Style Highlight: Anticipate Spring with Liquid Bread

The clocks went an hour forward today meaning we lost an hour of sleep but gained an hour of daylight. Spring time is nearing and although some of us may be looking to reach for more bright, light flavours the Paulaner monks had a different idea all the way back in 1634.

The Paulaner monks were extremely poor but hard working monks residing in a Munich monastery. In order to survive Lent where they could not consume food but could consume liquid at the time, they brewed a beer the “Germanic“ way meaning a lager but made it extremely dense with rich malts as a way to create what they called “Liquid Bread.” The resulting beer is now a style called Doppelbock.

Doppelbock is a German lager that is brewed to anywhere between 7 and 10% alcohol by volume. It is brewed with deeper-coloured base malts and uses a traditional decoction mash in order to create a more complex malt profile. Decoction mashing is when brewers remove small parts of the mash, slowly raise the temperature to a boil and return to the main mash to raise its temperature. Boiling the small parts of the mash result in a rich caramel-like malt profile and the slow raising of the temperature prior to boiling creates more fermentable sugars leaving the beer still finishing dry. They lager the final beer for much longer than most lagers (around 3 months) to make sure the beer is rich in flavour but still crystal clear and refreshing.

If you were looking to try out a traditionally made Doppelbock you can find Weissenohe’s Bonator Doppelbock at Bishop Cellar. This beer is made using a traditional double-decoction mash and lagered for three months. A labour of love but when you see this brilliantly clear, copper coloured lager in your glass and inhale the rich molasses, nutty and brown bread-like aromas you’ll know why it was all worth it for this family run brewery in Franconia.

Anticipate the arrival of spring with a glass of Weissenohe’s Bonator Doppelbock. It is phenomenal with rich dishes whether you are having a beef stew, squeaking in some early BBQ times or planning to eat a rich, chocolate cake. Doppelbock has you covered.