In a move sure to please everyone from Zefram Cochraine to Katherine Pulaski, CBS/Paramount Consumer Products has finally authorized an official Trek beverage.

While it may not be called the “official” beer of Star Trek, Weger says the proper legal term is: the first “officially licensed alcoholic beverage” of Star Trek. He believes the only other alcoholic beverage officially linked to the show is a wine that’s in development.

It’s from some strange alien world called Ca-na-da, but it’s been formulated to appeal to human tastes:

Weger says consumers — and he hopes there will be many — will be able to enjoy a high quality hand-crafted Irish Red Ale (5.4 per cent alcohol) that promises to “explore a new universe” of taste.

That’s quite a bit lighter than your typical Romulan Ale (surely a choice made in deference to the stolid Vulcan need to remain in control of their emotions) but it probably tastes a lot better than that swill they’ve got on Bajor.

This nerd can’t wait to try some of this if it ever finds its way stateside.

Update #1:

As with any Trek-related material that gets posted on the Internet, I have been fact-checked within minutes.  One of my readers has already pointed out that there has already been at least one officially licensed alcoholic beverage.

The Las VegasStar Trek Experience sold bottles and six-packs of “Romulan ale”, a blue lager-style beer made by Central American brewery Cerveceria La Constancia on exclusive license from Paramount Pictures. The Klingon actors were scripted to claim that “you humans cannot hold your neurotoxins!”

But given that this is no longer in production, I guess this new offering may still be the only available licensed product.