Hemauer Brewing and The Adventure’s Guild are Hosting a Board Game Night at Hemauer Brewing

Hemauer Brewing and The Adventure’s Guild are Hosting a Board Game Night at Hemauer Brewing

Do you like board games? Settlers of Catan? Scythe? Game of Thrones the Board Game? Risk? Monopoly? Exploding Kittens? Trash Panda? Organ Attack? Ticket to Ride? Pandemic? King of Tokyo? Dominion? Small World? 7 Wonders? Tiny Towns? Etc, etc, etc. Or how about even card games like Uno, Poker, Trash Panda, Wild Fox, War, etc?

Then come on out to Hemauer Brewing on March 5th, from 5PM to 9PM (EST) and get to play some of your favorite board games, or learn a brand new one!

Board Game Night

Our neighbor, The Adventurer’s Guild, is partnering with us to bring you a board game night at the taproom! Join us on Tuesday, March 5th, from 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM for games, pizza, and drinks!

The Adventurer’s Guild will bring a stack of board games to play, but feel free to bring your own! We hope to see you there!

#hemauerbrewingco#hemauerstrong#beer#boardgamenight#brewing#drinklocal#localbeer

— at Hemauer Brewing Co.

Hemauer Brewing

Let’s Kick Summer Off

In many ways Memorial Day weekend is the unceremonious start to summer.  Most consider June 21, summer solstice as the start of summer.  I have also been looking at it as a way to make a difference for The Longest Day (Alzheimer’s Association – The Longest Day) for the Alzheimer’s Association.  The Beer Thrillers are looking to work on a Home Brewers Event to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association for The Longest Day for 2024.  Any ideas for venues, vendors, and / or ways to fund raise for the event don’t hesitate to reach out – thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. We can’t wait to combine our passion for craft beer with an awesome fundraising event for a worthy cause.

But first, we need to enjoy the beautiful Sunday we had today.  We checked out the local board game yard sale in Harrisburg held by Harrisburg Board Game. (Harrisburg Board Game Sale Day Event.) The yard sale was a bit of nostalgia games and lots of skill and strategy level games.  From the Facebook event for their annual Harrisburg Board Game Day 2023 “This exciting event, held once a year, is designed to bring people of all ages and skill levels together to enjoy the thrill of board games in our capital city.” 

The best part was Scarlet just woke up from a nap when we pulled up so she was in the best mood.  It felt like our little 6 – month – old baby was greeting and smiling at everyone there.  Everyone was friendly and happy to discuss anything about board games.  We picked out a game to play with the kids and a game Ben used to play with friends. (I picked out Monkey Lab for the girls to play, and Ben picked out Game of Thrones: The Board Game.)

(Game of Thrones: The Board Game – 2nd Edition and Monkey Lab.)

Then we swung by YAH Brew in Hershey.  We had both been drooling over the new food offerings and finally made it work with our schedule for brunch today!  They do brunch every Sunday 9am-5pm.  What drew our attention to the brunch offerings was their Facebook post about their “Mornin’ Smash”, described on the menu as “Two ground sirloin + breakfast sausage patties topped with sausage gravy and cheddar cheese on a butter biscuit bun” But when we got their we quickly decided on the Loaded Tots since this description was equally as drool worthy “Platter of crispy tots, topped with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage gravy and cheddar cheese.  We split the tots and each got a beer.  Ben did the Imprint Beer Co, – Haze it Forward and I did the Orange Sherbet Push Pop; a sour ale with orange, vanilla and sherbet.

(Our time at YAH Brew.)

The Orange sherbet push pop sour ale definitely took me back to the summers as a kid and snacking on the Flintstones sherbet push pops.   

The yabba dabba do orange to be more specific.  As we enjoyed our tots and our brews with this beautiful Sunday weather we are ready to celebrate summer coming very soon, drinking many more brews on the patio at YAH Brew and fundraising for The Longest Day.

Drink More Beer!

