Leopard Lager

The only thing that can kill a curry or the Mutton Vindaloo Beast; the beer in Series VII

Leopard Lager is a fictional brand of beer / lager alcoholic beverage in the Red Dwarf franchise. Of 5.1% alcohol by volume, it is brewed under license and given as standard-issue aboard JMC vessels.

Red Dwarf evidently had large stores of the lager in its cargo bays, which three million years later were still available for the Boys from the Dwarf to salvage. David Lister was particularly fond of lager, and Leopard in particular, often drinking it throughout the run of the television series whilst eating curries.

Cat also frequently drank Leopard, and even on occasion, Arnold Rimmer. Lister loved it so much that he used it to make Beer Milkshakes with it. On occasion when Leopard wasn't available, Lister would drink GELF Hooch instead, or, as a last resort, Urine Recyc Wine.

Notable Appearances

Leopard Lager in Series II, with complete leopard-skin coverings
("Parallel Universe")

When Dave Lister met his female counterpart Deb Lister, they both got drunk on their favourite Leopard Lager. This resulted in a one-night-stand, and nine months later Dave Lister giving birth to twins. ("Parallel Universe")

Lister drank it almost exclusively and even started some days with a can of the previous evening's lager, straining it first to remove the cigar butts. ("Psirens")

Lister's skill at gravity pool was improved when drunk, which enabled him to achieve a "trick shot" when "playing pool with planets". This enabled Lister to seal up a white hole, repairing the damage it had done to the timeline. ("White Hole")

An incident of littering with an empty leopard can got Lister pooed on by a giant litter bird. ("Justice")

Lister encountered his perfect refrigerator in the Legion Station, which contained a six pack of leopard and a "pair of sneakers in the ice box." ("Legion")

Mini Robo-Lister kills the curry monster with a can of Leopard Lager
("D.N.A.")

He also found it to have other uses. A pack of Leopard cans was used to break open a weapons locker when the Mutton Vindaloo Beast was attacking the crew. Lister later knocked over one of those cans, spilling lager over the floor. When the beast trod in the lager, it burned him and gave Lister an idea. He threw a can into the beast's mouth and shot it with a bazookoid, killing the beast. ("D.N.A.")

The Dwarfer's battle with their future selves had the most terrible consequence - although the Dwarfers were resurrected, all the curry and lager stores had been destroyed, causing Lister to go into a deep despair. ("Tikka to Ride") Lister later used the time drive to obtain them from the past, and Rimmer marooned Lister with them in Starbugs rear section in punishment for getting them mixed up in the JFK assassination. ("Tikka to Ride" Deleted Scenes)

Lister started a fire in the Drive Room when he dripped curry sauce onto the console. Lister found his can of leopard lager the most convenient way of putting out the fire, but thankfully he had another can. ("Entangled")

Kryten suggested Lister stretch his legs, and to have a few beers, when Lister was missing the human race terribly. ("Dear Dave")

Piles of empty Leopard Lager bottles appear in the bottom left (The Promised Land)

When Lister sank into another depression, he began collecting junk salvaged from Cargo Bay 15 and hoarding it in the sleeping quarters. There were also piles of hundreds of empty Leopard Lager cans and bottles, stretching up to the ceiling. (The Promised Land)

Behind the Scenes

• The lager cans seen in the first few episodes were standard "ocean grey". Leopard Lager was introduced to give more colour to the show. They were seen almost every time lager was drunk on the show, which was a lot. Several prop cans of Leopard Lager were sold via the Propstore as collector's items.
• The cans used during filming were later sold with some other props from the series. The cans bore the name "Mimian Fermented Vegetable Drinks Plc", suggesting that Leopard was brewed on Mimas, although this is impossible to discern from the television series alone.
• There is a real-life pale lager named Leopard Lager, which is brewed in Auckland, New Zealand. Reviews of it are generally positive. It is unclear whether the name of the beer in Red Dwarf is a coincidence or not.

Poster artwork by P2P productions

Dozens of can props made for The Promised Land

Marketing

The promotional pint bottle

To coincide with the first broadcast of Series XII, Grant Naylor Productions teamed up with UK newspaper the Daily Mirror and its regional imprints as part of the marketing campaign for the new series. For one day only - Friday 13 October 2017 - free pints of Leopard Lager were available from over fifty different outlets across the country, included in bottles with the Leopard Lager logo. These were redeemable by the use of vouchers which would be obtained from the newspapers. It was described as "light but with a bit of fizz and wicked strength, this golden favorite is one of the UK’s finest intergalactic exports. Pair with spicy curries and great comedy for an out-of-this-world experience."

See Also

Some other alcoholic beverages:

• Beer Milkshake
• GELF hooch
• Urine Recyc Wine
• M-Corp lager