by Graham Lees

History suggests that a Bavarian monk called Father Barnabas Still was the creator of the beer style we now know as doppelbock, or double bock. But we have to thank Napoleon Bonaparte for propagating the beer beyond the shadowy cloisters of its origins, albeit inadvertently.

The townsfolk of Munich in the late eighteenth century knew that the monks of the large monastery on the southern hill slopes of the town enjoyed an unusually strong, rich beer. It was brewed to celebrate the end of the Lenten fast or, as some believe, to sustain the monks during the 40 days of abstinence, hence the term, "liquid bread." Local commercial brewers kicked up a fuss whenever a few barrels of the heady stuff found their way into nearby taverns because it lured away their customers like the Pied Piper. Or so legend has it.

Farther Barnabas's brew is said to have been dedicated to the monks' patron, St. Francis of Paula. In Latin it was called Sanct Pater, or Holy Father beer. The German Sankt Vater and subsequent corruptions in local dialect led to the name Salvator, the daddy of all doppelbocks, which today comes from Munich's largest brewery, Paulaner, named after the monks.

The cloistered brewery and beer recipe fell into commercial hands as Vatican power was curtailed during Napoleon's conquests and reforming reign. The brewery was taken over in 1806 by Franz Xaver Zacherl, who maintained the monks' traditions of brewing the strong beer to coincide with Lent. Zacherl was also the first Munich brewer to use steam power to heat his brewing kettles.

It is not known when the definition, doppelbock, was first used, but it became associated with high quality, high gravity, and high-priced 100 percent malt beer. Zacherl's rivals quickly sought to match Salvator's popularity by producing their own versions. In deference to the original, they added the suffix, -ator, to their brands. A beer style was born.

Paulaner Brewery insists that today's Salvator is much the same as Father Barnabas's spring 1780 brew, which he served to visiting local dignitary Prince Karl Theodor. Given changes since then in brewing technology-not least, the perfection of bottom fermentation and lagering-and the quality of ingredients, that seems unlikely. Today, a doppelbock generally means a beer with a minimum alcohol by volume content of 7 percent. Salvator is 7.5 percent abv, but some other contemporary doppelbocks have 12 percent abv or more.

The character of southern German doppelbocks is derived from hard water that is low in salts; blends of dark malt from Bavarian barley varieties noted for giving a strong, malty flavor; and aroma hops from the local Hallertau district. Doppelbock is generally dark, always bottom fermented, and lagered for up to six months.

Although bock and doppelbock beers today are most commonly produced in Munich and the state of Bavaria, the term, bock, comes from northern Germany. Like doppelbock, its origins are slightly mystified by time. It is believed to originate from the Prussian town of Einbeck, which in the sixteenth century had a reputation for brewing strong beer. Again, through Bavarian dialectical corruption, the name "Einbeck" ended up as "bock." Bock in German also means "billy goat," an association some brewers use to imply that their beer has a kick or punch.

"Ordinary" bocks are in the 6 to 6.5 percent abv range and there are pale and dark versions. Despite its name, doppelbock is not double the strength of a bock; the designation merely denotes a higher strength beer.

Munich doppelbocks are seasonal and are commonly known locally as Starkbier, or strong beer. They are generally sold on draft only during March, when several breweries, notably Paulaner and Lowenbrau, stage Starkbierfests. Several Bavarian breweries brew doppelbock wheat beer, notably Schneider's Aventinus (8 percent abv). For Christmas 1995, Hopf of Miesbach produced a wheat eisbock (7.5 percent abv).

Graham Lees is a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers. This column originally appeared in All About Beer magazine in March 1996.

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