-Amy

Amy’s Column Series

Since getting back to writing for the blog after a short hiatus, Amy has started up a weekly column style writing for the blog. You can find these articles here:

• I’ve Missed Drinking (A Look at Non Alcoholic Beers)
• Beer and Pretzel Review: Legends and Lore (St. Boniface Brewing Company) and Garlic Parm Pretzels (Pretzels.com)
• Peanut Butter Eggs, Easter, Beer, and YAH Brew’s Shimmy Shake (Beer Review)
• Cox Brewing Company: Back to Their Roots
• Amy’s Day Off
• It Was All A Dream (A Visit to YAH Brewing)
• Just Another Weekend (A Hike at Saint Pete’s Trail and Hares Hill Brewing)
• I’m Pretty Darn Lucky (Happy Mother’s Day)
• Ready to Kick of the Summer
• You can find all of Amy’s articles here: Amy’s Archive of Articles.

Some Recent Articles

Some of our most recent articles for you to check out:

• From Philly to Pittsburgh: Pennsylvania’s Top Craft Breweries You Must Visit
• Twofer Brewfer Brewery Reviews: Gearhouse Brewing Co. and Liquid Art Brewing
• Zelda and Craft Beer
• Beer Review: Motueka’s Mask (Black Flag Brewing Company)
• World Beer Cup 2023 Winners – Pennsylvania
• The Beer Thrillers – Discord Channel
• Allusion Brewing Wins Three Awards at the 2023 CBMAs

Thanks For Reading

Like I always say at the end of these articles — thanks for reading. We appreciate all the views and visitors! Let us know what you think of the site and the blog, and how we could improve it!

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

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The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

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The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

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If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

Tyrion Lannister is many things in A Song of Ice and Fire (or the show version – Game of Thrones [played by Peter Dinklage]). For better or for worse he is known as a dwarf, a drunkard, a “whore chaser”, cocky, scoundrel, a Lannister, a reader, a smart ass, but for all these things he is typically best known for his one liners and wit. A pseudo – placement character for the author himself (George R.R. Martin), in a kind of twisted version of a Gary Stu; Tyrion Lannister despite his deficiencies and horrors that happen to him, often comes off looking the best.

This is not to say he’s a “good guy”, but this is also the world – Westeros – where nobody is truly a “good guy”. (The Starks are the closest we get to all around good guys…. and look what happens to all of them.) But, despite being morally grey, he usually comes off looking better than most other characters with his actions, and especially with his wit and wisdom and his acerbic tongue.

One of his biggest quotes that you’ll most likely see on at least one t-shirt at every brewfest is:

I drink and I know things.

Tyrion Lannister

Its usually one of those tongue in cheek quotes you hear (or read) over and over from people who think they are probably far smarter than they are, and also love to drink. Its similar to all of the unironic Joker quotes you see your ‘bro’ friends post on Facebook. Or you’ll probably encounter this quote in some jumbled up fashion as a team name on trivia night at your local brewpub.

The Appeal of the Character of Tyrion Lannister

So that makes me wonder, why exactly is Tyrion Lannister such a favorite? Is it his character? Or is it his wit and one liners? Or is it who and what he is or how he’s written? Is it his dirty potty mouth (the horrors!)? Or is there something more?

I first started this section as ‘The Character of Tyrion Lannister’ and after writing the previous paragraph changed it to ‘The Appeal of the Character of Tyrion Lannister’ because I think that matters most – especially considering this precise little volume. Since there is no ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Ned Stark’ or ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Reek’ or ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Littlefinger’. There could just as easily be one for Varys with all of his great quotes and sage like advice and pseudo – revolutionary and pseudo – deep thought or pseudo – pop – philosophy comments. But there isn’t (yet?). And I think this comes down to the appeal of Tyrion.

It is interesting just how much people have glomed onto the character of Tyrion. I believe a fair portion of that appeal is his ‘underdog status’. Hated by his own father for being a dwarf, and being blamed for the death of his mother at his birth, he is immediately someone we can have sympathy for. Couple this with his empathy for the other ‘lowlier’ characters like fan favorite bastard Jon Snow, and you can get a better more full spectrum of the character. He endures hardships, even by characters that we classically in other fictions would like, and we further empathize with him ourselves. And of course, add to this his whoring, his drinking, and his acerbic quick wit, and its very easy to see why he’s a fan favorite.

Book Review

GoodRead’s Blurb:

The perfect gift for fans of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels and HBO’s Game of Thrones: a collection of wicked one-liners from the incomparable Imp of Casterly Rock, fully illustrated by Jonty Clark!
 
