Beer of the Week! 02/01/22

Paulaner Salvator

Regularly $11.99 / Now on Sale for $10.96
Doppelbock

When we were looking to put a Doppelbock on our shelves (‘cause everyone deserves a Doppelbock every once in a while) we looked at some very fine American offerings. Then we thought, “Heck. Why not just go directly to the source?”

By the 1600s, an order of mendicant friars had formed a monastery in Munich. Originally from Italy, these were Minim friars, their order having been founded by Saint Francis of Paula (also in Italy). The abbey was the Neudeck ob der Au Monastery, though, informally, the friars were referred to — after Saint Francis — as “Paulaner” monks.

As was common, the monks brewed. What they couldn’t finish themselves they either distributed to the poor or sold in the monastery pub. (Dig it! The monastery had a pub!) In fact, in 1634, local brewers wrote an official letter of complaint to the powers that were bemoaning their sanctified competition. This letter is the earliest official document establishing brewing by the Paulaners.

In 1773, Monk Valentin Stephan Still a.k.a. Brother Barnabas joined Neudeck as their brewmaster. He innovated the monastery’s brewing and laid down the recipe that became the basis for our Beer of the Week — the legend being that since the monks believed they were not permitted to have solid food during Lent, Brother Barnabas brewed a beer rich enough in nutrients to sustain the friars through their Lenten observations.

In 1799, Neudeck ob der Au Monastery was abolished. Seven years later, Franz Xaver Zacherl bought the building and began to brew. Inspired by Brother Barnabas’ liquid salvation, Zacherl made a Doppelbock and called it “Salvator.” His brewery took the name “Paulaner” after the dispersed monks.

The Paulaner Salvator is a medium-bodied, sweet lager. The first taste gives you a rush of breadiness that quickly falls into caramel and toffee flavors eventually finishing with Herkules and Hallertauer Tradition hops. Not too smooth, yet not too bracing, the Salvator is one of those poems of brewing — not quite a “monksterful” beer, it is truly a masterful beer. (Ouch! That was a bad one!)

Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause we see your Beer of the Week and raise you one.)

Aslin Nuances of Meaning

Regularly $13.99 / Now on Sale for $12.96
New England Style IPA

It’s really easy for New England Style IPAs (and especially NE Double IPAs) to be big beers — full bodied, rich, creamy, bursting with alcohol. And don’t get us wrong, we have downed more than a few of such and will likely down more than a few more. However, there’s no reason for every NEIPA to be like that.

Aslin’s Nuances of Meaning is a straight, dry, unfiltered, IPA with just a little juiciness. Using just Citra and Mosaic hops, Aslin delivers clementine and tangerine notes in this brew (maybe a little hint of pine on the finish). The most notable aspect of this NEIPA, however, is that there is just a … how can we describe it … a cleanness to it. It’s just so clean. It gives you want it gives you in a simple yet bright way. Sometimes

Remember!

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