From Fast Company

Whether you’re in King’s Landing, standing watch at the Wall or across the narrow sea, in the world Game of Thrones, a bottle of booze isn’t far away. And while many prefer the charms of Dornish wine, the biggest buzz for HBO has come from its partnership with the craft beer makers at Brewery Ommegang.

To mark the start of Game of Thrones’ fifth season next spring, the network and brewery will unveil the partnership’s fifth beer—Three-Eyed Raven Dark Saison Ale. While you’ll have to wait to sample the brew while you’re enjoying the onscreen action, HBO has provided a preview by way of debuting the beer’s name and label artwork.

The first beer, released in spring 2013, was Iron Throne Blonde Ale and sold out nationwide in a matter of weeks. Each successive brew has seen the same success—Take the Black Stout in fall 2013, Fire and Blood Red Ale in spring 2014, and Valar Morghulis Dubbel Ale, out now. The first three beers in the series completely sold out and, according to HBO, Valar Morghulis is well on its way despite being brewed at nearly four times the volume of Iron Throne.

Any fan of the show will see the network’s partnership with a craft brewer to create beers served in corked bottles as a perfect fit for its settings and oft-intoxicated characters. And the label artwork is straight out of the fantasy fanboy style book, equally striking on the side of a beer bottle or your van.

But this wasn’t a typical licensing deal for HBO. The network’s vice president of global licensing Josh Goodstadt says the idea actually came from the producers. And while it would’ve been easy to just license a private label brew with mass distribution, Goodstadt says a craft brewery was the better fit. “There’s a nice crossover between Game of Thrones fans who are passionate and sophisticated, and craft beer drinkers who are passionate and sophisticated,” says Goodstadt. “We wanted an authentic craft beer maker and that’s part of the process in working with Ommegang. We might’ve been open to the idea of rebranding one of their existing beers, but we both were very excited at the idea of creating something brand new.”

Read the rest at Fast Company

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