Hobbit Brew?

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I may have the name for my next ESB.

Smaug3-1.jpg
 
Ive got some sort of recipe in mind, i liked the home roasted malts idea so im ihjt incorporate that in too. I was also thinking along the lines of a ESB also
 
I'm still not convinced hobbits, trolls, or even wizards had hops.

For that mater, they know nothing of India.;)
 
I just saw that Harry Potter thread, and I thought, "Well, a Hobbit beer would be amazing!" I did a search, found this impressive thread, and spent the past 45 minutes reading it (skimming some I'm afraid).

This thread was created long before I got here, so I was wondering if any "finished" recipes ever came of it (I only saw recipes that still seemed under construction, with no mention of how they turned out). Did any of these brews ever see bottle? How did they come?

I have a few brews already queued up that will probably take me into the fall, but I want to use this thread to construct a Hobbit brew soon. If nothing else, this thread deserved a bump. :rockin:
 
It's all about imagination, isn't it? Last year I made King Brian's Common Room ESB, which he described thus:
It is named for the fact that I can easily imagine a beer very similar to this being drunk in large tankards in the common room of inns by weary travellers in your favorite fantasy novel. Whether washing down a roasted chicken or being enjoyed by itself with friends, I hope you get similar feelings when drinking this ale.
A simple recipe, traditional English ingredients, make yourself a nice label to go with it. When I made the beer, it was very popular.

I think a barleywine would also be suitable. "Barleywine of Baranduin", or something like that.
 
Since I necro-bumped this thread, I guess i should add more than just my previous questions (see two posts ago).

I found a cool article that seems to follow many of the same lines of thought first described in this thread, it also offers up a recipe:

Barliman's Best
makes 20 litres - OG 1070

Pale Malt 2,5 Kg
Amber Malt 1,5 Kg
Rauchmalz 2,5 Kg

Nettle tops 1 Kg*
Sage 50 gr

Yeast Top Fermenting

*original recipe was 2,5 Kg
Preparation
Infusion at about 67C until conversion
Boiling of wort: 60 min
Last 15 min: add sage (and nettles, if not already used)

Note:; for the possible use of heather (as an addition or as a substitute of nettle) check here
-----------------------------------------

If I find any other recipes, I'll post. And as i requested in my previous post, if anyone did brew one, please let us know how it turned out, along with the recipe. :mug:
 
GreenWolf pointed out earlier in the thread that Tolkien mentioned oasts, but no one seemed to comment on it. Here is the quote from the book

"The townlands were rich, with wide tilth and many orchards, and homesteads there were with oast and garner..."

To me this is proof that there most definitely were hops in middle-earth and the ales and porters that Tolkien referenced would have most likely been hopped.
 
I definitely didn't try to get Middle Earth/Hobbiton-type ingredients, or aim for the Gaffer's Ale or anything, but one of my first beers tasted dark and sweet, like something I imagined a hobbit would enjoy. So I named it McBaggins Stout...

mcbagginsstoutsmall-2.jpg
 
After starting to read lord of the rings (again) and stumbled upon this thread, I decided that I had to brew a hobbit ale. My interpretation of an ale that could be drunk in Shire is an slightly overhopped (but balanced in terms of bitterness) English pale ale. Here's my recipe:

Bag End Pale Ale
Batch Size: 12 liter
OG: 1061
Est. Bitterness: 51 IBU
Est. Color: 30 EBC
Est. Alc: 6%
Total Amount of water (BIAB): 18 liter
Efficiency: 80%

Malts
92.3% Golden Promise (2.71 kg)
7.7% TF Dark Crystal (0.23kg)

Hops
60min - 3g Bramling Cross + 3g First Gold
20min - 20g Bramling Cross + 20g First Gold
5min - 20g Bramling Cross + 20g First Gold
0min - 27g Bramling Cross + 27g First Gold (cooling started after 10mins)

Jäst
Wyeast 1469 - West Yorkshire Ale (förkultur på 1.5 liter)

Water etc:
Gypsum - 0.38 tsp (mash)
CalciumChloride(33%) - 2.64 tsp (mash)
Yeast nutrient 0.5tsp (20min)

Pictures etc can be found at (sorry but I write my blog in Swedish):
http://chubbsnanobryggeri.blogspot.se/2012/05/bryggdag-bag-end-pale-ale.html
 
I'm on my phone at work, so please forgive me if I missed the posts (I've tried to look through them all and this is how I've spent my morning)

I want to make a nice brown ale. I'm an extract brewer. Can anyone suggest or repost a hobbit's brown ale with an extract recipe?

