BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: "The back story of the bock stories we tell."

It's my annual plea to abandon the likes of Untappd and actually learn something about beer, in this case bock, doppelbock, helles bock and the traditions behind them.

Pints&union carries Paulaner Salvator and Aventinus Weizen Doppelbock in bottles year-round. As of March 3, 2020 we also have (rotating) bottles of Andechser Doppelbock and Aventinus Eisbock in stock. When they’re gone, they’re gone until next year. Finally, there’ll be a keg tapped soon of Paulaner Salvator, probably around Friday, March 6.

Someone always asked about Celebrator Doppelbock from the Ayinger brewery, south of Munich in the foothills of the Alps. It's a fantastic beer and a lovely setting; however, our first effort at Pints&union to feature Celebrator didn't work out. I intend to try again with proper glassware and a bit of finagling.

Stay tuned.

The back story of the bock stories we tell (at Pints&union)

All I knew at the time was that Bock beers were dark, and they appeared each year in spring. It was the 1970s, the decade of America’s beer nadir, and not unlike the Dark Ages, except that Pale Ages made much more sense.

Fewer than 100 independent breweries were operating in the whole United States. Only a handful of them stuck with the customary springtime Bock release schedule, and as an underage scrounger, I can firmly recall drinking only two, Huber and Stroh’s, although surely there were others.

Bock was referred to as a tradition, which seemed plausible, even if the exact reason largely eluded beer drinkers in my neck of the Hoosier woods. Knowledge about beer styles and seasonal brewing was already was scant, and Bock’s coppery brown color engendered even more confusion, because most beers were golden -- canned, ice-cold, and available year-round for plucking from the cooler at the nearest package store.

Bock was different. But why?

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Don't forget tomorrow's Bock History lesson at Pints&union with Kevin Gibson and Paulaner Salvator.

As a reminder, Saturday afternoon is the launch of our history & beer "lecture" series.

BOCK of AGES: A GERMAN-AMERICAN BREWING TRADITION

Saturday, March 23 at 2:00 p.m.

Our good friend Kevin Gibson, who you know as a writer, musician and beer, joins us for a refresher course on Bock. In the heyday of pre-Prohibition brewing in Louisville, the annual spring Bock beer release was a beloved seasonal event in the German-American community.

On tap we'll have one of the Old World's greats, Paulaner Salvator from Munich.

Our brewing history begins with this beer. And the history of strong beer in Bavaria – it was the Paulaner monks who invented this bottom-fermenting double bock. We have been brewing the Salvator for over 375 years – always according to the original recipe, which has been continuously refined over the years. The head is the colour of caramel and the beer is chestnut brown, combined with a seductive flavour of chocolate to give a pleasing intensity on the palate. Along with this comes the finest Munich malt, rounded off by a light note of hops in the background. Often imitated but never duplicated: The father of all double bock beers, whose names always end in “-ator”!

INGREDIENTS: Water, hops, malt

HOP VARIETES: Herkules, Hallertauer Tradition

MALT VARIETES: Pilsner malt(light barley malt), Munich Malt (dark barley malt)

I'll be saying a few words about Bock as a beer style, while Kevin will focus on the way Bock's annual springtime arrival in cities like Louisville was a cause for celebration.

As a side note, congratulations to Kevin for his full-time gig at Insider Louisville.

You’ve read his reviews and profiles (and maybe a few of his books), so you are undoubtedly familiar with the work of Kevin Gibson. Insider Louisville is pleased to announce that we have hired him — again.

Kevin first started writing for Insider in late 2013 as a freelancer doing food reviews and random stories and assignments. He became a part-time employee in 2014 for a year. He kept writing as a freelancer continuously afterward, from spring 2015 until this March.

As a full-time reporter, Kevin will tackle the 3Rs — retail, restaurants, real estate — plus, economic development.

Come by tomorrow, have a pint and chat.

THE BEER BEAT: "Bock brings the Germans rushing to the beer garden."

In the USA: on the Bock imagery of goats.

Doppelbock is the perfect example of a seasonal beer style redolent of history and faraway places, and yet deemed insufficiently sexy for narcissistic, hop-laden, shoe-gazing geeks.

No bitterness in this soul, mind you.

There actually was a Bock Fest in NuLu yesterday, and maybe I should have gone over and taken stock, but after being in Munich 20-odd years ago during Starkbierzeit (strong beer time) ... well, you know.

It might not be the same, although I commend the organizers for furthering Bock recognition in Louisville.

Apart from every other consideration, and whether one prefers malty or bitter, it is the seasonal nature of Doppelbock that we found enticing during the dawning age of better beer consciousness. Celebrator and Salvator were available during the warm weather months, but who wants to drink them in July?

Summertime was, and remains, intended for Bavarian-style wheat ale.

Even before the inception of Gravity Head, we'd time the arrival of draft Doppelbocks at the Public House for the Lenten season, as in Bavaria. More often than not, is was still chilly outside. In a word, ideal.

At Pints & Union, we'll keep a bottled version of Doppelbock (as well as Hefeweizen) year-round, but there'll be only two spare faucets for rotating drafts, and these will be scheduled to pour as we used to do it, traditionally and seasonally.

No one ever described the theory and practice of Doppelbock quite as wonderfully as the late Beer Hunter, Michael Jackson. This piece is from 1998.

Bock brings the Germans rushing to the beer garden

After the dark months of winter, the Bavarians are now venturing cautiously into their beloved beer gardens, even though the weather is not yet reliably warm enough to ensure comfort.

They can always give themselves a little central heating with a Bock Beer. In Germany, this is a brewery's strongest beer, unless - as is often the case - it also has a "double" Bock.

Both variations are seasonal specialties for cool weather, and the Doppelbocks are especially associated with Lent. Extra-strong beers were originally made at this time of year by monastic breweries as "liquid bread" to see the brothers through the weeks when their diet forbade not only meat but also fish.

The notion of beer as liquid bread is not fanciful. In the dawn of civilisation, bread was baked as a raw material for brewing and in some corners of the world "traditional beers" are still something of an alcoholic porridge.

A rich, malty beer like a Doppelbock is quite filling and does not, like the lighter, hoppier styles, further arouse the appetite ...