Beer of the week - Paulaner Salvator - The monks' answer to Lent

Beer of the week - Paulaner Salvator


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Lately, while casually strolling one of our beer dealers, I caught a glimpse of a bottled memory that dates back a couple years, when the @hopbrothers1 shared an apartment in Cologne.
It's a seasonal beer that I've been looking for ever since, as I remembered it as a pretty tasty experience.

Half a box got snatched that day.

1more on that soon


Paulaner is one of the biggest breweries in the world and originates from the Order of Minims.
On Lent they couldn't eat all day, so they decided to get wasted instead and invented this ridiculously strong beer they called 'Doppelbock'. The stuff ended up getting really famous.

In 1634 the monks were already pushing it big times, such that the local brewers got mad angry and tried to shut down their retail business.
The mayor didn't give a crap, though. Who would want to ban beer, anyway!?

Let's see if the hype was justified and my memories are accurate.


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The beer had a short rendevouz with the garden before it was about to fulfill its duty.
And boy, it had me working really hard for it.

Getting a nice head on this beer, just for the sake of a nice picture, is harder than expected.
After multiple vigorous pours I managed to force some life into it, at least for a few shots.


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Let's meet our saviour


The raw facts:

  • 18.3 ° Plato
  • 28 IBU
  • 7.9 % Vol.
  • malts: Pilsner, Munich
  • hops: Herkules, Tradition

Price paid: 1€/50cl




Tasting



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The appearance is clear and the sunlight does a magnificent job at highlighting the red spectrum of its dark amber colour.
The head left the scene before I had a chance to appropriately admire my work, but there's a slight caramel colour to it.

On the first sip I didn't notice any of the alcohol content, it was actually a bit thin and otherwise pretty sweet. Might have been too cold from the fridge.

At a higher drinking temperature it becomes rather heavy, and a bit unpleasant.
A strong bitterness quickly takes over, and, combined with a distinct sweetness, burries whatever flavours might be hidden in this juice. But it sure tastes like liquid bread. It's essentially a bitter bread syrup.

Some tasting notes I found during my research even mention a lilac flower nectar aroma. I have no idea how anyone would come up with this, but then I'm also not a bee, so what would I know.




Conclusion


I had rather high expectations, but ended up a bit dissapointed.
The stuff is in fact strong and relatively cheap, but that's pretty much it.

Overall it doesn't seem to be a balanced beer. The bitterness feels somewhat misplaced in the overall concept and I sense some false aroma.
If I chose to drink beer, I don't want syrup.

The idea of avoiding food abstinence in such an elegant way is rather honorable, but I'm pretty sure there are better brews in this style.
On the positive side you get drunk super fast, so you won't really complain for long.

According to various sources, numerous people seem to really like this brew, so chances are you might enjoy it more than me. After all this style is not my personal favorite.
With an average of 3.62/5 the untappd rating is far more approving than mine, as I don't feel like giving more than 2/5.


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