I’m a geek, simple as that. Not just a beer geek, also a science geek. And I play the ancient Asian board game Go. I do enjoy other board games from time to time as well, although I’m a little allergic to losing because of bad luck (losing because my opponent is just better is fine). I’m, against my rational understanding, a sucker for some weird collectibles as well. Here I present you with the intersection of all of that.
Battle of the Breweries is a card game, with trading cards, about beer. Shut up and take my money!
Card game and trading cards
Pokémon for adults. Not that I ever played the Asian card game, but my 7-year old does collect some of the cards, so I’m not entirely alien to it. Battle of the Breweries has a similar vibe to it. It is based on real breweries and beers and the collectible cards are the brewery cards (with basic information on the brewery and a logo), beer cards (basic info on a beer, plus a picture, plus some elements for the game) and the pet or mascot card that also belongs to the brewery. All of these are in cute design, of course. Every brewery has at least three beer cards: two normal ones and a holographic one and sometimes there are special edition “Full Art” cards with absolutely glorious designs. Having these makes you thirsty for the beer as well!
In the game pack there are also cards meant for game play: action cards, glassware cards as well as target ABV cards for example, that are not as collectible, but make for a fun game, see below. In the basic game pack there are also 15 complete brewery sets, except for their special edition rare cards. Then there are many, MANY breweries that have a full set that you can either buy separately, if you’re just very much into that brewery, or you can buy mixed brewery packs in which a random set of these cards come to collect. When you have a full set of a brewery you can add them to your game to have a different base set to play with: every game you play will be different!
With those mixed bundles of beer and brewery cards comes the trading fun: find all collectibles! Get some breweries complete! Adore the art and design of the special cards! You can put your precious cards in sleeves, or even in a binder. How wonderfully geeky; I’m in!
Game play
Become the favorite brew pub in town! Several new breweries have popped up with their respective head brewers. They’re out to grab their fair share of the crowd. To do so, they brew and stock beers, have a cute little pet or mascot in the brewpub and try to trade or even steal elements with/from their competition (this is the only slightly unrealistic part of the game; in reality I’ve mostly witnessed friendly cooperation between small breweries!). A battle based on ABV or release year is also an opportunity to get some of what your opponents have. Popularity can be gained by having the right little pet or mascot creature on the table, having beers on draft that match your brewery or the favorite ABV range of your fan base or by having proper glassware that suits your beer.
(Image credits: Battle of the Breweries)
In fact, there’s a international league of players gaining tournament points to become the world leading Battler of the Breweries. There aren’t too many tournaments yet, as popularity is still on the rise, but I’m sure more will pop up. That list and all info can of course be found on the official website, that also hosts the shop of the trading card game, where game packs, brewery bundles or mixed brewery card packs (with those collectible rarities!) can be purchased.
Kickstart their season 2!
The first edition of the game, now dubbed Season One, was a great success! After a successful kickstarter project, the game has been picked up by tabletop game players and beer lovers alike, all around the world. Some hardcore collectors jumped on the trading aspect and tournaments are being organized. Expositions and game tables show up on beer shows and breweries pick up on the immense opportunity to get their names out there. Perhaps people will not only go after your cards, but also your beers!
The trading cards now feature over 600 beers from over 230 breweries from 36 countries! Season Two is a great expansion of the game, where new breweries, new beers and new head brewers are featured. But there is more! Beer legends, podcasts, celebs and a whole lot of limited edition cards are also included in Season Two. It will launch by the end of 2022, if the Kickstarter gets fully funded. In the kickstarter you can also get your share of Season One’s material, may you have missed out on it before. Don’t hesitate, go have a look and back this awesome project now! You only have until July 12 (2022) to pitch in and be able to join the group of beer and card game nerds who made this extension of Battle of the Breweries possible!
I hope to see you on the corresponding Discord server to get that trading going!
Tasting Craft Beer 
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