Thread: A question for the beer experts

ok, in the books, both beer/ale drinking and smoking pipeweed are a large part of life in Middle Earth.
Just as in the Middle Ages, and if you read the book on the languages of Middle Earth, Middle Earth was a term used to refer to the area around England including parts of Europe.
Based on that, what type of beer/ale/lager/pilsner would be the closest to what they would have drank in Middle Earth and/or the Middle Ages England?
The reason I ask is that I really really like to drink a few "unique" beers/Ales/etc while playing as it kind of lends to the atmospshere.
Also, in the movie and I think the books, Gimli made a comment about visting the dwarves and drinking "MALT BEER". What was he referring to?
I dont think they had "malt liquor" back then.

I did find a great link on how to make what would be an accurate representation of the Beer served in the Prancing Poney in Bree:

http://www.maxbeer.org/eng/lord-rings-beer.htm

Since I am not a home brewer, my search for a bottled brand may be fruitless...

Great post!

To answer your questions (as simply as possible):

1-The common brew of mediaeval England would have been ale: barley, water and yeast-no hops. Hops is an herb that makes the flavor bitter and acts as a preservative that came to be used in the renaissance and slowly gained in popularity. As far as pilsner/lager/etc. partially this is from the fermenting process, also the specific type of local gain that is used to brew ie: pilsner is/was first brewed from a grain local to Pilsen in the Czeck Republic, now it is a term to describe a style of beer.
Although most brews today have some amount of hops in them, close ones to a more "traditional" brew would be Newcastle (in the ballpark) or Hen's Tooth and Old Speckled Hen (closer). And these ales usually tend to have a lower alcohol content due to the fermentation process. Sometimes they are referred to (esp in Shakespeare plays) as "small beer" which leads to question 2...

2-Malting is simply part of the brewing process that you can do that ensures there is a higher sugar content remaining in your grain, which leads to more sugar your yeast can convert into alcohol, which leads to more nights you may end up on your knees bowing before the porcelain god. Gimli is letting us know that we are about to get hammered!

Yes I am a homebrewer and i do imbibe from my own brews while playing sometimes. I would have gotten that Undying title if I wasn't a few pints into the adventure (true story).

Wow, great reply thanks!
I actually bought the new castle u mentioned!

Interesting posts. Never wondered much about it, but now that I think about it, I am a bit curious.

Originally Posted by Amra_the_Lion

I would have gotten that Undying title if I wasn't a few pints into the adventure (true story).

LOL! I wonder if maybe a drink or two might've helped me gain that Undying title...

Originally Posted by Amra_the_Lion

2-Malting is simply part of the brewing process that you can do that ensures there is a higher sugar content remaining in your grain, which leads to more sugar your yeast can convert into alcohol, which leads to more nights you may end up on your knees bowing before the porcelain god. Gimli is letting us know that we are about to get hammered!

Is malting usually associated with barley? (For the sugar, like you said) As in, could "malt beer" be similar to a barley beer ( Old Guardian by the Stone brewery, for example) or a barley wine?

Originally Posted by Raath

Is malting usually associated with barley? (For the sugar, like you said) As in, could "malt beer" be similar to a barley beer ( Old Guardian by the Stone brewery, for example) or a barley wine?

All hail wiki!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer

This is a pretty good summary.

I think Amra hit the nail on the head; glad to know we have an experienced brewer around!

If you'd like a good read on the history of beer and its many styles have a gander at this one:The Good Beer Book, Timothy Harper.

There is a great scene in The Shadow Lands where C.S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) is in a pub with a group of fellows -- I like to think they're the Inklings though there's no evidence -- and one of them comes back to the table with a few pints and says "Yuck, cold beer".

I like to think cold beer and the importation of lager's and other foreign brews to be another tick on the long list of things that annoyed Tolkien in the 'de-anglization' of England category.

Originally Posted by Raath

Is malting usually associated with barley? (For the sugar, like you said) As in, could "malt beer" be similar to a barley beer ( Old Guardian by the Stone brewery, for example) or a barley wine?

Other grains can be malted. I've made wheat malt before, for example. Malt is made by soaking the grain and allowing it to germinate and begin sprouting. Then it is roasted at low temperature. The malted grain is then ground or cracked for the mash.

Unless a beer is specified as a wheat beer (or Weizen in German), it is almost certainly made from barley. (Unless it's a ****** American beer like budweiser or coors light, and then it also has rice, high fructose corn syrup, and who knows what else that doesn't belong in beer.)

I just saw "Newcastle" and it was like a moth to a light...
I love that stuff.

Hi Gil,
Yes, I had New Castle Ale for the first time a few weeks back.
Since, the song from the books the hobbits sing in the Prancing Pony mentions "a beer so brown, the man in the moon himself came down"...
I would think that and the fact most beer experts I have talked to seem to think New Castle and Old Speckled Hen are the closest to what was served in The Prancing Pony and Green Dragon.
It is amazing how you have to keep reminding yourself Middle Earth is a fictional world, and not actual earth history...per the way I just realized I stated my response above.
LOL!

As earlier stated by Amra, Ale would have been the drink of choice. it is by far just plain easy to make. The yeast performs better in a warmer temperature generally 65-72 degrees. That temperature would have been easy to attain in an average "root cellar". On top of that, Ales can be flavored more easily and are way more forgiving to novice brewers. Lagers need a lower temp 50-55 degrees or little colder. it's all in the yeast. I think that the devs need to give ales a buff on fear for ales. take away some agility, but add some might (beer muscles) and add a little radiance.......I know there many....errr a few time in my life where that were the case.....

Great initial post by Valenso, and a great discussion topic to the OP!

To build on it, once you reach the areas to the northern latitudes nearing Forochel for example, a Honey Mead would be appropriate.

Originally Posted by Magnarr

To build on it, once you reach the areas to the northern latitudes nearing Forochel for example, a Honey Mead would be appropriate.

Yeah that would have been better than ice wine. Maybe they'll serve it in the king's hall in Rohan.

So! What did you all end up buying/drinking?
I tried Newcastle Brown Ale and Old Speckled Hen Ale based on my research that those two would be very close to what they drank in Middle Earth and/or The Shire.
Personally, i still prefer Guiness Stout for cold winter night gaming....but, I do want to be accurate!
So tell me...what did you get for your "Middle Earth Beer"?