This another beer that makes me feel so very cosmopolitan, so recherche; like James Bond of the beer world.  Just imagine:  you walk into a sweet pub, all decked out, full of pomp and circumstance and you say to the bartender:  "I'm a beerist, {insert name here} the Beerist.  I'll take a Korbinian - draft not bottled."  The bartender looks at you and says, "What?  Are you on crack?"  You smile glibly and say,  "No."

Well, let's get on to serious matters.  The folks at the Weihenstaphener brewery were kind enough to provide some background info on their spectacular doppelbock.  The beer is named after Saint Corbinian.  He was sent to Bavaria to evangelize and established a Benedictine monastery on Nahrberg Hill near the city of Freising in 725 AD.  Apparently, Corbinian was the one converted, for now the Weihenstaphener Brewery sits atop that hill and continues to produce superb beer. 

This beer is a bock, so it's stylistically appropriate for the namesake to be a monk, eh, even if his name doesn't end in -ator.  Ironically, Korbinian is also the name of a neurologist from the nineteenth century - and this doppelbock can affect the brain, that's for sure.

The label is laden with imagery and symbolism as well.  The brewery sent me an explanation of the images.  Instead of mangling it all in the retelling, I'll quote their words:

"Corbinian's symbol is the saddled bear. According to his hagiography, a bear killed Corbinian's pack horse on the way to Rome and so the saint commanded it to carry his load. Once he arrived in Rome, however, he let the bear go, and it lumbered back to its native forest. Both the heraldic element and the legend itself carry significant symbolism. One interpretation is that the bear tamed by God's grace is the Bishop of Freising himself and the pack saddle is the burden of his episcopate. The bear's submission and retreat can also be interpreted as Christianity's "taming" and "domestication" of the ferocity of paganism and, consequentially, the laying of a "foundation for a great civilization in the Duchy of Bavaria."

Korbinian is a "dunkles starkbier," or, dark strong beer.  Living up to its name, it pours very dark - a brownish red, like beautiful cherry wood.  It's got a thick, smooth, yellow-white head that came apart as I drank, bits of it floating here and there across the vast expanse of the body.  It was like globs of fungus floating on a dark pool.  Or maybe the continents as Pangea split.  

My favorite quality of the double bock was its aroma.  It smelled like a muffin; a bready, alcohol drenched muffin.  Yes, it's like a perfect pastry in a bottle.  Anyone for breakfast?   Hmm ... make some beer pancakes and drench them with a syrupy scotch ale and accompany that with Korbinian.  Screw the 'breakfast of champions,' that's the 'breakfast of brewers.'

As far as flavor, it's oily sweet with a brief touch of carbonation.  It evaporates from the back of the tongue, leaving a crisp finish.  No hops were evident so I loved it even more.  It's a heavy beer, made for after dinner (if you decide against breakfast, that is).  It's very rich.  

Many thanks go out to Nicole Rupprecht from Weihenstephaner.  I was terribly excited to find her response to my email waiting in my inbox Monday morning and I'm glad to know a little more about the 'world's oldest brewery.'  I look forward to trying more of their beers. 

Until the next pint ....