Thanks
 
Was just re-reading recently and I forgot that the dwarves ask for ales and porters when they assemble at Bilbo's home for the adventure. Has me wanting to make a porter now, even though it's summer...
 
You could look for hints in the food they ate. I don't remember specifics, but I believe there are details of Bilbo's going-away feast- food is probably mentioned. It might give some idea of tastes they liked- was their food spicy, sour, sweet, etc?

They would almost certainly have added seasonal fruits, herbs, veggies, maybe even some of whatever they put in their pipes...
 
More than likely the ale and porter that Tolkien put into his stories were meant to duplicate the beers that Tolkien himself drank in England at that time. He was quite fond of hanging out with his buds to discuss writing. I'm sure they had a few glasses to go along with their pipes. He was known to be addicted to his pipe and has mentioned hating the habit.

At any rate, you can bet that Hobbit brew was the finest sort of ale you can imagine. Only the finest ingredients and loved throughout the land. I'm betting the Dwarves loved their dark beer, the Elves had something like a golden strong ale when they were not drinking wine, and Hobbits had Pale Ale and for special occasions, IPA (But they called them EPA, since they were more highly hopped to survive the long journey to Esgaroth.)
 
It's got to be strong, given the nature of hobbits. It's got to be of big body and it's got to finish sweet I would think. A strong mild(gayles festival mild) of an old ale I woulod think, with herbs.
 
I am so ashamed... I'm only finding this thread now. I don't have much to add that has not been already said, but I have to say that I agree that the basic ale of the Shire would have to be a Mild. But other options would be there, especially for special occasions. Some kind of bitter, porter, and strong ale (barleywine or even something like a Scotch Ale) would have been available. The Shire and Hobbit culture was all about early 20th century English country life (even though the mythology would place it millennia earlier). Plan your ales accordingly...
 
Here's a name suggestion: Sharkey's Delight. Referring to how Sauramon delighted in pipe weed and ale from the shire, yet thought very little of the hobbits and their power. In the same way, you'll delight in the beer only to be smacked in the face a little later by all the boozeahol.
 
I know that others disagree, but the fact that dwarves call for stout (an ale) and ale (an.......ale) separately makes me think Tolkien was not very knowledgeable. There was a bitter or brown or something at his local pub called "the ale" for short and he thought ale to be a specific style.
 
I feel like terminology was probably just different then. People around the pubs he was hanging out at must have used the same terminology I would figure. And just to be nitpicky, it's ale and porter :p It made sense to me when I read it, ale to me probably just means pale ale, or perhaps mild or brown.
 
I know that others disagree, but the fact that dwarves call for stout (an ale) and ale (an.......ale) separately makes me think Tolkien was not very knowledgeable. There was a bitter or brown or something at his local pub called "the ale" for short and he thought ale to be a specific style.

Interesting point. Makes me think of back before I knew anything about beer, I used to go into bars and simply ask for "lager." I mainly drank Yuengling, and I knew that was lager. But beyond that, I had no idea the difference between lager and ale, or that there were different types of either.

In fact, I remember a time when the term "ale" seemed old fashioned to me, and something I didn't think anyone drank anymore. :cross:
 
Just brewed a porter and split it into two smaller batches, one using yarrow and sweet gale and one using English hops. If they turn out well I will post the recipes :)
 
hoffmeister said:
Holy Crap! I posted this barely an hour and a half ago, and look at the responses! Thanks everyone, I had no idea this would go over so well. I think the general consensus so far has been a mild brown for the Hobbiton region, I think that opting for herbs rather than hops is a good way to go. Like someone mentioned, given the current shortage in some areas, this might now be a bad time to give this a try. I'm honestly not too up on my indigenous British herbs, but does anyone have any thoughts as to what might be appropriate? Also, I know it's generally not part of the style of a brown mild, but I was thinking about using a small quantity of oak chips in the secondary to simulate the casks they used, since I'm sure they didn't have glass or stainless fermenters :) Good idea, bad idea?

I did a cursory glance through Fellowship last night and I didn't see anything specifically related to beer, but I'll take a better look when I get home. I'll also consult some of the other materials, as someone suggested. Thanks again everyone, I'm glad this is going over so well!

Fh

J
 
Let me Resurrect this Thread like Gandalf did himself from Grey to White!

My research began about a month ago on the cusp of Peter Jacksons the Hobbit premiering December 13th, little over 2 months. My quest: brew a beer that has everything a hobbit would want. My recipe I brewed 2 days ago, containing numberous things I pulled from this very thread.

