Beer of the Week! 04/21/20

Augustiner Maximator

Regularly $14.99 / Now on Sale for $12.96
Doppelbock Lager

Doppelbocks -- rich, malty, lagers -- were created for Lent, and we waited for most of last year for Lent to come around so that we could feature them in that context. However, somehow Lent blew by without us even noticing. Fortunately, we still have the beer it inspired. 

Augustinian monks founded a monastery on Munich's Haber Field (Haberfeld) in 1294. Though they began brewing immediately, the earliest mention of their efforts comes from 1328. Two hundred and seventy years later (1589) the monks were providing beer for the Munich dukes when the dukes created Hofbräuhaus. In the 1800s, the monastery was dissolved, with the brewery broken off, secularized, and eventually bought by the Wagner family from Friesling. The brewery has been family owned since then.

The Maximator lives up to the "liquid bread" roots of the style with a nice bready maltiness that features caramel and even dark cherry notes. Before it gets too sweet, spicy, herbal hops balance things out. Speaking of balance, though full-bodied, it remains a lager, yet it has a kick at 7.5% ABV. It's just the beer for these last cool, rainy, sequestered days before the heat comes. 

Bonus Beer of the Week!! (‘Cause we all need a little something special right now.)

Dogfish Head Vibrant P'Ocean

Regularly $13.99 / Now on Sale for $11.96
Sour Ale

"Inspired by the ocean that connects us, Vibrant P’Ocean is a complex, ruby-colored ale with tart, dry flavors of jammy berries and floral lemon. To create this trans-oceanic potion, we carefully combined two unique base beers – one developed by Rodenbach and the other by our brewers here in Milton.

Rodenbach’s portion – a two-year, foeder-aged sour from its legendary, standing oak casks – was brewed in Belgium before making its 3,400-mile (or 1,000-nautical league) voyage to Delaware.

From there, it was blended with our portion – a kettle sour brewed with pilsner malt, malted wheat, elderberry, elderflower, sliced lemons and Belgian fleur-de-sel.

'We are absolutely honored to be the first to collaborate and create a beer in partnership with Rodenbach, the world’s most well-respected maker of sour beers,' says Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione. 'I’m proud to say that our teams contributed equally on every creative facet of this beer – from the brainstorm to the brew to calibrating the vibrant, red hue of the beer though specific grain and fruit blends. We really took our time and focused on creating a mouth-puckeringly magical drinking experience.' "