A dark doppelbock, spicy and strong, as tradition demands.
A classic not just for Lent.
Liquids do not break the fast – this was a fasting rule in the days of the Benedictine monks in Weißenohe. Today, we have this rule to thank for the mirror carp as a fasting dish and the strong Doppelbock as liquid food in these barren times.
In keeping with this tradition, we have brewed our strong Bonator as a dark Doppelbock for you, to strengthen you physically and mentally during the “staaden” period. Fittingly, you don’t need any food with a doppelbock, the Bonator itself is the liquid bread of Lent!
Here’s a little anecdote to make you smile:
As the Benedictine monks feasted on the stronger bock beers during the austere Lenten period, this aroused the envy of other religious orders, who complained to the Pope in Rome: the Benedictines were not fasting with their bock beers, but feasting! In response to this complaint, the Benedictines sent a barrel of bock beer to Rome so that the Pope could taste and decide for himself. As they knew their beer and its shelf life from the weeks and months it took to travel from Bavaria to Rome in the Middle Ages, they did not do this without ulterior motives. As expected, the beer they sent arrived in Rome spoiled, i.e. undrinkably sour. Whereupon the Pope, after tasting it carefully, said: “Anyone who drinks such horrible beer is a true penitent”. The Benedictines gladly continued to do this penance and fasted with (fresh) bock beer.
Note: Of course, beer was not only drunk for its alcohol content. Beer contains a lot of minerals and vitamins, and sugar in a digested and therefore easily digestible form. The monks were very knowledgeable about health and medicine and knew that beer prevented deficiency symptoms. Fasting beer was therefore one of the first nutritional supplements (as we would call it today) in the diet of mankind.
Facts:
Aroma: prune, licorice, light acidity, not alcoholic or fattening, chocolate, sweet caramel
Hops: 25 bittering units from the following varieties: Hallertauer Herkules, Hallertauer Tradition, Hersbrucker Gebirgshopfen, Spalter Select
Malt: dark caramel malt, Munich malt, Pilsner malt, red caramel malt
Original wort: P 18
Ingredients: Barley malt, hops, water
