Game of Thrones has a million marketing tie-ins, and one of the most unique products we’ve seen from a television show so far is the Game of Thrones beer collection. In collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, the Game of Thrones beer collection features a different seasonal beer launched in limited releases. So far, there have been 5 beers: Iron Throne, Take the Black Stout, Fire and Blood, Valar Morgulis, and the recently-released Three-Eyed Raven. From a brunette ale to a dark saison hybrid, each beer is unique in theme and flavor.
But how do these beers measure up? Are they for beer aficionados only, or will fans of the show who enjoy a casual beer also enjoy them? We decided to pit our resident brew expert, Tushar, against beer newbie (but Game of Thrones fangirl) Mia to bring you their thoughts on the three most recent Game of Thrones beers.
Fire and Blood
Named after the words of House Targaryen, Fire and Blood bills itself as a red ale with fruity, malty notes. As implied by the name, the beer has a red hue.
Mia – Beer Newbie
The first thing I noticed is that it doesn’t have the dark beer smell which, to me, is unappealing, so that’s a plus. The first time I tried this beer, I distinctly remember saying the name was unfortunate, because it tasted like blood and burned dirt. This time around, I guess I’ve grown a taste for beer, because I actually tasted fruity notes. There is a lot of flavor in this brew, but luckily, no bitter aftertaste. It is a lighter beer than I expected from the color. Overall, I would drink this beer again, though it’s not my all-time favorite.
Tushar – Beer Journeyman
This brew actually came randomized with one of three different labels for each of Daenerys’ dragons. Looks like Mia got Drogon on hers, but mine was Viserion looking angry as hell.
Fire and Blood is brewed with ancho chilies to give it a bit of a kick. But don’t worry, you’re not going to burn your face off or be breathing fire when anyone utters Dracarys. The ancho gives Fire and Blood a short-lived punch (presumably the fire) that decays pretty quickly and gives way to some mild fruity sweetness and malt flavor. This is called a red ale (naturally, the blood) but the red ales that I’ve had over the years vary wildly in hoppiness and fruitiness – the only consistent characteristics is that they were darker than ambers, not as heavy as darks, and had a range of fruitiness from bottom to top.
Mia’s experience, at least the second time around, did have her finding those fruity notes characteristic with a red ale, but that spice and heat to me differentiates Fire and Blood. With the spice from the ancho and that red ale sweetness, I’m sure this would get the seal of approval from House Targaryen.
I could definitely marathon some Game of Thrones and enjoy this brew on the fine spring Sunday evenings while the show takes over my TV at 9pm.
Valar Morghulis
Valar Morghulis was created for fans, by fans with an online contest determining the style and name of the beer. An Abbey Dubbel ale, Valar Morghulis is malty and has notes of caramel, toffee, ripe fruits and burnt sugar.
Mia – Beer Newbie
I had the fortune to try this beer at the San Diego Comic Con ceremonial keg tapping event last year. I wasn’t excited about going to a beer tasting, but I was excited about Game of Thrones. Suprisingly, this was the first beer that I’ve ever tried that was almost enjoyable. It’s got a much lighter flavor, so it’s not as intense as some of the other beers I’ve tried, but not watered down, either. To me, it tastes almost summery. Is it delicious? No. Is it tolerable for getting drunk on beer? Yes. Of all the beers, this is the one I’d purchase again. The only downside is it’s hard to pronounce.
Tushar – Beer Journeyman
Delicious. Straight up and down. Fire and Blood is advertised as a Dubbel, which is a Trappist style ale known for being a bit on the heavier side with fruit flavors. For those of you who beer regularly in more of a crafty way, this would be close in style to those chalices of Chimay Red you enjoy so much. I found Valar Morghulis to be more flavorful than other dubbels I’ve had, with strong notes of cherries and other dark fruits, and it was surprisingly easy going down. Even pouring it slow gave it a head of foam in my glass that stayed through the entire drink and tasted only moderately carbonated. It’s a delicious brew, but not something I could kick back and sip on bottle after bottle. So while this one isn’t something that should be the entire of a beer night, I would love to stock a few more bottles of this limited edition offering.
While the beer’s very good, not sure how the name ties into the style. Sure, valar morghulis means “all men must die” in Valyrian, but not sure of the connection of an abbey dubbel to the House of Black and White or the Faceless Men. Then again the name and style were determined by fan contest, so that’s kind of expected.
Either way, Valar Mozugis – “all men must drink.” There’s a little lesson in High Valyrian for you kids from Tushar of the House Nene, first of his name, Mayor of Brown Town and Protector of the Realm.
Three-Eyed Raven
The newest beer in the Game of Thrones collection, Three-Eyed Raven is a Dark Saison ale, a hybrid style. It is almost black in color, this brew is yeasty, peppery, and crisp.
