Game of Thrones fans, prepare yourselves. Brewery Ommegang's third installment in its series of licensed Game of Thrones beers is set to be released today, Monday, March 31.
Fire and Blood, as the beer is called, is a red ale complete with some interesting ingredients like licorice root and ancho chilies. Named after the motto of House Targaryen, Fire and Blood is inspired by Daenerys Targaryen and her three dragons, Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion, according to news releases.
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After the success of the previous two entries, a blond ale called Iron Throne and a stout called Take the Black Stout, Ommegang has upped the ante on the complexity of the beers in this series. Moving forward, it says, the beers will begin to get more and more complex to mirror the evolution of the Game of Thrones storyline.
Fire and Blood is built upon a foundation of fairly run-of-the-mill malts: Pilsner and Cara-60 dominate, but with the interesting additions of Midnight Wheat, flaked rye, and spelt.
The beer is flavored with the CTZ hop blend (Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus) with added Styrian Golding and German Tettnang, which lends a lot of earthy bitterness to the brew. In addition, licorice root, star anise, and ancho chilies add a breadth of spicy flavor compounds.
Clean Plate was lucky enough to sample some at a prerelease event. The pour comes out with a thick and persistent off-white head and espouses an aroma of signature Ommegang spicy yeast and equally spicy hops. It's a gorgeous chestnut red color as well, highlighting the name 'Fire and Blood'. The taste cleans off the spiciness with a malt forward hit, the rye and spelt added in the grist lends to a specific mouthfeel. The spices and hops keep the malt under control and lend an earthiness on the tongue, while the ancho chilies make themselves known with a vegetable hefty rather than an all-out piercing heat. At 6.8 percent, it's amazingly drinkable, and a single 750ml might not be enough for some.
The beer will be available in select bars and retail accounts on draft, as well as in 750ml corked bottles. I'm sure they'll go great with the season four premiere of Game of Thrones on April 6.
Doug Fairall is a craft beer blogger who focuses on Florida beers and has been a homebrewer since 2010. For beer things in your Twitter feed, follow him @DougFairall and find the latest beer pics on Clean Plate's Instagram.
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