“My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind . . . and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge.”
 
The jealous masses of the Seven Kingdoms may call him Halfman, but none have ever accused Tyrion Lannister of being a halfwit. His golden tongue has saved his skin slightly more often than it has landed him in mortal peril. Now, this special illustrated volume preserves his most essential knowledge for future generations, featuring time-tested guidance on such varied subjects as . . .
 
The art of persuasion
“The best lies are seasoned with a bit of truth.”
 
Fine dining
“A little honest loathing can be refreshing, like a tart wine after too much sweet.”
 
The fair sex
“The young ones smell much better, but the old ones know more tricks.”
 
Royal politics
“Crowns do queer things to the heads beneath them.”
 
Common ailments
“A sword through the bowels. A sure cure for constipation.”
 
At once charming, insightful, and ruthlessly irreverent, The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister is short on pretense and overflowing with finely crafted gems—just like the man himself.

GoodReads: The Wit and Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister

So…. this is certainly something I would never ever have paid full price for. Back cover price lists it as 16$ American. It is 177 pages with several middling illustrated images – in a cartoony and uninteresting way – of Tyrion Lannister. There is several chapter break pages and a few other blank pages. The quotes themselves are just one page for each quote. So all in all, this should take less then forty minutes at most to read, and that’s counting in the time to pour yourself a beer, and to take sips, and to answer a text or two.

I was able to get this far cheaper (I forget if I got it from the Hershey Public Library book sale, or the Hummelstown Library sale, or from AbeBooks – but I know I didn’t spend more than 2$ on it), otherwise I would never have gotten it.

Firstly, if you like Tyrion Lannister, which is something I would suppose anyone who is reading this book would be; then you should already be well acquainted with at least the majority of the quotes in the book. There shouldn’t really be much in the way of ‘surprising’ content for you, more like memory jogs of things you had read previously, or quotes you remember from the show – depending on your level of involvement with the Westeros universe.

It honestly screams ‘cash grab’ and its small size and smaller reading structure reads as a “neat little gift book” to give someone for Christmas or their birthday. But at its price, it’ll most likely come from someone who knows “oh hey, my buddy loves Game of Thrones, he talks about it all the time, this looks like a fun book for him” type of gift, rather than someone who also knows the material well and is gifting it to their also knowledgeable friend. Its in the vein of the knick-knack gifts you get from friends and family who know that you love Star Wars and get you some esoteric thing just because it has the Star Wars logo on it.

And for that, obvious cash grabs are always kind of an annoyance to me. Especially in the literary world. It just always “makes me sus” right out the gate on something, and this is no different. Its also interesting to point out that this was published in 2013, and at this point George R.R. Martin had (and still has) only released five of the books. And as for Game of Thrones the show, the finale didn’t end up airing until May 2019. Seems odd to release this book in 2013 before the written series isn’t done, and the television series isn’t done… unless you wanted to capitalize on the new found fame of it all for the sake of money, and to have a hold over until George R.R. Martin is able to finish the series – spoiler alert – he still hasn’t finished even the next book of the series by March 2022.

Are the quotes good and entertaining? Sure… but is it worth an entire book for them? No. And is it worth 16$? Certainly not! Especially given that you get roughly 116 quotes (if my counting was correct from a quick leaf through of the work). With each quote being a single sentence or two at most, you are spending 16$ for at most 232 sentences of text. Seems an absurd cost.

My GoodReads Rating: **
My LibraryThing Rating: *.5
Global Average GoodReads Rating: 3.56 (as of 3.12.22).

More Information

For more information on Tyrion Lannister I suggest checking out the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ Wikipedia:

• Tyrion Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire Wikipedia)

Thanks For Reading

Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely off and on good and bad weather we’re having here in Central PA (lovely SMARCH weather – Homer Simpsons). At least it gives me a chance to catch up on my “to read” pile, and to hit the library and get more books that I’ll start and hopefully finish before their due back. I am trying to keep up with reading and doing book reviews as soon as I get done. Hope you are all enjoying the book reviews on top of the beer reviews, and hike reviews, and other beer related articles here on the blog.

Also, be sure to check out the March Madness tournament that’s going on. You can find that here: March Madness (2022) – Bigger, Badder, Bolder.

