Iron Throne Blonde Ale: Brewery Ommegang

Even though winter is over A Game of Thrones starts a new season on HBO.  I’m still a little surprised that such an imaginative and complex story as the Song of Ice and Fire was so successfully transformed into a television series.  Other similarly complex stories, such as Frank Herbert’s Dune, have generally failed to translate well onto the big or small screen.  I’m pleased to see the Game of Thrones become part of popular culture and George R.R. Martin getting some well-deserved attention.  The epitome of this pop culture is the production of a beer made especially for the HBO series.

The beer, called Iron Throne Blonde Ale, is brewed by Brewery Ommegang and is the first in a series.  The brewery has come up with some loose justification for the beer style and its tie-in to the story—something about the Lannisters being blonde and having control over the Iron Throne.  More likely, they made a blonde ale because this beer style is what Brewery Ommegang does best.  Indeed, it tasted to me like other white ales (witte) produced by this brewery.  Brewery Ommegang makes great beer, but I was really hoping to see something a little more interesting for Iron Throne.  Hopefully, Brewery Ommegang will get a little more creative on the next three beers in the series. I wonder what the names will be?  Here are some suggestions:

Hodor Hefe Weisen—It seems like the big guy would enjoy a hearty wheat beer.

Littlefinger Lite—The perfect beer for Lord Baelish’s continual scheming.

Night’s Watch Imperial Stout—Dark, brooding, and keeps you warm on the wall.

The Imp IPA—Bitter and humorous, dwarfing other IPAs.

Winterfell Holiday Ale—the name just sounded good to me.

Baratheon Barleywine—Tastes great by the fire after a day of boar hunting; I’ll take a horn full.

I think that is more than enough.

Cheers,

Zymus