Booze Terminology

[Mister Cicerone]

- Champagne, France
- Cognac, France
- Bourbon County, Kentucky
- Merlot's, Cab Sauv's, Sauv Blanc's, Pinot Grigio's, etc.
- India Pale Ales: IPA (bitter ales)
- Scotch, Scotland
- Irish Whiskey, Ireland

Forgotten Realms doesn't have these places or terms as they're not native to the setting! At least everything but the grape varietal, and that's my only 'but' because I haven't actually looked into that yet (who knows, maybe it's the gnomes that named the grapes all that?) I'm a lore junky and I'm at a loss on where to look for good terms to use to describe some of our world-renowned spirits!

This ought to be a fun discussion for the spirits snobs and connoisseurs out there who might be gaming (please tell me I'm not the only alchy...)

Any 'champagne-like' substance not coming out of Champagne France is considered sparkling wine, so that's easy to just say in game. "Some sparkling wine, please." But I wonder if there's such a place in Faerun that has a "champagne" equivalent? Cognac too (which is specific brandy, so using brandy in game works).

The whiskey is where it can get pretty dynamic (like the grape varietals), and especially with the single malts in how their tastes differ by region.

What do the rest of ye gamers think? I doubt there's any incorrect answer, and I'm thinking DM's might not get too flustered or anything if an elf calls a wine a merlot

As of right now as my PC's say, drink a whiskey and it's single malt, they'll refer to it as a single malt whiskey, and not say "scotch." Single malts can come out of anywhere in the world (one of my favorites is Yamazaki), but it officially isn't scotch unless it's out of scotland. I can rattle on and on about possibilities but I've thought things through pretty thoroughly...lets hear other thoughts!

[catmage]

For me, if my characters drink booze with a name that's specific, I'll treat it as short hand for an area more specific, or trust to the notion of names losing meaning as the reason for a name are lost. Until your post, I didn't know bourbon originated from a specific place, for example. If I know the plant the booze comes from, I might refer to it as being fermented from that. For example, Taihaer, having visted Maztica and having lived in several trading hubs in Faerun, will reference blue agave instead of Tequila.

Since for the most part, people tend to stick to beer as the only booze in fantasy, I rarely see it as an issue. One of my favorite bits of rp involved Tai explaining vodka, then preparing screwdrivers for his friends.

[The Tallest Dwarf]

I could not resist, being a habitual (as much as health, wealth and common sense allow) imbiber of fermented beverages.

I will start with beer (as so many nightly drinking bouts do) and discuss the primary difference between ales, lagers, and general beer.

The term ale was initially used to describe a drink brewed without hops, unlike beer.Prior to the 15th century it was the name for unhopped, fermened beverages.As the ways in which beer is brewed has changed, so has the usage of this word, and today most beverages referred to as ales are vastly different from what medieval era people drank. Nowadays most ales, regardless of type, are a slightly bitter, barley-brewed beverage. Ales are typically harder to find commercially because the process is more involved and more ingredients are required. Perhaps one of the most famous types of ale is Guiness Stout, which is itself a form of porter, a very dark and malty and hoppy and full-bodied type of beer. Most ales are meant to be consumed at room-temperature to bring out the full flavors.

Lagers, developed after ales, are what most consumers think of when they picture a can of beer. Pale lagers are the most commonly consumed type of beer in the world, so it is fairly safe to assume that many of the regions of the Forgotten Realms in which the art of brewing is commonplace would have their own version.Lagers run the gamut from the swill sold by the macrobreweries(I'm looking at you Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch, and Michelob) to expertly crafted bocks with 14% Alcohol Per Volume and rich flavors. Most lagers are meant to be served at cellar(colder) temperatures to prevent the fermentation byproducts for a cleaner flavor.

The main difference between ales and lagers is the way they are fermented. Ales are top-fermenting, meaning that the yeast cells are violently carried to the top of the fermenting liquid. Lager is obviously the opposite and actually takes longer and is always stored in cooler temperatures for fermentation.

When people read the histories of the middle ages, especially of Europe, two things become clear. 1. That people rarely drank water due to the amount of water-borne diseases. 2.That everyone from the very young to the oldest citizenry drank some form of alcohol. The beverage in question was often called Small Beer, and it probably tasted nothing like any other drink to bear the name beer. It's been described as being unfilitered (meaning there are a lot of minerals) and porridge-like. There was actually very little alcohol in it, just enough to act as a preservative. Similar styles were rationed to workers, soldiers, sailors and anyone who needed 'liquid bread' to do their jobs.

We of course refer to all of these as beer now, and what ultimately matters are individual tastes in styles.

So next time your PC orders 'ale' and gets a bock, remember that's actually a lager. Not that anyone should call you on it, but if it helps you feel more immersed then so much the better.

[vojdan]

Thanks for the superb post Uthgrim!!!

[Carpe]

I'd just like to see more Mead around. This is among the oldest fermented drinks in all history, kicks like a damn mule, and tastes AWESOME, like a whiskey sour only more honey and less fruit. Earliest known example dates to 7000 BC in northern China, first described in written language in Sanscrit. The stuff should be everywhere!

[Mister Cicerone]

Ugh, and mead tastes so gross to me :x I can appreciate a fine quality one..but...bleh.

Catmage, that's an awesome example of thinking outside the box when it comes to assessing what 'best' to say. I don't think it's a stretch of the imagination in assuming that our real world plants are likely available in the FR setting. I mean, there's maneating plants in the FR setting, so why not tequila?