Added in Spring Festival 2010 was the Ale Association. The Ale Association (AA) and Inn League (IL) are rivals so doing quests for the AA will grant negative reputation with the IL and vice versa.
Just as a general tip you may want one character work on AA rep and an alt work on IL although it is possible to get to kindred with both.
The Ale Association is a group of Dwarves lead by Jonar in the Underground Tavern in Thorin’s Hall. Like the IL, they have their own private bar entrance that is granted with Acquaintance standing. Jonar is very bitter about the Inn League and these quests tend to be a little mean and directed at ruining the IL’s good time.
These quests are centered around alcohol and having your character drink alcohol so if you are a parent of a young and impressionable LOTRO player, you may want to think about whether or not you allow your kids to participate. It really is all quite harmless but as a parent, I understand having to be sensitive to issues like this and wanted to mention it.
See the other things available during the Festival in our Festival Guide!
Becoming a Member
To become a member of the Ale Association, there are two quests that are open that after completing will make you acquaintance with the AA.
| The Ale Association Challenge Introduction |  |
| NPC: Andre (in the underground tavern) | |
| Level: 10+ | |
| Rewards: +10,000 AA Rep | |
| Andre wants you to go to the Prancing Pony in Bree. This is the Ale Association’s version of the pub crawl. In my opinion it’s much easier as it’s just running around Bree and not all of the Shire.
There are five stops total in this pub crawl and at each stop you are required to drink 6 mugs of beer. The event is timed and while having a horse will make it faster, it is not required to complete the run.
|
|
| Tainted Mug |  |
| NPC: Jónar (in the underground tavern) | |
| Level: 10+ | |
| Rewards: 90 copper, +900 Reputation with the AA, -500 Reputation with IL, 1 Badge of Dishonour | |
Jonar is a disgruntled dwarf and wants you to steal the beer recipes of the Inn League. The Inn League recipes can be found throughout the Shire. They can be collected in any order and there is no timer.
Pay special attention to the Hobbit’s reactions to your theft, it’s quite amusing. |
|
Gaining Reputation
There are 18 daily repeatable quests for gaining reputation with the Ale Association for a total of 15,600 reputation available daily.
Ale Association Quests
Some of these quests have pre-requisites so if your first time running with the AA, you may not see them all available. After completing the pre-requisite quest, it will be available daily (as in you don’t have to do the pre-requisite first again).
| Ale Association Challenge |  |
| NPC: Bjarni | |
| Level: 10+ | |
| Rewards: +1,200 AA Rep | |
| Repeatable: Daily | |
| This is the same pub crawl quest you did to gain acquaintance. You go straight to the Prancing Pony and speak with Bjarni inside to pick up this quest and start the pub crawl all over. | |
| Tainted Mug |  |
| NPC: Jónar (in the underground tavern) | |
| Level: 10+ | |
| Rewards: 90 copper, +900 Reputation with the AA, -500 Reputation with IL, 1 Badge of Dishonour | |
| Repeatable: Daily | |
| This is the same tainted mug quest originally given to you before you became an honorary member. After completion it becomes a daily quest! Follow the instructions given above to complete. | |
| The Draught Drought |  |
| NPC: Jónar (in the underground tavern) | |
| Level: 10+ | |
| Rewards: 90 copper, +900 Reputation with the AA, -500 Reputation with IL, 1 Badge of Dishonour |
|
| Repeatable: Daily | |
| Quest Open Pre-requisite: Tainted Mug | |
You are to find and drain Inn League Kegs. Inn League kegs can be found throughout the Shire. They can be found and drained in any order.
|
|
| Jonar’s Special Brew |  |
| NPC: Jónar (in the underground tavern) | |
| Level: 10+ | |
| Rewards: +900 Reputation with the AA, -500 Reputation with IL, 1 Badge of Dishonour | |
| Repeatable: Daily | |
| Quest Open Pre-requisite: The Draught Drought | |
Jonar is wanting to make some special brew and asks you to collect the ingredients.
|
|
| Jonar’s Special Delivery |  |
| NPC: Jónar (in the underground tavern) | |
| Level: 10+ | |
| Rewards: +900 Reputation with the AA, -500 Reputation with IL, 1 Badge of Dishonour | |
| Repeatable: Daily | |
| Quest Open Pre-requisite: Jonar’s Special Brew | |
| You are given 30 minutes to take a stink bomb to the Party Tree in the Shire and set it off. It will be in your pack after accepting the quest. Using the item will cause people around you to faint.
