Fantasy Brewmasters

This is our first beer. I think it should be something that the average gamer or fantasy enthusiast can enjoy. Something that breaks them into the craft brewing style without scaring them away. I'm thinking an ESB might be the way to go here, but I'd like to get a bit of a dirty or gritty feel to it. Unrefined, unfiltered, brewed in a cauldron by a big stinky barbarian.

I also want this to be something that the average homebrewer could brew. It will be a while before Fantasy Brewmasters can consider national sales volumes, and I want people to be able to experience our beers even if they can't buy them off the shelf.

We'll be working on some recipes, and would love your input. Do you have any suggestions, base recipes, or an ingredient twist that screams "Ogre!"? Let us know about it. We'll be posting our base recipes here throughout the development process. Feel free to brew them along with us and post your experiences, thoughts, and suggestions.

I can taste it already. How many toes does an Ogre have?I think 4, so I think 4r packs would be great, though their big toes, so 16oz's sound good too.

I wish I knew more about brewing and crafting beer so I could be of more assistance in this area. =/

Something that screams ogre....orc, goblin...any of those species...

Porter. Something with good balance but with just enough bitterness from roasted malts and that familiar sour flavor...maybe make it old school by blending a young and an old/sour porter. Baltic Porter would work too. Big aggressive hop and roasted malt.

We had a little conversation going about this on the Ogre Homebrew blog post. Thorgrimr brought up the idea of going with a gruit for this one. I think this is a great idea since an Ogre, not being much of a farmer, would be more inclined to use roots and herbs in it's recipes. I'm itching to try some recipes, but haven't made the time yet.

Personally, I've always thought of the porters (and stouts) as Dwarven beers. The next question is, should a Dwarven brewery carry a wide range of beers, such as Ambers, IPA's, Porters, and Stouts (similar to an american brewery with many styles), or should we restrict each race to a particular style?

Personally I'd go with multiple brews per race. I could easily imagine a dwarven worker wanting a refreshing pale ale after a day in the forge before moving onto something with a bit more body in the feast hall. And halflings would be phenomenal brewers

Re. Hog Wort, I imagine ogres aren't known for their brewing acumen. I suspect a good Hog Wort may resemble a Finnish sahti but most ogres wouldn't make it particularly well. It's strength, colour and short shelf-life would appeal to the ogre mentality. Now if there were only some way of having pig as an ingredient..