Well, thanks for reading all! And remember to drink and to know things! Cheers!

-B. Kline

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

There is nothing better than coming home from a seven day road trip to finding a beer mail package on your front step. I want to give a big shout out to Steve Orbanek for the beer mail! Very very very very very grateful and thankful for this.

Being a typical kid of the 80s and 90s I grew up on The Simpsons. Simpsons, Seinfeld, Conan O’Brien, The Angry Beavers, Ren and Stimpy, Rocko’s Modern Life, Animaniacs, were the primary sources of my comedy as a young boy growing up. This has evolved and grown into many more options – from comics like Peanuts, B.C., Fox Trot, to late night talkshow hosts – Conan O’Brien, David Letterman, Johnny Carson, to more shows like Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, BoJack Horseman, Futurama, South Park, Rick and Morty, to stand up comedians like George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, to dark humor writers like Kurt Vonnegut; I could spend all day prattling on with a list of my comedic ancestors and inspirations and roots, but there is probably no bigger defining factor to my humor than The Simpsons. Early season Simpsons. Seasons 1-9 Simpsons. The Conan O’Brien episodes, the Treehouse of Horror episodes, the absurdism, the Sideshow Bob episodes, etc.

When quoting things it will come from one of three sources: 1) Simpsons / Futurama, 2) Seinfeld / Curb Your Enthusiasm, 3) Literature. And in that order. And I know which will be recognized…. and its not when I quote from group three.

Hanging out with friends, drinking at the bars, breweries, or home (especially now – at home) with buddies, the endless quoting of early Simpsons, the “that reminds me of X episode” comparisons, etc. “Remember that time X” or “this could have been something The Simpsons did” or when watching a show or movie “they are clearly ripping that from The Simpsons”, etc.

The Simpsons are a form of cultural identity, especially for people of my age. The mid-late 30s to early 40s. We grew up on a steady diet of Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Captain Planet, Rocko’s Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, Doug, The Angry Beavers, Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, etc. Our lives were viewed through the prisms of animated comedy and action. Our adolescence we spent learning why yellowed people with spiky hair and only four fingers on each hand were so much funnier than the people around us, their lives wackier, their antics ratcheted up a notch above the normalcy of our boring mundane lives.

As is a common theme on the blog here, if I have access to a pop culture beer to review – you best bet I’ll be reviewing it on here. There’s a long list of them (and I’ll put it at the end), from Star Wars, to Simpsons, to Seinfeld, to Turtles, to even a beer from Space Balls. If I have a chance to drink it, I’ll review it.

Previously I did – I Voted for Kodos, and this is the companion beer to that. I highly recommend giving that a read when you are done here as the two beers are companion beers and are meant to go together.

So, lets discuss KANG. As per the Simpsons Wikia:

“Kang Johnson is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Kodos) of the series. He is a Rigellian from Rigel 7. He and his sister Kodos are continuously try to take over Earth and are usually seen attacking Springfield. He usually appears in Treehouse of Horrors but either him or Kodos have been seen in other episodes such as “The Springfield Files” and “Gump Roast” Kang and Kodos have a lot of space weaponry at hand and have their own spaceship. They speak the Rigellian language, which, by coincidence, is identical to English. Although they look identical, Kang has a deeper voice than Kodos. He is the featured character on the on the Season 14 DVD/Blu-ray box set as well as the iTunes cover.”

The Citizen Kang segment from Treehouse of Horror VII is one of the best segments from Simpsons / Treehouse of Horror altogether. Lots of great quotes, lines, gags, and an outright funny segment. And despite being about Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, it still holds up well, especially the jokes about third parties and Ross Perot and people not wanting to vote third party.

It all seems almost prescient of our last two elections, alien vs. alien and still nobody voted third party. Sorry Gary Johnson (2016) and sorry Jo Jorgenson (2020). …or Kanye West (2020)…. seems people rather vote for aliens.

There is one thing though, that I am looking for in a President, and that is his stance on twirling….

Regardless of your political stance, there is one thing we can get together on and agree on – and thats that these beers from Second Sin Brewing Company have been top notch. (Unfortunately) I never had anything from Second Sin Brewing Company before the two beers – I Voted for Kodos and I Voted for Kang. They both absolutely blew me out of the water, and I can see why they are a Top 10 PA Brewery for 2020 according to Untappd. I have quickly added their brewery as a ‘must visit’ on my list of breweries to check out for 2021.