Note: While it will not cause people to fail the nearby dance lessons if they issue the commands asked; it could freak people out and make them fail inadvertently. Please be kind and set off your bomb away from the dance floor. |
|
| An Irritating Initiation |  |
| NPC: Jónar (in the underground tavern | |
| Level: 10+ | |
| Rewards: 90 copper, +900 Reputation with the AA, -500 Reputation with IL, 1 Badge of Dishonour | |
| Repeatable: Daily | |
| Quest Open Pre-requisite: Tainted Mug | |
| Dwarves have joined the Inn League and it’s your job to convince them to quit. Note that these have to be done in the order listed below. No time limit. | |
| An Inn League Disaster |  |
| NPC: Jónar (in the underground tavern | |
| Level: 10+ | |
| Rewards: +900 Reputation with the AA, -500 Reputation with IL, 1 Badge of Dishonour | |
| Repeatable: Daily | |
| Quest Open Pre-requisite: An Irritating Initiation | |
| The Inn League is hosting a tasting outside of Thorin’s Gate to draw more members. Speak to the little hobbit Laurel Sackville outside in the courtyard and then hide behind the kegs until she is distracted (she’ll start walking around) and run to add swill to the 8 mugs on the table. I have been comfortably adding swill to 4 mugs at a time but if nervous do a few and hide again. She makes a couple passes before the dwarves appear to taste.
She will wander back. Don’t let her see you or you fail! If you do fail just return to Jonar and he’ll start you going again. You have to stay in the area until you get the notice that the quest is complete. Leaving will cause you to fail and the drama that is acted out by the dwarves feels rather long so you may think you missed something. Just sit tight and wait for the completion message. |
|
Recommended Route
Here is the route I use to get all of the above quests done in one trip around Eriador getting you 6,600 Ale Association rep. Note this doesn’t include the delivery quests discussed below.
- Collect all the quests from Jonar.
- Bully Oli next to Jonar on your way out of the tavern for An Irritating Initiation.
- Run through Frerin’s Court and see if Laurel is waiting to start An Inn League Disaster. If she is you can stay and do this, if not head to the Stable Master and by a ride to Nogolond.
- Say your mean things to Kópur in Nogolond and purchase a ride to Gondomon
- Be rude to Grímar and purchase a ride to Duillond.
- Purchase a ride to Needlehole and smack Herluf when you arrive.
- Right outside of Needlehole you’ll find the Swamp Gas for Jonar’s Special Brew.
- Head towards Sandson’s Farm for the rotten egg.
- Stop at Waymeet for the recipe and head to the Party Tree.
- Set off Jonar’s Special Delivery and drain the keg for The Draught Drought at the Party Tree. (Can also do the Haunted Burrow Quest if Fall at this time)
- Ride to Brockenborings Watch Office for the recipe.
- Ride to Budgeford to drain the keg
- Ride to Golden Perch in Stock. Pick up the recipe outside and go inside to drain the keg.
- Ride to Woodhall and drain the keg
- Ride to The Floating Log and drain the keg
- Ride to The Green Dragon and drain the keg
- Ride to Great Smials of Tuckborough and pick up the recipe.
- Ride to Bird and Baby in Michel Delving to drain the final keg.
- Swift Travel to Bree and complete the Pub Crawl
- Swift Travel to Celondim and slay the slugs (You will still be drunk from the pub crawl but these are really low level slugs and easy to kill)
- Swift Travel to Thorin’s Hall. If you didn’t previously do An Inn League Disaster in step 3, complete it now.
- Turn in all the quests to Jonar.
Ale Association Delivery Quests
The Ale Association also has it’s own list of running quests for reputation like the Inn League does. Each of these quests give +AA reputation and -IL reputation. These quests can be obtained from the Ale Association Tavern Keep found at all festival locations.
All quests grant +900 Reputation with The Ale Association, -500 Reputation with The Inn League, Badge of Dishonour and have a 1 hour time limit.
These quests are different from the Inn League quests as there are no ales to buy ahead of time. You must go to the Inn to pick up the ale and then delivery it within the time limit. These quests do have minimum levels so you may not be able to get them all.
| One Drink Too Few | Never Further From Home | |
| Level: 15+ Pick Up Ale: The Prancing Pony Deliver To: Alrek in Thrasi’s Lodge, Ered Luin |
Level: 15+ Pick Up Ale: The Prancing Pony Deliver To: Wesley Hopwood in Thornley’s Work Site, Bree-land |
|
| All but the Good Cider | Quite a Tickle | |
| Level: 15+ Pick Up Ale: The Forsaken Inn Deliver To: Foxglove Grubb in Brockenborings, The Shire |
Level: 20+ Pick Up Ale: Tavern Keep in Thorin’s Hall Deliver To: Wald Mugwort in Ost Haer, Lone Lands |
|
| Bombur’s Breath | A Bit of White | |
| Level: 25+ Pick Up Ale: The Green Dragon Deliver To: Múli in Othrikar, North Downs |
Level: 25+ Pick Up Ale: The Ivy Bush Deliver To: Harigar Mudbottom in Oatbarton, Evendim |
|
| A Different Reminder of Rivendell | A Convoluted Wine | |
| Level: 30+ Pick Up Ale: Sogadan in Rivendell Deliver To: Lendasil in Refuge of Edhelion, Ered Luin |
Level: 40+ Pick Up Ale: The Bird and Baby Deliver To: Saerthuithel in Echad Candelleth, Trollshaws |
|
| A Drink of the Best Character | Not Atli’s Favourite | |
| Level: 40+ Pick Up Ale: The Plough and Stars Deliver To: Nathalan in Aughaire, Angmar |
Level: 45+ Pick Up Ale: The Green Dragon Deliver To: Oli in Hrimbarg, Misty Mountains |
|
| A Dark Prank | ||
| Level: 45+ Pick Up Ale:The Floating Log Deliver To: Lofi in Zigilgund, Forochel |
Additional Reputation Quests:
- In 2010 the Fall Festival added a special Ale Association quest at the Haunted Burrow.
