Gambrinus: The Global Beer Types Game Created by Ruth Paget
I named the beer types game for Gambrinus, the European king of beer, who was famous for drinking a stein of beer in one swallow.
Gambrinus Game Objective:
Enable player(s) to make better purchasing decisions based on knowledge.
Items Needed:
To play this global beer types game, you will need:
-A copy of the Oxford Companion to Beer edited by Garrett Oliver
-large index cards
-pens
-access to the internet to look up the hops used in various beer types
The following background information on beer culture can serve as an ice breaker for individual or team play:
European Beer Buying Tips:
https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2019/12/european-beer-buying-tips-lager-ale.html?m=1
Beer Economics in South Jersey
https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2021/12/beer-economics-and-food-by-ruth-paget.html?m=1
Pub’s for Prime Pork Chops – Sustainable Animal Husbandry
https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2024/10/prime-pork-chop-dinner-at-pubs-prime.html?m=1
Oktoberfest Food
https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2018/12/oktoberfest-food-ideas-for-us-suggested.html?m=1
Alvarado Street Brewery - Sustainable Beer Practices
https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2026/02/german-style-kolsch-beer-and-loaded-blt.html?m=1
Beer Hops Game Game Directions:
https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2021/06/beer-hops-games-created-by-ruth-paget.html?m=1
Firestone Walker - California Brew Pub
https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2025/11/pretzels-burgers-and-rock-music-at.html?m=1
To play Gambrinus you need to make an index flash card with the name of the beer on the front of the card and the following information on the back:
1-beer category – ale, lager, or hybrid
2-main city and/or country of origin
3-hopes used for flavor and/or aroma
4-2 or 3 historical facts for discussion (these will vary by player)
The Oxford Companion to Beer edited by Garrett Oliver lists 107 different types of beer in the world.
If you learn 10 beers at a time with all 4 pieces of information, it is easier to manage learning the entire list.
Start by learning one of the characteristics at a time for the 10 beers and so on.
Quiz yourself on all 4 characteristics for every 10 beer types you learn. When you have gone through all 107 beer types, quiz yourself until you know everything by heart.
Gambrinus is a great game for learning material individually and then playing as a team.
Happy Gaming!
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
