British Columbians looking for a precious brew to give to that fantastic someone this holiday season won’t have to journey all the way to Mordor. Beers inspired by The Hobbit film series are on their way to store shelves.
Central City Brewers announced Monday (November 17) it’s releasing three beers in the coming weeks to coincide with the December 17 release of the final installment of The Hobbit trilogy.
The Surrey craft beer maker will brew and sell Gollum Precious Pils, Smaug Stout (honouring the titular dragon that appeared in the previous film) and Bolg Belgian Tripel (named after the ferocious orc).
Tim Barnes, Central City’s vice-president of sales and marketing, said the company began work on the arrangement in August after discovering a U.S.-based partner was close to a deal with Warner Brothers to licence the fantasy trilogy’s brand.
He then asked if his company could piggyback on the licensing agreement and get Central City to brew the beer for Canadians outside of Quebec.
“As new movies come out, I think a beer that goes a long with the movie is going to be something you see in the future,” Barnes said, noting HBO’s fantasy series, Game of Thrones, began licensing its brand for brewers last year.
“We want to position ourselves in the market as potentially the Canadian partner that is the go-to partner for that kind of release.”
While Warner Brothers and the U.S. brewer established the characters and recipes months ago, Barnes said Central City managed to adapt the Gollum beer from an imperial pilsner to a standard pilsner to better appeal to Canadian tastes.
Barnes wouldn’t go into the specifics of the licensing arrangement with Warner Brothers but said the deal is “fair” and “based on what we sell.”
He added the beer will probably be finished in a week or two but the release of the three varieties will be a little tricky.
This is due to the fact the holiday season is usually the busiest time of year for liquor stores and the deal was finalized with much less notice than is usual for the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB).
Barnes said it’s likely the beers will be bigger sellers in January than in December, although he expects the new varieties to be available for at least eight weeks from the time of launch.
Instead of tankards and steins, the beers will only be available in 650 mL bottles.