Deeds
- Ale Association Initiation: +10,000 rep and title “Ale Association Member”
- Acquaintance: receive the title “The Sinister”
- Friend: Receive the title “Abuser of Amusement”
- Ally: Receive the title “The Great Saboteur”
- Kindred: Receive the title “Creep”
- Ale Association Delivery: Complete all the delivery quests for title “No-gooder”
Rewards
The Ale Association’s barter currency of Badge of Dishonour can be traded in with the dwarfs standing next to Jónar in the underground tavern. There is an acquaintance and a kindred vendor. At acquaintance with the AA you can turn in your badges for festival tokens. 1 badge = 3 tokens. At kindred there are more options including cosmetic clothing and furniture.
Acquaintance Vendor: Lar
- 3 Summer Festival Tokens (1 Badge of Dishonour)
- 3 Spring Leaves (1 Badge of Dishonour).
- 3 Yule Festival Tokens (1 Badge of Dishonour)
- 3 Fall Festival Tokens (1 Badge of Dishonour)
Kindred Vendor: Gapi
- Ale Association Robe – 5 Badge of Dishonour
- Dwarf-make Waistcoat – 5 Badge of Dishonour
- Fine Waistcoat – 5 Badge of Dishonour
- Defiled Inn League Statue – 5 Badge of Dishonour
- Defiled Inn League Keg – 5 Badge of Dishonour
- 3 Deluxe Stink Bombs – 1 Badge of Dishonour
- Harvestmath Race Token – 10 Badge of Dishonour
- Springfest Race Token – 10 Badge of Dishonour
- Summerfest Race Token – 10 Badge of Dishonour
- Yule Horse Race Token – 10 Badge of Dishonour
- Ale Association Mount – 20 Badge of Dishonour & 1 Document of Mount Ownership
Pictures of the furniture items can be found in Kiarane’s General Festival Decoration Guide.
Loading ...
November 1, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Good guide! I stuck to the deliveries and pub crawl since I was doing both IL and AA. Reached kindred yesterday and got my lovely AA goat!
November 2, 2010 at 10:47 am
Exellent! I just recently got kindred with them both. The delivery runs and the pub crawls with a few extras thrown in keep them fairly even. I do think that the goat looks better then the horsey.
November 5, 2010 at 11:18 am
If it weren’t for the mount, I would totally boycott the Ale Association. I have just failed the Inn League Disaster quest THREE TIMES in a row. The time limit is so tight and then it takes forever for it to reset (and to run back to pick up the quest again)
March 24, 2011 at 7:33 am
It’s not so hard if you limit your self to sabotaging 3 drafts per pass. She makes 4 passes, so if you do no less then 2 per pass (and not get caught) you will be fine.
November 11, 2010 at 11:34 am
Has anyone worked out a route how to do as many deliveries in one go as possible (no hunter/warden)?
November 11, 2010 at 11:56 am
I’ve only seen a post on the forums that was a hunters guide. Look in the comments for the Inn League guide. I believe someone posted a guide to do both AA and IL together without a hunter.
March 24, 2011 at 6:46 am
Not sure..but you would have to take advantage of the “return to…” skills.
For that you would:
Be an elf-Return to Rivendell
Be kindred w/The Eglain-Return to Ost Garuth
Be Kindred w/Men of Bree-Return to Bree
Be Kindred w/Thorin’s Hall-Guide to Thorin’s Gate
Be Acquaintance w/Lossoth of Forochel-swift travel between Ost Forod-Pynti-Peldot
Be Mapped somewhere strategic-like
December 28, 2010 at 10:51 am
The Ale Association initiation/pub crawl: the beers should be drank in this preference: Beer (about 3 sec), Lager (~5 sec), Stout (~6 sec), Porter (~7 sec). Never drink a porter is you don’t have to. 6 beers @ 7 secs, it ‘s tough to win…
December 28, 2010 at 10:55 am
Very good to know. I had just drank whatever was closest and had never had any problems but this is excellent information. Thank you for sharing!
February 2, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Is it possible to max rep with one of the two groups first, then work on building the other back up doing a mix of the 2 quests, or will one group stop offering its quests to you after enough negative rep?
February 2, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Yes you can work on both. The link in the second paragraph is to a guide on how you can get to kindred with both simultaneously but no they do not lock each other out..
March 23, 2011 at 11:20 pm
Jonar would not give Jonar’s Special Brew without having An Irritating Invitation complete.
June 30, 2011 at 4:58 am
Brilliant guide! I owe you people here at CSTM so much! =) Just a quick question, once I’ve achieved kindred standing with the AA, will my rep decrease with them if I started doing Inn League quests?
June 30, 2011 at 6:05 am
Yes you can lose the rep if doing the Inn League quests after reaching kindred. It is possible to be kindred with both though.