Mia – Beer Newbie
This is not a beer for a beer newbie. Three-Eyed Raven is VERY dark, bitter, and heavy. For me, it left a beery aftertaste that was bitter and unpleasant. Unlike the other two beers, I couldn’t discern any deeper flavor other than bitter beer. (Bitter like Bran? Who knows.) It tasted awful to me, but hey, I’m the Jon Snow of beer, so what do I know? Both me and my drinking partner couldn’t finish this beer.
Tushar – Beer Journeyman
Like Mia said, this isn’t a beer someone just starting out in their beer journey should take their opening sips with. Pouring dark like the wings of the raven itself, this beer does have some sweetness to it that can get lost in what some could consider a bitter finish. I didn’t experience the extreme bitterness Mia did – I found the hoppiness and spices characteristic of a Saison, even though those flavors were toned down a bit here. At the same time it did not have the heaviness that comes with a dark beer like Ommegang’s Game of Thrones beer #2, Take the Black Stout.
Three-Eyed Raven is a dark saison ale, which actually I don’t think I’ve ever tried before. Generally the saisons I’ve had (also called farmhouse ales) have been much lighter in color, hoppy and spicy with a good bit of carbonation. Take a look at Ommegang’s own Hennepin as an example – it’s light with citrus and spice flavors. So what’s the deal with this one? Ommegang’s Mike McManus answers that one: “When we zeroed in on Bran’s storyline with HBO, we knew this was the perfect opportunity to brew something with many different characteristics and attributes – a beer that’s not truly one thing or another. It is definitely the most unique beer in the series to date, which is very exciting.”
He went on to say more on how it associates to Bran – “We’re certain those fans will be just as surprised by the complexity of Three-Eyed Raven as they were by Bran’s discovery at the end of season four.” OK, Mike, we see where you’re going here. You could say it’s a… Stark… departure from the first four brews. Maybe with a dual personality between dark and saison like the old man and the raven?
Mia Moore / Tushar Nene
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@xoMiaMoore / @tusharnene
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So you watch Game of Thrones and maybe have delved into reading the five published books of A Song of Ice and Fire. At an average of a thousand pages each, the casual reader probably wouldn’t be able to survive a round of trivia on Quiz-Up. Luckily for the future George R. R. Martin scholars, there are some pretty serious A Song of Ice and Fire fans here at Sub-Cultured who want to help you on your first, second, and third re-read. Collectively we’ve probably read the whole series over 20 times and have spent hours discussing and analyzing our favorite theories and characters. It’s too much, we know, but it does mean that we’ve accumulated some good tips on how to digest the infamously dense series.
1) Get the Audio Books
To the purists who love experiencing books as word on a page, I’m one of you, I promise. But the audio books as narrated, nay, performed by Roy Dotrice (who had a small role on Game of Thrones as the pyromancer Hallyne) are an experience unto themselves.
The masterful actor gives each and every one of the 200+ characters their own distinct voices with accents to match their origins as well as melody to the many songs in the series. If the HBO adaptation disappointed you because of its deviations from the text, the audio books will bring the words and world just as alive as watching a multi-million dollar production. Plus, if re-reading the whole epic seems daunting, maybe 100 hours of audio is less so. Ok, maybe not. But the audio tracks will free your hands up to go about your life while taking in the saga in a new way. For a sample, check out the recording of the infamous fight between Gregor Clegane and Prince Oberyn.
2) Pick up the short stories and The World of Ice and Fire.
While waiting for the 6th book of the series, The Winds of Winter, stay in-universe with several novellas about some long-dead Targaryen royalty.
Tales of Dunk and Egg
So far this is a trilogy of short stories that take place about 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones and includes the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall and his Squire, the future King Aegon V (brother of Maester Aemon). The current novellas are The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight, but Martin has promised that more are coming after the trilogy is published as a single collection later this year.
There are also two novellas, The Princess and the Queen and The Rogue Prince (both originally published as part of separate anthologies) about the oft referenced Dance of Dragons, a war between Princess Rhaenyra and her younger half-brother and future King Aegon. Both are “written” by Archmaester Gyldayn.
The World of Ice and Fire
These are all excellent additions to the canon, but the real cornerstone to any dragon-obsessed fan’s collection is the World of Ice and Fire compendium. While, disappointingly, it only includes sparse information about the houses of Westeros and lands beyond, the devotion the book has to the Targaryen kings and kin makes it a must-read for those who want to track the many instances of repeated history in the main series. Plus, the art is unbelievable.
3) Get a map
The next few tips will be devoted to developing your own theories and analyzing the most popular ones. For this, a map is essential. Westeros and Essos are huge continents. So some of what you hope will happen or could happen in a certain time frame is simply impossible because everything and everyone is so damn far apart. It’s taken 5 books to grow a rideable dragon and without one, it may take an entire novel for a character to get from The Wall to Dorne.
