Beer

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"A Cask of Ale", by Tim Durning © Fantasy Flight Games

Beer is an alcoholic beverage popular in Westeros and the Free Cities.

Varieties

The inn at the crossroads offers a popular beer, by Marc Simonetti © Fantasy Flight Games

Mugs of strong black beer[1] and autumn beer[2] are served at Winterfell,[1] and a brewhouse near the Wolf's Den in White Harbor is famed for its thick stout sometimes exported to Braavos and the Port of Ibben.[3][4] Sweet beer is among the beverages served at the Red Keep.[5] The inn at the crossroads offers thick brown ale,[6] and nut-brown ale is served at Riverrun[7] and Ashford.[8] Brown beer is also available at Braavos[9] and Sisterton.[10] Barley beer is an offering in the riverlands.[11]

Brown ale[12] and yellow small beer[13][14] is available to the Night's Watch. Beyond the Wall, Craster drinks thin yellow beer.[15] Dothraki drink pepper beer,[16] while pale ales are available in Pentos.[17] Fruit beers and bittersweet black ales are offered in Volantis.[18] Beer halls offering strong black beer line the shores of the Noyne in Norvos.[19] Sour ale is sometimes consumed by travelers.[20][21]

Beer is often stored in casks[22][23] and kegs,[24] and smaller quantities can be transported in skins.[25] Beer is often served in cups, flagons, horns, mugs, and tankards. Some say the alehouse at Sherrer serves the finest ale south of the Neck,[26] and fine brown ale is also brewed at an inn by the Gods Eye.[11] The Night's Watch sometimes store beer in the icy storerooms of the Wall.[27] Some castles, such as Harrenhal[28] the Nightfort,[29] and Riverrun,[30] have brewhouses. Septries such as the Quiet Isle[31] often have brewhouses.[32]

History

The big-bellied Ser Willam Stafford was called "the Keg o' Ale" by smallfolk.[33]

Queen Alysanne Targaryen praised a strong northern ale when she visited White Harbor in 58 AC. Lothor Burley served stout and mead when the queen arrived at Castle Black.[34]

After the fall of King's Landing to Rhaenyra Targaryen amid the Dance of the Dragons, Lord Bartimos Celtigar doubled taxes on wine and ale to raise funds for the queen.[35] Tom Tangletongue gave ale to the crew of Nessaria while gathering information about Sunfyre.[36] During the Moon of the Three Kings, Gaemon Palehair decreed that the poor should receive bread and beer during famine.[37] Tom Tanglebeard was drowned in a cask of ale when King Aegon II Targaryen was assassinated.[38] Lord Torrhen Manderly preferred thick northern ale over the beer served at King's Landing.[39]

"A Cask of Ale" is a favorite song of King Robert I Baratheon.[40]

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

A knight drinking a mug of ale, by Tomasz Jedruszek © Fantasy Flight Games

During the Hand's tourney, King Robert I Baratheon drinks strong black beer from a polished horn.[41]

Jeor Mormont, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, believes that drinking lemon with his beer keeps his teeth strong.[42]

A Clash of Kings

Chilled autumn ale is served during the harvest feast at Winterfell.[43]

Shagga dislikes the weaker ale served in King's Landing.[44]

A Storm of Swords

Sybell Spicer makes a posset of herbs, milk, and ale for her daughter, Jeyne Westerling.[45]

Hobb cooks mutton in a broth of ale and onions at Castle Black.[46]

A Dance with Dragons

Lord Wyman Manderly supplies black stout and yellow beer for the wedding of Ramsay Bolton to "Arya Stark" at Winterfell.[4]

During the siege of Moat Cailin, the ironborn garrison consume ale because water in the nearby Neck is unsafe to drink.[47]

Quotes

It would not harm the boy to put some flesh on those bones of his. Let him try some good northern ale, so thick you can cut it with a sword.[39]

Never refuse a cup of wine or a horn of ale, it may be a year before you see another.[8]

The beer was black and thick, so strong it stung the eyes.[41]

—thoughts of Eddard Stark

He tried a swallow of the ale. It was brown and yeasty, so thick you could almost chew it. Very fine, in truth. A pity his father had hanged the innkeep.[6]

—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister

A man could use another taste of beer.[48]

A man may prefer the taste of hippocras, yet if you set a tankard of ale before him, he will quaff it quick enough.[49]

—thoughts of Cersei Lannister

Theon broke his own fast with a tankard of dark ale, cloudy with yeast and thick enough to chew on. A few more tankards, and perhaps Abel's plan might not seem quite so mad.[50]

—thoughts of Theon Greyjoy

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 9, Tyrion I.
  2. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 21, Bran III.
  3. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 15, Davos II.
  4. 4.0 4.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 37, The Prince of Winterfell.
  5. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 49, Eddard XIV.
  6. 6.0 6.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 56, Tyrion VII.
  7. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 55, Catelyn VII.
  8. 8.0 8.1 The Hedge Knight.
  9. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 34, Cat Of The Canals.
  10. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 9, Davos I.
  11. 11.0 11.1 The Mystery Knight.
  12. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 39, Jon VIII.
  13. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 1, Tyrion I.
  14. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 58, Jon XII.
  15. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 23, Jon III.
  16. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 64, Daenerys VIII.
  17. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 5, Tyrion II.
  18. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 27, Tyrion VII.
  19. The World of Ice & Fire, The Free Cities: Norvos.
  20. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 37, Theon III.
  21. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 65, Arya XII.
  22. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 50, Arya IV.
  23. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 19, Tyrion III.
  24. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 28, Catelyn V.
  25. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 24, Bran II.
  26. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 43, Eddard XI.
  27. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 52, Jon VII.
  28. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 38, Arya VIII.
  29. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 56, Bran IV.
  30. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 45, Catelyn VI.
  31. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 31, Brienne VI.
  32. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 39, Catelyn V.
  33. Fire & Blood, The Year of the Three Brides - 49 AC.
  34. Fire & Blood, Jaehaerys and Alysanne - Their Triumphs and Tragedies.
  35. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant.
  36. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown.
  37. The World of Ice & Fire, Dorne: Queer Customs of the South.
  38. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II.
  39. 39.0 39.1 Fire & Blood, The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency.
  40. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 42, Daenerys IV.
  41. 41.0 41.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 30, Eddard VII.
  42. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 70, Jon IX.
  43. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 22, Catelyn II.
  44. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 41, Tyrion IX.
  45. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 20, Catelyn III.
  46. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 55, Jon VII.
  47. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 20, Reek II.
  48. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 5, Arya II.
  49. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 3, Cersei I.
  50. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 51, Theon I.