Nerdy beer question about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

[seymour]

I'd be more interested in what people could come up with for a recipe for a beer that would be drunk by hobbits!

Me too, but that's basically the same question. From Tolkien's own letters:

‘The Shire’ is based on rural England and not any other country in the world, (Tolkien’s Letters, 250 #190) … It is in fact more or less a Warwickshire village of about the period of the Diamond Jubilee. (Tolkien’s Letters, 230 #178) … There is no special reference to England in the ‘Shire’ — except of course that as an Englishman brought up in an ‘almost rural’ village of Warwickshire on the edge of the prosperous bourgeoisie of Birmingham, specifically Warwickshire village in 1897 Victorian England. I take my models like anyone else — from such ‘life’ as I know, (Letters, 235 #181)”.

See http://recipewise.co.uk/tea-in-the-hobbit for some cool historical "Hobbit recipes." I'm trying to go this same direction for a beer recipe.

If you can find out what Morrells were brewing at the time there is a list of their beers HERE with an estimate of the recipe.....

Great lead, thanks. So, if we assume they ordered the flagship bitter, Morrells Varsity, according to Roger Protz and Graham Wheeler, the recipe resembled:
OG: 1.041, 85% pale malt, 8% crystal, 7% torrefied wheat. Bittering hops: Challenger. Aroma hops: Goldings. IBU: 29-32
A follow-up question: Are Protz' and Wheeler's based on actual brewer's statements, or simply educated guesses and reverse-engineering using common, modern ingredients? I ask because Challenger hops were bred from Northern Brewer and German hops, and not released until 1968, which came after my requested period. Of course, Varsity continued being brewed and the recipe could've been adapted over time.

Morrells were sold to Marstons in the 1990s..

Another good lead, I've emailed Marston's a research request.

I'm pretty sure Sharp's use Morrells yeast.

Another good lead, I've emailed Sharp's a research request.

Thanks everyone, keep your thoughts coming!

[stitch]

Bittering hops: Challenger

Challenger was introduced in 1972 (according to wikipedia), maybe just Goldings?

[oldbloke]

You should've gone to this: http://www.middleearthbeerfestival.co.uk/

You may want to add a comment to this: http://celebratethesuds.blogspot.co.uk/ ... -beer.html

Worth a watch? - http://smokesandbooze.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... -beer.html

Worth a listen - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=3866914

[seymour]

Good stuff, thanks oldbloke!