Ok, so this is a pretty broad and impersonal grouping to qualify as a “saint.” Then again, I could probably do a whole series in this column just on the contributions that monks have made to beer. No experienced beer drinker needs to be reminded of the contributions Belgian monks made to the cause of expanding our palettes. But in this season of dopplebocks and starkbiers, it is really to the German brothers that I now turn my attention. Many, if not most, of the German breweries (particularly in pious Bavaria) were founded by monks. Some, like Andechs, are still monastic operations today.

Yet the creation of the dopplebock arose, not out of a desire to create a new style of beer, but rather out of the necessity for sustenance. In past centuries monks took their observance of Lent VERY seriously. Now Lent is the 40 daylong season that leads up to the celebration of Easter. By tradition it is a penitential season and believers mark it through acts of contrition and self-deprivation. Even today lots of people choose to give up some sort of vice (like smoking) or pleasure (like chocolate). Many Roman Catholics observe Lent by not eating meat on Fridays.

But those monks of centuries past were hardcore. They didn’t just give up meat. They gave up food altogether. Yet their fasting was not just for one day a week, it was for six (they got to eat on Sunday because long ago the Church decided that because of such nutritional hardships, that Sunday’s would not count as part of Lent). Yep, you read it correctly, no food for six days in a row. While the human body can survive it (we can go up to as much as 14 days without food), such fasting would still leave one greatly weakened and prone to illness if the body did not get its needed nutrients some other way. So the monks found a loophole. They were fasting from food, but not from liquid. If they could not eat their bread, they would drink it.

It was in response to the need for sustenance that dopplebocks came to be. They are loaded with all kinds on extra carbs and nutrients. As a rule, they all end in with the suffix, “-ator.” The most famous, and perhaps first, of them all is the Salvator, by Paulaner. It means, you guessed it, “Salvation.” And for those monks, it was indeed that… their savior from the near starvation of Lent. If you have ever had the Celebrator, by Ayinger, then you know that these beers can indeed feel like you need a knife and fork to consume them. Of the domestics, I have found none to rival the Troegenator by Troeg’s.

Of course I can’t help but guess that a couple of dopplebocks, with their high alcohol content of 6-8%, must have given a decent buzz when taken on an empty stomach. But I suppose if you have dedicated your life to God, and moreover, are going with food for 40 days for the sole purpose of drawing closer to that God, you are entitled to an indulgence or too. So raise a glass to these ingenious monks. We are the beneficiaries of their fasting. And that makes them some very worthy Saints of the Suds.

Post from: EveryJoe

Saints of the suds III – German Monks

Some time ago a few friends and I did a head-to-head comparison of a number of lovely Munich Starkbiers in honor of the end of Lent, and the winner was – Korbinian!

I’ll write a little more about Starkbier later, but you should know that the traditional Munich Starkbiers are all named with names which end in -ator. Korbinian is an exception to this rule, and it isn’t even the beer its brewer, Weihenstephan, mentions with respect to the season known as the “fifth season.” For those of us who tasted it, the winner was clear.
My ranking of the beers we had, for what it’s worth, is as follows:

1. Korbinian (Weihenstefan, a nice balance of heft and taste, with a pleasantly subtle sweetness)
2. Celebrator (Aying, tasty but somehow lacking in comparison to the number 1. A little thinner in taste)
3. Optimator (Spaten, too much heft for my taste, we all agreed one was enough for a single sitting)
4. Salvator (Paulaner, lighter in body and taste than the others, with a lot more sweetness)
5. St Victorious (Victory, I love many of their beers but this wasn’t one of their best efforts. Like the Celebrator mixed with water, too little body for this style)

Post from: EveryJoe

Battle of the Starkbiers

If you haven’t looked at airfares recently, travel to Europe in the winter is pretty darn cheap (although the exchange rate will make your stay pretty darn pricey). Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a way to spend some of that money on a beer-related trip, Munich’s Starkbierfest may be the answer. The Starkbierfest, also called the fifth season, is a remnant of the days when the monks, fed up with fasting, tapped kegs of extremely thick, high-alcohol beer to get them through the rest of Lent. Nowadays there’s not much fasting going on, but a trip to Paulaner’s Nockherberg during the Starkbierfest is a must for any beer lover. For pictures of the place and the event, check out this webpage (in German).

A word to the wise, though, Starkbier means strong beer, although it doesn’t necessarily taste like it, so drink in moderation. This year’s Starkbierfest starts on February 21 and goes for 17 days, until March 9.

image from Toytown Germany

Post from: EveryJoe

The fifth season approaches