Beverages marketed at gamers, like Mountain Dew Game Fuel or Nintendo’s Power Up, have traditionally fallen under the aegis of “energy drinks,” meant to keep you firing on all cylinders through late-night raids and team death matches. Bethesda has taken a decidedly different approach by teaming up with the Carlsberg brewery to produce a limited run of Fallout Beer, inspired by the popular post-apocalyptic RPG series, whose latest entry, Fallout 4, is coming out in November.
Unfortunately for American fans however, the beer is only available in the UK. Cases of twelve bottles are available for pre-order on Amazon for £30 and will ship on November 5, 2016, five days before Fallout 4 premieres. The listing describes the brew as “A light coloured pilsner lager, with a refreshing zesty hoppy taste and a floral aroma,” that has been “brewed using a unique blend of malted barleys combined with selected hops.”
The branding is reminiscent of products from the Fallout series’ fictional and ubiquitous Vault-Tec Corporation, which built the fallout shelters from which players inevitably emerge at the beginning of any given game in the franchise. Be sure to hold onto those bottle caps once you’ve finished them.
To our knowledge this is the first official alcoholic beverage marketing tie-in with a video game. It’s a testament to the extent to which games are being gradually accepted by society at large as an adult entertainment alongside films and music, which have collaborated with the liquor industry for decades.
While we won’t be getting Fallout Beer here in the United States, maybe we’ll get lucky and someone will partner with Bethesda to make Nuka-Cola, which is already a trope of the game and would fit much more readily into the existing game-branded drink market.
Fallout 4 launches on November 10 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
