“Eagles Dare” beer hits the spot in Southport

By John Freeman on September 3, 2023

Heading to Southport for a day trip? Apart from its appeal as a holiday resort, the Atkinson Gallery and several brilliant secondhand bookshops, there’s another temptation – Dan Dare-inspired beer!

Southport Brewery have been making their Eagles Dare bronze bitter since 2021, but it’s only recently come to the attention of Jim Duckett at the Eagle Society, who recently highlighted it on the Eagle Times blog.

The small independent microbrewery brews traditional, handcrafted quality beers and was established in 2004. Their cask conditioned real ales are for drinking either on or off premises (pubs, bars, restaurants, home, barbeque, music festivals etc).

Southport is, of course, regarded as the “home” of Dan Dare, in terms of his creation by artist and writer Frank Hampson and his team for the original Eagle comic.

Brewer Paul Bardsley told Jim the company has been making Eagles Dare using its current recipe since July 2021, and has produced an estimated 8000 litres to date, available only at present in the Southport area, as they’re a small brewery and their range is limited.

The best place to find it in the North West is either The Waterpudlian on South Road, Liverpool Waterloo, or The Guesthouse in Southport, although as a “guest beer”, it’s not always on tap.

“Unfortunately,” says Paul, “we have no control as to when it goes on, aside from delivering the beer.”

You can also buy it in nine pint casks from the Brewery online shop although, occasionally, they do run out of these and they take a couple of days to restock.

In addition to Eagles Dare, Southport Brewery’s award-winning ales include regulars like Golden Sands, Sandgrounder, Carousel, Natterjack, Cyclone, Dark Night and several seasonal brews.

“All our beers are Southport themed,” Paul says, revealing his first encounter with the New Eagle in the 1990s, and that his boss used to nick copies of the original from his older brother when he was a child, back in the 1960s.

“We made the decision to give Eagle’s Dare its own recipe in July 2021, as it is, in my view, the best looking badge we have for our beers.

“The beer itself is a bronze bitter. It has a really powerful and satisfying bitter bite at the start and is followed with a dry, floral palate… It’s quickly achieved its own following locally which is really nice to see and makes us feel validated as brewers.

“Keep an eye out for it appearing in all good, reputable establishments in Southport,” the Brewery stated when the beer was first launched in 2021.

“Not Wetherspoons. Never Wetherspoons.”

• Eagles Dare is available from the Southport Brewery online shop or, if you’re in Southport, Portland Wine Cellars on Portland Street, or the Brewery itself at Unit 3, Enterprise Business Park, Russell Road, Blowick, Southport, PR9 7RF

• Southport Brewery is online at southportbrewery.co.uk | Facebook

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.