Second Sin Brewing Company is a micro brewery from Bristol Pennsylvania, located at 1500 Grundy Lane, the former site of Broken Goblet Brewing. (Broken Goblet has since moved on to a new location – they are also a very heavy pop culture referencing brewery, with a Gritty beer, several beers about the Eagles, and of course the popular This is the Way – Mandalorian beer). According to Untappd, Second Sin Brewing Company has 138 unique beers, and over 7.5K ratings with a global average rating of 4.07 (as of 12.5.20). (There is no description on their Untappd page.)

Beer: I Voted for Kang
Brewery: Second Sin Brewing Company
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 6.7%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: I Voted For Kang and I Voted For Kodos, conceptually, are like two peas in a pod. They both started with the same base of 2 row malt, Malted Oats, and light Crystal. Both are supported with Galaxy and Idaho 7 hops to round out their flavor profiles.

However, don’t let anyone tell you that these candidates are the same…oh, no. Kang is primarily hopped with the tropical and fruity Citra, while Kodos is loaded with dank and melony Mosaic.

Appearance looks very similar to that of I Voted for Kodos – a bright orange, hazy, dank, cloudy, opaque New England IPA. Like darker orange juice. This is a beautiful looking beer. Rich foamy head and left lovely lacing on the glass. Great carbonation from the can.

Aroma is a tropical hop blast. Large notes of tropical hop nose on this that you can smell as soon as you crack open the can and start to pour. This has the staple New England IPA hop combo of Mosaic and Citra to give it that punch of tropical, melon, juicy / dank hop aroma. The Galaxy and Idaho 7 hops accentuate this nicely and provides a very hop forward nose.

Taste is where there’s the bigger difference in comparison to I Voted for Kodos. While its similar in taste, there’s a notable difference (for me) – there’s no ‘kick’. I found there was a bit of a kick to the Kodos beer. Almost like a spice kick, but with a hop twist. This is much more smooth, much more juicer, much more dank, and easier drinking, and downright crushable. This is nothing to say against the I Voted for Kodos. That was a terrific beer and I loved it and drank it down just as easily, but I feel that I Voted for Kang is probably smoother, juicier, and therefore more crushable. The mouth feel on this is wonderful too, its heavy but not cloying, its not too heavy, but just right, the silky smoothness of it works well too and makes it an enjoyable drink. There is no hop bite or hop bitterness, and its a typical and well crafted New England IPA in that aspect that its pure flavor and taste. The combo of Mosaic and Citra (see insert of Hallmark meme that has been going around and around and around on beer groups on Facebook lately) works well here. Sometimes you just can’t beat a trusted and well done hop combo, and this proves it. This is tropical, with a bit of zest, some melon, a bit of peach, a good dose of mango, and the wee faintest hint of melon rind, pine, and passionfruit. There is no off flavors, nothing acidic, nothing cloying, no bad or awkward aftertaste, nothing lingering or off putting – this is just a very well crafted, well made New England IPA that goes down easy and smooth and is extremely tasty and drinkable. Both of these beers (I Voted for Kang and I Voted for Kodos) has sold me on Second Sin Brewing Company, and hopefully anyone else who has tried these it has sold them on the brewery as well, because these were phenomenal beers and they certainly deserve the praise they’ve been getting.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.22 (as of 12.5.20)

Out of the two, if hard pressed – I would pick I Voted for Kang over I Voted for Kodos. But thats an extremely close call, and both are extremely delicious beers.

Happy Repeal Day everyone. Make sure you go out and support a local craft brewery and drink some beer!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Ok, lets break down some of the nerdy pop culture beers I’ve reviewed:

Star Wars:

• Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag)
• Beer Review: Wookie Monster (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Blue Milk (RAR Brewing)
• Revenge of the Fifth / Cinco de Mayo
• May the Fourth Be With You
• Beer Review: This is Nut the Fluff You’re Looking For (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: This is the Way (Broken Goblet Brewing)
• Beer Review: Java the Stout (Jackie O’s Brewery)

Space Balls:

• Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewery)

Game of Thrones:

• Beer Review: Game of Thrones: My Watch Has Ended (Omnegang Brewery)

