Fasting with pleasure … and with Schneider!
Liquida non frangunt jejuneum - Liquids don't violate abstinence.
Here we are again: This year's Lenten season starts on Ash Wednesday, i.e. February 14th. For forty days many people strictly abide by the yearly fasting. The really consistent ones only stick to liquid food like broth, tea or juice. But it is entirely up to the individual, what he or she wants to dispense with during these almost seven weeks. For many a person it is as hard to do without chocolade as it is for another one to do without food in general.
The biblical motif is Jesus' fasting of forty days in the desert, in which he was led by the Holy Spirit. Fasting, with the renunciation of food, is also regarded as one of the oldest naturopathic treatments. It is thought to purify not only the body but also the soul. In the animal world, too, there is fasting - hibernating animals sleep, migrant birds move intensively without feeding and penguins can fast up to six months a year at temperatures as low as minus 60 °C.
More than a hundred years ago the Frankfurt painter Johann Heinrich Hasselhorst illustrated the wild scenes in the „Strong Beer Season“.
Certainly Aventinus was involved...
Due to the fact that fasting was a strict rule in the Middle Ages, it happened some day that a few monks, who were sitting hungry in their monastery tried to find a solution to this problem. In those days the Church ordered even up to 130 days of fasting! As the monks spent their time not only praying but also working hard, substantial meals were necessary. Therefore the ingenious monks increased the original wort content. Thus the beer had more carbohydrates and of course more alcohol. They called it Lent beer. As in many places beer belonged to „forbidden“ food, the Pope had to allow its consumption. Therefore the beer was taken to Rome to be tasted and cleared by the Pope.
But the monks had an ulterior motive. They knew that the strong beer would not make the long way, it would go bad. Indeed it tasted so awful that the Pope decided that this „beer“ could be consumed in any case. He considered it penance enough to even taste it. A strong beer, as brewed by the monks of the Middle Ages, is nowadays clearly classified: The original wort content must be above 16 % and thus the alcohol content is 6.5 % and more.
If you not only want to fast but fast with pleasure, then we warmly recommend TAP6 Mein Aventinus, which definitely will not violate fasting. It is the oldest Weizendoppelbock in Bavaria – it has been brewed since 1907! Its full aromatic body with the sweetness of the malt offers a real treat – an ingenious combination, absolutely pleasant to the taste.
By the way, here in our town of Kelheim we organize a „Strong Beer Festival“ every year, called „Aventinus Strong Beer Festival“. This year it takes place on March 17th. Pre-selling for next year's event will start on Decembre 3rd, unfortunately all the tickets for this year's festival are sold out.
And when you will have managed to fast and are looking forward to substantial meals, then remember that our Aventinus goes very well with roast and sweet desserts.
Your health!