The Empire Strikes Back

The story begins with my good friend and fellow beer aficionado, Donfardz64 a.k.a Professor Greg Mason visiting my base of operations in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Me and Greg were out for some beer. But from where?
(Let me first inform you; Dunedin practically closes during the summer. Probably due to the city losing almost half it's population (students) during this period).
Our efforts to source riggers from Green Man and/or Emerson's breweries proved futile, as both establishments were as closed as a... Well... Analogy of something else that's closed.
So we decided to head home and debrief. On the way, we spotted Meenan's Wines and Spirits. I suggested to Professor Mason that we head in for a look and maybe get a couple of riggers of their cheap, micro-brewed beers.
Whilst in the store we had a look at their impressive range of craft beers (most of which were from the U.K).
I simply cannot be fucked writing the rest of the details, so I'll just let you know that Greg bought a Burton Tickle Brain, and I bought a Burton Empire Pale Ale. We both bought a rigger of Meenan's beer each, of course.
That's where the title of this blog comes in, i.e. it has no relevance to the story whatsoever, except, of course, the word 'Empire'.
So, right now I am enjoying my bottle of Empire Pale Ale, and it's absolutely wonderful.
This English brew poured a glorious amber/brown hue with an off-white head.
The nose is full of fruit - I found apple, apricot, peach and ripe oranges. Mingling with these fruits was a strong, floral and zesty hops on a stern biscuity malt base.
The flavours are nice and malty, with a pleasant honey sweetness. Balancing this sweetness are the immense, hop flavours that manifest as an orange-peel sort of bitterness. In the background of these bold flavours I found a peppery spice and a caramel sweetness. The high alcohol is barely detectable, but you certainly feel it...
So, by the time you are finished reading this post, you can be certain I'm feeling reasonably happy, and it's all thanks to the Empire. I suggest you get your hands on a bottle!