The Simpsons:

• Beer Review: I Voted for Kodos (Second Sin Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: I Voted for Kang (Second Sin Brewing Company)

Back to the Future:

• Beer Review: Back to Reality (Three 3s Brewing Co)

Scrooged:

• Beer Review: Scrooge IPA (Iron Hill Brewing)

Pro Wrestling:

• Beer Review: Broken Skull – Stone Cold Steve Austin’s IPA (El Segundo Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Macho Man (Couch Brewery)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

• Beer Review: Terpenes in Time (BAREBottle Brewing Co)

Other:

• Beer Review: Super Villain (Urban Village Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Pixels (Seminar Brewing)
• Beer Review: Villeinage (Elder Pine Brewing and Blending)

Seinfeld:

• Beer Review: Jon Voight’s Car (RAR Brewing)

Being a big fan of Game of Thrones (a big nerd of it actually; even more so of the book series – A Song of Ice and Fire) and being a big fan of Omnegang Brewery, I’m glad to finally get to review one of their beers; let alone one of their Game of Thrones series beers.

This is another fantastic addition to the Omnegang series of Game of Thrones beers. I believe this is going to be their final one, and its the only one they’ve released since the show ended. Its an interesting title in that its “MY” Watch Has Ended, instead of “Your” or “Our” Watch Has Ended. So I’m curious if thats a nod to it being the last of the series. Typically in the show when a watchman died, they’d say “Your” Watch Has Ended or “His” Watch Has Ended. Either way, its a good title (as all of their others are as well – Blackwater Stout, Hand of the Queen, Hand of the King, Mother of Dragons, etc.), and all of their beers (as all of Omnegang’s in general) have been fantastic, so if this is the last of the series, I will be disappointed to see it end. Just like I was with the final two seasons…. *bum-da-dish*.

Some of the other beers in their Game of Thrones series:

• Game of Thrones: Take the Black – Stout – Foreign / Export
• Game of Thrones: Three Eyed Raven – Farmhouse Ale – Saison
• Game of Thrones: Valar Morghulis – Belgian Dubbel
• Game of Thrones: Fire and Blood – Red Ale – American Amber Ale / Red Ale
• Game of Thrones: Seven Kingdoms – IPA – Belgian
• Game of Thrones: Iron Throne – Belgian Blonde
• Game of Thrones: Valar Dohaeris – Belgian Trippel
• Game of Thrones: King in the North – Stout – Russian Imperial
• Game of Thrones: Mother of Dragons – Smoked Beer
• Game of Thrones: Bend the Knee – Belgian Strong Golden Ale
• Game of Thrones: Hand of the Queen – Barleywine – English
• Game of Thrones: Queen of the Seven Kingdoms – Sour – Other
• Game of Thrones: Winter is Here – Witbier
• Game of Thrones: For the Throne – Belgian Strong Golden Ale
• Game of Thrones: My Watch Has Ended – Brown Ale – Imperial / Double

I believe thats not quite a full list, but thats the list given on Untappd. I thought there was a Blackwater Stout, and a few others, unless they changed the names of some of them in later releases of them. Out of that list above the only one I haven’t had is the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms (Sour). We – my friends and I, D. Scott, R. Dibeler, D. Arndt, Youngblood, and several others – typically would pair up the latest Game of Thrones beer with an episode, which they usually released one for the premier and one for the finale each season.

Background on Omnegang:

Brewery Omnegang is located just outside of Cooperstown, New York (famously known for the Baseball Hall of Fame). Their Untappd page bio says: Brewery Ommegang is a craft brewery dedicated to brewing American interpretations of classic Belgian-style ales. Located on a 136 acre former hop farm – the brewery grounds offer a truly heavenly backdrop in which to enjoy delicious Belgian-style brews.

Brewery Ommegang is listed as a Subsidiary of Duvel Moortgat . They have 222 unique beers on Untappd, with a global average rating of 3.77. They are considered a regional brewery.

