Bamberg, DE - 5.9% abv

From the hamlet of Bamberg, Germany, comes this savory delight. In the days before kilns, malted grain used to brew beer was dried over an open fire fueled by beechwood. The smoke, infusing itself into the malt, carries over into the finished brew, creating a beer like no other. Scents of liquid smoke, bacon, desiccated fruit, and leather dominate the nose of this beer.

However, in sharp contrast, once the beer hits your palate, it becomes a completely different animal- thick, chewy, and yet still refreshing with a spritz carbonation to separate this beverage from liquid food. It is very appropriate that this beer is food-like: German monks would use this beer to sustain themselves during the long winter fast before Christmas. While foods were forbidden, calorie-rich, savory beers such as these would warm and feed the monks while surely enhancing their religious fervor.

Appropriate for us, then, to take a day off from Christmas party food and early holiday candy and enjoy a single savory beverage as a meal replacement! How positively monastic of you.