Back in the Middle Ages, monks brewed a particularly high-calorie fasting beer, so they remained well nourished through the fasting time. Then it was necessary - today it just tastes good. Here are 7 facts worth knowing about the "liquid bread".
1. Clever monks: Fasting beer got the blessing of the church
Since time immemorial, the principle in the Catholic Church is: "liquid does not break fasting". But there was doubt in the 17th century, after the Bavarian monks had brewed a particularly tasty and substantial beer. Did such a splendid drink violate the fasting law?
To validate, a barrel of beer was sent to Rome, so that the Pope could determine for himself. During the week-long journey, the beer was shaken vigorously, exposed to the alpine freezing cold and the Italian sun, This resulted in a completely corrupt brew reaching the Holy Father. After tasting the tainted beer, the Pope praised the long suffering of his Bavarian brothers and approved the strong beer as a fasting drink.
2. The Starkbierfest: The fifth season of the Bavarians
In Bavaria - and especially Munich – Starkbier (strong beer) is served during Lent from
Ash Wednesday
to
Easter
. During this Starkbierzeit the people then meet for hearty Starkbierfesten in the breweries. The tradition of public "
Derbleckens
" also became established. The highlight is the strong beer tasting on the Nockherberg in the Paulaner brewery: where, political celebrities share their opinions in satirical speeches and skits.
3. Main thing "-ator": The names of fasting beers
Salvator, Maximator, Triumphator, Delicatior - the fasting beers in Bavaria have sonorous names that end
with the syllable "-ator"
. The origin of this humorous tradition is the oldest Bavarian strong beer, the 1751 first brewed
"Salvator" of the Paulaner monks of
the monastery Benediktbeuern. Its inventive monks had official permission to brew and serve a "Holy Father beer" on the name day of their religious founder Franz von Paula.
4. Starkbier is Bockbier: A small Starkbier multiplication table
A
strong
or
bock beer
is a beer whose original wort content is over 16%. Its alcohol content is thus 6.5% or higher.
A
Doppelbock
is a strong beer with a brewed wort content of more than 18% and an alcohol content of between 5 and 12%. All Bavarian fast-fast beers are Doppelbockbiere.
5. Farbenspiele: The darker the beer, the more rich?
This assumption belongs to the realm of legends, because the color says nothing about the original wort or alcohol content of the beer. There are bright as well as dark goat and Doppelbockbiere and even wheat Bockbiere.
6. The strongest of the strong: The Eisbock from Kulmbach
The Eisbock is the strongest variety among the strong beers . According to legend, it owes his existence to a mishap of the brewery from Kulmbach:
An apprentice had accidentally left a barrel of strong beer in the brewery's yard on a cold winter's night. The beer froze and brought the barrel to bursting. Inside the ice block, however, an alcohol-rich and therefore still liquid beer concentrate had collected.
As punishment, the angry master brewer ordered his apprentice to drink the brew. He tasted it, and then drank away in great sips. Astonishingly the freezing had produced a wonderfully strong, creamy and malty drink.
To date, master brewers make the Eisbock by freezing stout beer .
7. End Legend: The strong beer is
not
from Bavaria
Even though they are famous for their art of brewing and the beer: The invention of the strong beer does not come from Bavaria. The bock beer originally comes from the city of Einbeck in Lower Saxony.
But the "ainpöckisch beer" was so tasty to the Bavarians that in the 16th century Duke Wilhelm V demanded that his master brewers develop their own strong beer recipes. That was the beginning of a success story, because more than half of the German strong beers comes from Bavarian breweries today.
