Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

The Night Is Dark and So Is Ommegang’s New King in the North Stout

Lee Heidel
By

Game of Thrones fans are a ravenous group. Lovers of the acclaimed HBO television drama can’t seem to get enough of the saga unfolding in Westeros. So what’s a fan to do between episodes, when that Game of Thrones obsession flares like a freshly-exploded vial of dragon fire? You can quench your thirst with any of the excellent Game of Thrones tie-in beers from Brewery Ommegang.

This Cooperstown, New York brewery made a name for itself with fresh takes on traditional Belgian style beers. Witte, Hennepin, Three Philosophers, and Abbey Ale are all stand-out core offerings that helped bring these classic European tastes to the American mainstream.

jon snow game of thrones
Jon Snow (Kit Harrington), aka the King in the North. Helen Sloan/HBO

A few years ago, though, Brewery Ommegang expanded its reach beyond craft beer nerds and into pop culture at large with an HBO licensing agreement. That deal was to craft an exclusive line of beers inspired by Game of Thrones. The successful limited-edition group, which includes the large-format Golden Ales Iron Throne and Bend the Knee, as well as favorites Take the Black Stout and Fire and Blood, continues to grow as fans await the release of the show’s last season (which is expected to debut in the spring of 2019).

Recommended Videos

The final beer in Brewery Ommegang’s 2018 Royal Reserve Collection is King in the North. The barrel-aged imperial stout promises notes of vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and roasted malts, and is inspired by the tumultuous journey of Jon Snow. You, too, can toast the king with this 11 percent alcohol by volume brew perfect for warming spirits during the colder months of winter.

ommegang king in the north beer
The other King in the North. Ommegang

King in the North follows in the footsteps of Ommegang’s other 2018 Game of Thrones Royal Reserve Collection releases Hand of the Queen, a barleywine; Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, a sour blonde blend’ and Mother of Dragons, a smoked porter and kriek blend.

Related

The stand-alone King in the North release is presented in a 750ml bottle with a recommended price of $13. For the holiday-timed release, the beer is also available in a twelve-ounce bottle gift pack along with 2018’s other reserve beers and a Game of Thrones-branded glass for $24.99. Both formats are in stores now.

If you want even more Game of Thrones booze, then you should also pick up The White Walker by Johnnie Walker or any of the other whiskies in the special edition Game of Thrones line from Diageo.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Lee Heidel
Lee Heidel
Lee Heidel is the managing editor of Brew/Drink/Run, a website and podcast that promotes brewing your own beer, consuming the…
Virgin Voyages Sea-ks Name For New Cruise-Ship-Exclusive Beer
Virgin Voyages Wynwood Brewing

Richard Branson is at it again, or at least his travel company Virgin Voyages is, as it launches its own beer brand. The catch, if you want to call it that? He's calling for fans to name it.
To celebrate International Beer Day, Virgin Voyages announced it will serve a signature beer onboard the ship Scarlet Lady. The signature beer is an English Pale Ale with a hint of red, brewed by Miami’s Wynwood Brewing.

“Virgin Voyages always loves a challenge and so we asked ourselves, ‘How can we create the most perfect beer to be enjoyed in the midday sun?’” said Charles Steadman, senior manager of beverage development for Virgin Voyages. “We have created the perfect pale ale that is both thirst-quenching and refreshingly delicious, but of course, created with a Virgin twist, as we have given our pale beer a little kiss of scarlet red. And who better to partner with on this exciting endeavor than Wynwood Brewing Company, based in Scarlet Lady’s home port of Miami.”
Followers of Virgin Voyages on Instagram can suggest their favorite names within the comments on the post featuring the beer.
“Virgin has always been known for pushing the boundaries in the same way that craft beer has."

Read more
Crack a Cold One and Get Used to It, Because the IPL is Your New Favorite Beer Style
Gate City Brewery's Citras Maximus

India Pale Ales, or IPAs for short, have been the predominant trend in craft beer over the last decade. This beer style promotes extreme hop flavors over everything else, and has been championed by the largest of the craft breweries, with Stone and Dogfish Head leading the way. With that major push, there has been significant trickle down, wherein every brewery no matter how big or small has a signature IPA style.
The IPA has changed along with the times, moving from simply aggressively hopped brews to creative trends like Milkshake IPAs, Session IPAs, and even Black IPAs. Now, though, there is a new spin-off that deserves your attention. It’s time to meet the India Pale Lager.
Ales and lagers are similar beasts that use the same four primary ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast. The primary difference is the fermentation method. Ales and lagers use different yeast types, yielding top-fermenting beers (the ales) and bottom-fermenting beers (the lagers). While there can be all types of flavors created within the ale and lager families, many drinkers associate lagers with lighter bodied beers featuring clean, crisp profiles compared to their ale brethren.
So what happens when you blend the big hops of the IPA style with lager yeast and brewing methods? Beautiful, beautiful things. The resulting “India Pale Lager” is ultimately refreshing, bright, and effervescent, and a welcome counterpoint to the hazy IPAs currently trending around the country.
For a specifically solid example of the IPL, search out Gate City Brewing Co’s Citras Maximus. Brewed in Roswell, Georgia, this double dry-hopped beer is packaged in vibrant green, yellow, and orange cans featuring art emblazoned with the brewery’s logo backed by sliced citrus and hop cones. It pours a rich, deep golden color and has a pleasant aroma of pine, grapefruit, and biscuit. The flavors are thirst-quenching, with the Citra hops front and center. Citra provides notes of tropical fruit and citrus, evoking pineapple and orange to complement the delicious base lager. At 5.5% alcohol by volume, it’s a perfect summertime treat. Citras Maximus is easy and enjoyable to drink and a worthy alternative to your current favorite IPA.

Read more
Southern Tier Adds New IPAs and Low-Calorie Brew to Lineup
southern tier ipa low calorie new craft beers nu juice box

Throughout its history, Southern Tier Brewing Company has curated a wide portfolio of beers ranging in style from light, lemongrass-forward saisons (Sonnet) to dense, thick imperial pumpkin stouts (Warlock). Southern Tier gets a lot of buzz for its boundary-pushing beers, but like many other breweries, the less extreme brews don’t get enough love.
So it’s worth remembering that for every rich and decadent dessert ale like Creme Brûlée Stout, there’s an equally enjoyable beer like 8 Days a Week, a less sexy but satisfyingly crushable blonde ale.
Southern Tier recently added three new year-round beers to its lineup, and all three touch on current trends in the world of craft beer. Nu Juice IPA and Lake Shore Fog join the fray of sweet, juicy IPAs on store shelves, while Swipe Light is part of a new wave of low-calorie craft brews.

“Juicy” India Pale Ales are beers saturated with citrus-forward hops. Some are so rich with orange, grapefruit and lemon flavors that they actually taste like they were squeezed straight from the fruit. These beers also have a relatively low bitterness for IPAs, making them easy-drinking hop bombs. Nu Juice is a strong example of the style, with only 30 IBUs (International Bitterness Units) and a days-long hopping schedule utilizing Simcoe, Ekuanot, and Mosaic hops. Those hops provide tastes of tangerine and mango, and the beer comes in at an approachable 6% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Read more