I’ve honestly not had a bad beer yet from them, and their Game of Thrones series has been especially top notch. Its also obviously their biggest money-maker, as the show became such a huge cult phenomenon and pop culture highlight. Parties were held each week for the episodes, with people pairing up the latest release from Ommegang with that of the show. I know my friends and I were not alone in buying 2-3 upwards of 6-8 of the big corked bombers for the premiers and finales (where we had huge gatherings of 10-20 people). Occasionally we got multiples of each and sampled them as the episodes progressed. Comparing Hand of the Queen to Hand of the King, or Mother of Dragons to King in the North. Valar Morghulis to Valar Dohaeris.

So I was genuinely surprised when I showed up at Drew’s Thursday night before his podcast about Christmas movies he was doing with Esteban, Desiree, and a few others; that he had a new Game of Thrones beer. The show had been over for a bit now, the discussions on how bad the finale was all over, debates on how bad the final two seasons were, all forgotten. Much like life, the internet has moved on to discuss ad nauseum the latest pop cultural phenomenon – The Mandalorian now; rather than rehashing how bad the finale was of Game of Thrones (and dear god it was bad!).

So, as I was saying, I was quite surprised to see it. He said it just released and he found it at Giant on his way home from work the other night. I hadn’t heard a thing about a new Game of Thrones beer coming out, here I thought “I was in the know” (apparently not!). So, ahead of their podcast, while waiting for the others to come, and before I had to go to Ming and Don’s Christmas party, me and Drew cracked it open while watching the 1986 classic “Hands of Steel”. (Which that is an amazing classic movie…. if you ever get the chance, look it up on Amazon Prime and behold the glory!)

But enough about bad movies, and TV shows that were once good and then went to crap, lets discuss the beer!

Beer: Game of Thrones: My Watch Has Ended
Brewery: Brewery Ommegang
Style: Brown Ale – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: Imperial Brown Ale brewed with maple syrup and fenugreek.

Needless to say, I certainly had to look up fenugreek as I had no worldly idea what that was! So typing it into Google search, the first thing it brought up was on WebMD and on the Google Search page it said:

Fenugreek is an herb similar to clover that is native to the Mediterranean region, southern Europe, and western Asia. The seeds are used in cooking, to make medicine, or to hide the taste of other medicine. Fenugreek seeds smell and taste somewhat like maple syrup. Fenugreek leaves are eaten in India as a vegetable.

So there you have it, you most likely learned something new now today. Glad I could help.

Coloring on this is brown, obviously since its a brown ale. Its dark brown, not quite black, with a very beautiful foamy head. Its almost black in coloring, but I’d still label it brown. The head is heavy, thick, with white going to brown. Alternating bubble sizes, and the beer has great carbonation.

Aroma is heavy maple with a mixture of spices – probably that fenugreek, but I can’t exactly put my finger on that because I’ve never knowingly smelled just fenugreek before. There is a definitive herbal note to this, something similar to clover which is where I’d put my money on the fenugreek being. The maple is very strong though, so the spices kind of just work with it rather than act on their own.

Taste is fantastic and wonderful. Just like other Brewery Ommegang and their Game of Thrones beers, this is an exceptional, fantastically well made beer. You can tell they put true work and craftmanship into brewing. This is very thick and mouthfeel is very heavy, in a wonderful way, you are getting your 8% ABV worth on this bad boy. It feels like a heavy beer, it tastes like a heavy beer, and it gives you a great warming sensation with the herbs and spices. The maple is very strong providing a wonderful flavor to work great deep dark malts and roasted grains you get a real dark and heavy beer from the combination of these, that the spices then play over and lend it a wonderful fall / winter beer. The ABV gives you a bigger wallop then just 8% would lend you to think, probably also because it comes in the big champagne size bottles, so theres a lot more to drink than your typical 12oz or 16oz can or bottle. I could really rave on and on about this beer, but its just fantastic.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.85 (as of 12.14.19)

(Must admit, I’m surprised by the global rating on this one. Figured it’d be a bit higher. Usually I think I’m pretty close to the global rating, and sometimes, like this, it just surprises me when I’m off, especially when I think I might have even rated this 4.5 instead of 4.25.)

Ok, everyone, thanks for reading, and I managed to keep this pretty non-nerdy given the topic matter! I’m impressed with myself. Didn’t go crazy overhanded like I did with the Moon of Vega Space Balls one.

Cheers everyone! Happy Friday the 13th (when I started writing this) and Happier Saturday the 14th (when I finished writing this)!

-B. Kline