Sci-Fi and fantasy have brought us a ton of stuff that would be cool to have in real life. How awesome would it be to come home from a long day of work and order up dinner on the replicator or de-stress in the holodeck? It’s not all jetpacks, blackjack and hookers in space (you know what? Forget the jetpacks). Sometimes there’s beer. Here are some of the best alcoholic drinks in sci-fi and fantasy that will make you want to look up recipes on the internet, print off your own custom labels, and turn your mom’s basement into a bar.
Futurama
Of course, the most famous of Futurama’s drinks is Slurm. And who doesn’t love the anal secretions of a giant space worm? While it’s addictive, it’s non-alcoholic. Fear not: Futurama offers up a wide variety of alcoholic drinks for humans, aliens and robots alike. Pabst Blue Robot, Olde Fortran Malt Liquor, Sam Adams’ Head Boston Lager, Benderbrau, and Lobrau all made an appearance. You can rest assured if there’s an alcoholic drink on any planet, the crew of Planet Express will find it.
Harry Potter
Butterbeer might be one of the most famous drinks in the world of fantasy. The internet is stuffed with recipes for this Harry Potter staple, though the contents of the official version served at Universal’s Wizarding World is a closely kept secret. Drinking butterbeer is a common experience in the books, partially due to the low alcoholic content (unless you’re a house elf, you won’t get hammered).
Star Trek
If there’s anything I’ve learned from Star Trek, it’s that Romulan Ale is no joke. Whether you’re serving it to Klingon Ambassadors or using it for “medicinal purposes” (I see you, Bones), the hangover is enough to teach ensigns and officers alike why it’s outlawed by the Federation. This blue beverage is for the most stalwart drinkers – everyone else should stick to replicator Earl Grey.
LOST
Oh, Dharma Initiative. You brought us crazy islanders, polar bears, weird science experiments, and a whole lot of generic-looking food. While some of the castaways might have hoarded the peanut butter, what could be better than capping off a day of investigating the others than drinking a nice, lukewarm Dharma beer while hanging out on the beach? It might look like the worst beer known to man, but in 2010, 12 cans sold for $5,000 at a charity auction.
Red Dwarf
Does the idea of beer milkshakes make you tingly? Are your galaxy pool skills a little lackluster? Are you the last surviving human member of a space mining crew? Leopard Lager is the drink for you! For the crew of Red Dwarf, Leopard Lager isn’t just the best drink, it’s the only drink. It goes pretty well with curry, too.
Firefly
Look, there are some pretty terrible planets on the rim. Higgin’s Moon is a place where indentured workers have very little in their life save the legend of a man who rained credits on them — and Mudder’s Milk. Mudder’s Milk is a 15 percent alcoholic drink designed to fill you up and knock you out, all the while meeting your daily requirements for proteins, vitamins and carbs. It packs quite a punch, so it’s best left to the Mudders and heroes like Jayne Cobb.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The most popular drink in Sunnydale might be blood, but in a very special episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer another danger of drinking cropped up — it turns you into a neanderthal. Okay, so maybe that only happens if you live on a hellmouth and have bars owned by dudes who make their own beer to turn frat boys into the things he views them to be. Black Frost Beer comes on tap and in a bottle — though you might not know how to operate either of those things after a couple of drinks.
Fallout
What are you going to do when the world is a nuclear wasteland and you spend your day fighting Deathclaws? Get hammered. Luckily this post-apocalyptic hellscape comes with a handful of cocktails to waste the wasteland away. Atomic Cocktail isn’t just a great way to get your buzz on, it also helps you deal with fire damage. Rum and Nuka incorporates the best known drink in the game, Nuka Cola (and it comes with a bottle cap). Sierra Madre martini is made of pre-war junk food and toxins from the cloud. Talk about the dangers of drinking!