Inspired by the Golarion Coffee thread, I thought I'd make one where we can discuss the wonderful world of fermentation on Golarion.
As we all know, beer is one of the earliest forms of beverage, having sprung up at or around the time of the earliest domestication of grains. So how is beer perceived in the world?
For starters, Cayden Cailean, obviously, is considered the patron god of brewing. But he's a relatively recent god, and an elevated (formerly mortal) one, at that. Was there a god associated with beer and brewing prior to him? Perhaps Erastil (as a patron of farming) or Gozreh (as a patron of nature) formerly fulfilled that role before Cayden came along?
Does anyone know of any beer styles and/or specific beers that have been mentioned in Pathfinder products? Any ideas where the major regions are for brewing?
Presumably yeast has not been discovered yet on Golarion, so brewing is likely still considered to just be done by the combination of water, malt, and hops. Back before yeast was discovered, many believed that their "magic sticks" that they used to stir the wort was what helped to create beer. Perhaps they still believe this, and as in the RW, pass down their sticks from generation to generation. Perhaps some of these beer stirring sticks actually are magicsl! (This is fantasy, after all.)
Where did beer originate? Among humans? Elves? Aboleth? (Okay, probably not the latter, though it would be... interesting.)
What did the dwarves drink before they fulfilled the Quest for Sky? Some sort of fungal type of brew? No beer at all? (No wonder Torag sent them to the surface world).
More importantly, do dwarves use hops? Or do they consider that too "elvish"? :)
So we've had tea, coffee and now beer. These threads can only get more awesome from here. Meat pies of Golarion, next?
I believe there have been a few brews referenced in the books. CHECK THESE OUT. We have Auroch's Breath (a gamey dwarven stout), Caydenbrew (brewed in Absolom with Andoran and Taldan grain, major grain regions) and fine Corentyn wine from Cheliax, as well as Molthune's own Oldlaw Whiskey.
I'm certain there've been a few brews mentioned in the writeups for Sandpoint and Korvosa, but I'm not sure if any names were mentioned and I'm away from my books right now.
I'd say the Dwarves didn't come up with beer, as you'd need grain to do that. Fungus liquor, on the other hand...
Maybe beer was the byresult of some kind of gnomish experiment to come up with a more potent healing potion?
Thanks for the info, Twigs and Veiled Nail! I'll have to check out those references.
Awesome, Cpt_kirstov!
Wow, this is great! Thanks a lot, captain!
The Wiki page on Alcoholic Beverages
The Pathfinder Wiki actually has a page devoted to this? Thanks for the link.