Much like their neighbours in Belgium, much of Germany’s brewing history is tied to the monasteries. This beer is from the Weissenohe Monastery located in the Franconian part of Northern Bavaria. It is often claimed this is the oldest brewery in the world dating back to 1053, but confirmed documents record the date as 1109. Either way, its been there a while!
The Monastery had an interesting history (as did most European monasteries), having twice been destroyed and rebuilt twice, until it was sold into private hands in 1803. Since then it has been operating just as a brewery and café.
This beer is their doppelbock, a style of beer believed to have come into being when the monks needed sustenance during the periods of fasting. They brewed an extra strong malty beer because ‘liquid bread wouldn’t break the fast!’
The beer is dark ruby in colour, and we have big sweet malt and fruit aromas. In the taste is toffee and caramel malt, red berries, some spicing and a decidedly woody note from the hops. It finishes drier than you might think, with a gentle warmth from the alcohol that is well hidden in amongst all that flavour.