burnt and warming hint too. To taste, it is refreshing and full bodied, the maltiness follows through really nicely and there are some delicious citrus hints too but without it seeming too perfumed. A real cracker, it felt like my tongue was doing the Dance Of Death*, in a good way obviously.

It is 4.7% alcohol, which is certainly not The Number Of The Beast*, in fact it is pretty reasonable, making this an excellent session beer - great for both summer and winter drinking.

Out of ten, I would give it a Virtual XI* because it really is THAT GOOD (plus the pun works beautifully but mainly because it's that good).

So I urge you, Somewhere In Time* to pick up a few bottles of this beer to try for yourself and you can open your eyes to a Brave New World*, of beer. You know it's worth trying, so give it a go, if only for Piece Of Mind*.

In all seriousness, this is genuinely one of my new favourite beers and I will certainly be buying more of the stuff. You can buy Trooper from Sainsburys for just £1.99 per 500ml bottle.

These Iron Maiden puns are absolute Killers*.



*Iron Maiden Album names.
Albums that didn't quite make the list are as follows: The Final Frontier, Powerslave and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. Please fit these into sickeningly bad beer puns as you see fit. (Obviously let us know what you come up with).

Header image taken from John C. Murphy's photostream, under the creative commons license.