BBC: Bombur’s Beard Lager

“A brew to slake the grandest of thirsts.”

Lawmi’s Research:

This lager is the pride and joy of Thorin’s Hall. I first came upon this brew when I visited Thorin’s Hall after being driven from the Grey Mountains by the dragons. Many a night and day for that matter was spent partaking of this strong lager. This recipe was so far and, I believe, will be the easiest to come by. I simply asked my friend Runulf, the tavern keep, for the recipe and he was more than happy to share it with me. In fact I could have asked anyone in Thorin’s Hall, for everyone knows this famous recipe. All of the beers from Ered Luin use Winter Barley for their base as it is what grows in the cold mountains. Often a dwarf will bring back some Spring Barley from the elves to the south, but this is only used as a flavoring and color malt and never as the base. The hops used in this brew are Umbel hops grown in Falathlorn near Limael’s Vinyard. The elves use the hops primarily for medicinal purposes and are happy to provide some to the dwarves to the north which is odd considering the usual feelings between dwarves and elves. The yeast used can only be found in the colder places of Middle-earth because it becomes dormant at higher temperates. This is the primary trait of Lager yeast and the dwarves of Thorin’s Hall have their own special strain. Once the brewing is complete and fermentation has begun I will have to keep this batch deep in my cellar as this yeast needs that colder temperature to reproduce. Good Luck Law!

Middle-earth Recipe

Law’s Research:

An oddity that one may think of when you hear Bombur’s Beard Lager is that it is in fact a lager and not an ale. Lager refers to the process by which the beer is made and not necessarily the strength and body of the brew. A lager is fermented and stored at lower temperatures than ales and uses a different type of yeast than ales. Other than this, the process of making a lager is identical to ales. As hinted at above, the term lager often refers to a lighter crisper beer, but the Dwarves of Thorin’s Hall would be greatly offended if you ever referred to their beer as light. This beer is a full bodied lager with strong malty flavors and just enough hops to balance it out. In our world I think the closest beer to this would be a German Style Maibock or Helles Bock. I believe that lager is actually the major style of beer produced by the dwarves of Thorin’s Hall because the cool conditions in their subterranean halls lends itself nicely to lagering as opposed to ales which require warmer temperatures to ferment.

I chose a nice German Pilsner Malt for the base to give that crisp taste, but I am using a lot of it to make this a big lager that the dwarves of Thorin’s Hall would be proud of. Munich and Vienna Malt will add a little color to the beer as well as a slight sweetness that will be nice in spring. Because this is a Maibock style ale I stuck with the Noble hops and picked Tettnang as the finishing hop to give it a slight spice (no it won’t taste like pepper). The yeast is a good Helles Bock yeast also from Germany.

Translated Beer Recipe