I must admit, the doppelbock is not a style that I’ve had much experience with. I’ve been a fan of some of the other members of the bock family though, so I was excited to learn more. I thought that rather than going over one particular beer with a fine tooth comb I would get to know the history of the style, as well as it’s characteristics and pair it with some food. I hit a couple of my favorite beer purveyors and rounded up three doppelbocks. Then I set out to read about the history of the double bock.
Traditionally, the doppelbock was brewed by monks during their Lenten season. Instead of using their grains to make bread, they decided to put them to use in making malt bombs. The first strong Lenten beer was brewed by the Paulaner monks who arrived in Munich from Italy in 1627. Being the good monks that they were, they worried that this beer might be too much of an indulgence to enjoy during Lent. To settle the debate they shipped off a cask of the brew to the Holy Father back in Rome to get his blessing. In transit to Italy, the cask was subjected to heat and uneven roads and was nearly undrinkable by the time it arrived. Rather than tell the monks that they made shitty beer, he gave it his blessing on the premise that drinking such a vile brew would be good for the monks’ souls.
They sucked down as much of the beer as they could, all in the name of their Savior, until a little man named Napoleon came along and changed the rules. In an attempt to seperate church and state, Mr. Bonaparte declared that the church was not allowed to own any property, including a brewery. So the Paulaner brewery sat unused for a number of years, until 1806 when it was rented to a “civilian” brewer named Franz Xaver Zacherl. He continued brewing the beer and eventually bought the brewery outright.
Sometime around 1835 brother Franz ran into some trouble with the law too. Apparently the public enjoyed his beer so much that there were multiple complaints of the peace being disturbed around the area where his beer was being served and his license was revoked. Two years later, he found a friend in King Ludwig of Bavaria who stated “As long as I do not decree otherwise, the authorities are herewith empowered to grant an annual permit for the dispensing of Salvator beer. Regular closing hours, however, must be observed, but no taxes may be levied, because this beer is to be considered a luxury item.” This was the first recorded reference to Salvator beer, a name still used to this day and one that would have to wait for a patent law to keep others from using it to describe their big beers. After said law went into effect, other breweries had to come up with other creative names for their beers. They weren’t that creative though since most of them ended in the same suffix “ator”. So the likes of Maximator, Triumphator and Celebrator were born.
The original Paulaner Salvator is still brewed on location today. It is lagered in the world’s deepest lager cellar, at 72 feet deep in the ground. Thousands of Munich locals gather in the Paulaner hall to enjoy the first cask of Paulaner Savator which is always tapped by a local celebrity.
According to the BJCP style guidelines, a doppelbock should have a strong malty aroma with little evidence of hops. Some toasty notes are fine, as are dark fruits, but it should never smell roasted. In the glass it should be a dark golden to dark brown color, with reddish highlights. Since lager yeasts are used, the beer should be very clear. The flavor should pretty much match the aroma. Big malts, light on the hops, a little dark fruit and chocolate are optional.
The doppelbocks that I sampled were the Ayinger Celebrator, Paulaner Salvator and Aventinus from Schneider-Weisse. The dish that I paired them with was a Mexican style pizza.
I made two versions of the pizza, one with chorizo for my wife and the other I substituted black beans for the chorizo. To start, I took two tortillas and put a blend of cheddar and jack cheeses between them and grilled them in a pan. This would serve as the crust. Once they were nice and crispy, I topped both of the crusts with a layer of Asadero cheese. For additional toppings I went with roasted red peppers, some diced and grilled potatoes, pico de gallo and some green onions. My reasoning for these toppings was to choose ones that would stand up to all of the sweet maltiness of the beer. I didn’t want any delicate flavors that would get lost in the mix. I figured that the chorizo would hold up well with it’s savory flavor and greasy goodness. Also, Garrett Oliver, author of
The Brewmaster’s Table suggests Mexican food with a doppelbock.
As for my thoughts on the style and the versions that I sampled, I would say that this isn’t my favorite style, mostly due to the lack of hops. I tend to stay away from the really sweet beers. I will say that the Celebrator deserves all of the hype that it gets on Beer Advocate and elsewhere. This one is, from what I can tell, the perfect specimen of the double bock. Hints of brown gooey stuff like molasses and caramel in the nose, and in the mouth. It’s a little more dry than the other two, with a nice creamy head that laces down the glass until the very last drop. And let’s not forget the little plastic goat that’s included with the bottle. Although I don’t have any, I would think this would be a good toy to keep the ankle biters busy while you enjoy this tasty beverage.
Thanks to Wilson at Brewvana for hosting this Session. I had a great time learning about the doppelbock, and I always enjoy my time in the kitchen, especially if I’m mating my food with beer.
Prost!