The Lands of Ice and Fire map collection is beautiful. I have the full map of Westeros hanging on my wall for quick reference and also because I’m a bit nuts. The collection came with maps of several major cities as well as a second world map, which tracks all the major characters’ movements in the first five novels. But you may want make marks of your own to do incredibly necessary things like tracking the estimated sightings of long-lost Nymeria’s wolf pack. There are so many pieces in this game to win the Iron Throne; keep track of them!
4) Check out this fan-compiled timeline
Obviously there is so much going on in Westeros at once that it can be difficult to keep in mind the fact that many of the point of view chapters in each book are happening simultaneously. There are often clues in the text, but we can only imagine how difficult it would be to keep track of the events of A Feast for Crows and A Dance of Dragons, which run on parallel timelines. Luckily for re-readers, you don’t have to! A Song of Ice and Fire‘s fandom is a huge and devoted community, and several fans were nice enough to work together to make an estimated timeline of every event from the first five books and available chapters from the sixth book available to us.
5) Remember these essential questions when developing theories: What characters know about it and what purpose would it serve?
Do you think Maggie the Frog will be revealed as Jon’s true mother? Have you theorized that character X is probably Syrio Forel in disguise? WHO IS COLD HANDS?
Listen, it doesn’t matter how wacky your theory is, but remember that these are novels, so twists and turns must serve some sort of narrative or produce a bit of character development.
by M.Luisa Giliberti
For example, one of the most popular theories is that Prince Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark are the parents of Jon Snow. One of the many reasons that this theory is so solid is because it passes these two qualifications: it keeps up the “ice and fire” motif, it opens up a whole lot of possibilities for Jon and if it’s true, some living characters could definitely know about it. For one, the two Reed children, whose father was at Ned’s side when Lyanna died, are in the perfect position just beyond The Wall to let Jon know that everything he knew about himself was a lie (kidding!). And honestly, what is the purpose of revealing Jon’s parentage if he never finds out?
6) Join a Discussion Community
Maybe if, after every time you finished the series, you started from the beginning again, you’d catch every prophecy and clue and hint for things to come. We think that’s a little much. We love A Song of Ice and Fire but it doesn’t have to be the last books that you ever read. For that reason, different online communities are perfect. You’ll never remember everything, but re-reading with a horde of other fans will make the whole thing a lot more fun. We’re fans of the Reddit of Ice and Fire and the discussion boards from Tower of the Hand (which hosted a big re-reading event not too long ago)
There are some pretty serious writers out there who love dissecting the text way more than we’d ever be willing to! Below is a list of our favorite blogs
The War and Politics of Ice and Fire for some unparalleled in-depth analysis of military strategies and political moves.
ASOIAF University A collection of metas (critical essays or analysis), gathered from across tumblr
GRRM’s Blog Goes without saying that checking in with the big man is a good idea
The Great Northern Conspiracy Begin with this popular and in-depth theory, but beware how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Inn at the Crossroads Ok, not a critical blog, but one that has created detailed recipes for the dishes that are described in the books.
7) Pay attention to dreams and prophecies
Most readers are usually just as surprised as Ned was to find out that the main character in the first book was beheaded and then completely shocked to read the events of the Red Wedding two books later. However, as most people who have re-read the series are eager to point out (whether you invite them to or not), there’s tons of foreshadowing, including dreams and loaded conversations between characters, that should have warned you that something was going down at The Twins. Unfortunately, that means you probably shouldn’t skim through Bran’s 10th wolf dream, even if it means having to suffer through a description of Summer chomping down on a small animal for the 10th time.
What about you, ASOIAF community? Any advice for your fellow fans?
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A Game of Thrones. A book, a show, and to some… a religion. A religion whose deity (George R. R. Martin) rarely grants you new passages in your holy book. But when he does, festivals are thrown. Virgins are sacrificed. And then more is demanded.
Still over half a year until season 3 starts….
So until season 3 comes around and we all go ape shit crazy over it, I will continue my quest of summing up all of the main Game of Thrones characters with a couple of memes. Today will be dedicated to the Lannisters. Ohhhhhhhhh the Lannisters…. They are almost designed for awesome memes.
Hell Yes
First up. Jaime Lannister.
You won’t get this joke unless you actually paid attention during the show (Or just read the books)
Did…. knights have highlights?
Or so I hear
Who should follow Jaime but his “loving” sister, Cersei Lannister.
A favorite of mine… despite the misspelling of “enjoyed”
Well she’s gotta get laid somehow, jeez
What cousin does that meme refer to? Well, Lancel Lannister of course. Well known for being a total bitch in the show.
You only need this meme to sum up Lancel.
You can’t forget Jaime and Cersei’s father, Tywin Lannister, who is actually pretty awesome.
And saving the best two Lannister’s for last we have; Joffrey Lannister…. I mean Baratheon. But… youuuu knowwwww
Pretty much sums it up
AND EVERYONE’S FAVORITE!! GIVE A WARM WELCOME AND A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR TYRIONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN LANNISTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
True story bro
Well that’s it for the house of Lannister. Next time I will be covering Daenerys Targaryen and Company.
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