10# marris otter
5# wheat malt
1# victory malt
.5# 40L crystal
.5# cherry wood smoked malt
.25#flaked oats

1 oz. ekg @60 and @20 mins.
2oz heather tips and 6 oz candied ginger@20mins

I want to oak it as well. and not to mention im open fermenting. OG came out to 1060. Just measured it tonite 2 days after brewing and its at 1030. The malt is bordering to a light to golden brown, i initially wanted a dark brown, but its actually pretty appealing now. I really want this beer to be ready to drink Dec. 13. 6 weeks from brew day. The runnings and all samples ive taken of the wort are very good, but you know its not till you taste the final carbed product do you know. I have a lot of ingredients, almost to many, itll be a miracle if its drinkable in 6 weeks. Im so stoked for this movie and will probably see it many many times over a couple months, so I plan to break out multiple bottles over the next couple months.

-for frodo
 
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Good bloody job there,I shall pop by the village green for a tankard in a few weeks
 
Worry not about the color in bulk.
My blond looks fairly amber in the fermenter. Worry not, for the color is darker, the larger the container.
 
I'm amazed no one has mentioned John Palmer's Hobbit Mild (http://brewingtv.com/recipe/2011/9/23/belladonna-tooks-oaked-mild-john-palmer-recipe-for-btv.html)

I'm planning to make it without oak once I bottle my last batch but I was thinking of a small batch of braggot/metheglin inspired by the Rangers. Something they would make with what was at hand in the wild places esp. considering Aragon's knowledge of plants. Some malt and hops would set up a background for the rest well but some buckwheat honey and wild rosemary seem good to me, maybe some rye malt too. Planning to use English ale yeast. More of a tribute than an actual attempt at copying a specific style.
 
I'm amazed no one has mentioned John Palmer's Hobbit Mild (http://brewingtv.com/recipe/2011/9/23/belladonna-tooks-oaked-mild-john-palmer-recipe-for-btv.html)

I'm planning to make it without oak once I bottle my last batch but I was thinking of a small batch of braggot/metheglin inspired by the Rangers. Something they would make with what was at hand in the wild places esp. considering Aragon's knowledge of plants. Some malt and hops would set up a background for the rest well but some buckwheat honey and wild rosemary seem good to me, maybe some rye malt too. Planning to use English ale yeast. More of a tribute than an actual attempt at copying a specific style.
I did recreate that recipe that John Palmer put out for his Bella Donna Tooks Oaked Mild. I got a little crazy as a new brewer by adding 2# of honey as soon as the second krausen subsided. I tasted the beer prior to adding honey and it was as he described in the video, but after the honey was added, it tasted amazing. I am aware not much of the honey will be in the final product because of all the fermentable sugars, but it seemed right, also the honey addition bumped the gravity up to 1.035, but i did fail to take the grav reading prion to the honey addition. I also noticed the essex ale yeast was wonderful very active. I harvested from two krausen for a high yield of beautiful yeast. I will be using this yeast again, I also will be brewing this with no modifications again because i licked the spoon it tastes wonderful. Just to stay true to the recipe and John Palmer legacy I will keep this one going. Batch after batch will be made for my friends and I. I will post about the honey batch after bottle opening day. Until then i will follow the recipe to the letter while Honey Took is building carbonation in the bottles.
 
Okay, so I'm going to expose my dorkiness to all of you, but I think you might be able to help me. This was partially encouraged by a posting a saw for Butterbeer, from the Harry Potter books. I'm a huge J.R.R. Tolkien fan, and when I was recently watching Fellowship two scenes got me thinking. In one, during Bilbo's birthday party, Frodo accuses him of drinking too much of the Gaffer's ale, to which Bilbo admits that he has. Later, at the Prancing Pony, the hobbits are delighted when they find they can get beer in pints.

Now my question is, what type of beer would hobbits drink? Would the beer they brew in Hobbiton be different from the beer brewed in Bree, since they are for different clientele, or would they be similar? I know there's not any sort of indication of what their preference in beer might be, but I thought it might be fun to come up with a recipe for either the Gaffer's ale or Bree ale, or both. I'm thinking something like a mild brown ale or bitter for the Gaffer's, and maybe a hearty brown ale or even a porter for Bree, since there are men there and its a bit rougher of an area. Any thoughts/suggestions would be welcome, but please keep comments about my nerdiness to yourselves :)

Like palmer said they would drink a oaked brown mild..actually john palmer and northern brewer are coming out with a kit called "belladonna took"..Thats john palmers recipe for what he thought was getting brewed up in the shire..the kit should be available this year at northern brewers
 
Just brewed a Bag End Bitter (ESB/English Pale Ale). Mainly 2-row w/ a little belgian aromatic and lots of British hops, fermented with Wyeast London ale III. Will post label soon.
 
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