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About this time last year, I set off down a path that hadn’t been traveled for centuries. I fasted on beer and water for the duration of Lent.

While that sounds like a frat boy stunt, my “Diary of a Part-Time Monk” project was actually rooted in the Catholic Church, though that’s not what brought me to the idea.

A homebrewer and certified beer judge who is passionate about the flavors and culture of craft beer, I am what they call a “beer geek,” and so the monastic origins of the doppelbock style of beer had long intrigued me.

According to legend, the 17th century monks of Neudeck ob der Au outside Munich, Germany, developed the rich-and-malty beer to sustain them during Lenten fasts, the traditional 46-day lead-up to Easter.

Unfiltered, the bold elixir was nicknamed “liquid bread” and is packed with carbohydrates, calories and vitamins.

With poor documentation available on the specifics of their fasts, I decided that the only way to know if the story was true would be to test the beer myself. I joined forces with Eric Sorensen, the head brewer at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery in West Des Moines, Iowa, to brew a commercial release of one of my recipes, Illuminator Doppelbock.
I would survive on that beer, supplemented only by water, for 46 days of historical research.

With the blessing of my boss at The Adams County Free Press in Southwest Iowa, I consumed four beers a day during the workweek and five beers on the weekends, when I had fewer obligations.

I knew that I could stretch four beers over the course of a day and function well, but I hadn’t planned for the media attention that the investigation spurred. I found myself giving more than five interviews a day to the likes of CNN, BBC, Fox News, the Chicago Tribune, The Catholic Herald and Men’s Health magazine, among others.
My noncloistered style of living as a part-time monk was interrupted by print, radio and television interviews, preventing the introspection I had planned. After a couple of weeks, I found myself needing to fast from the media, my phone, e-mail as well as from food.

In addition to learning that A) other folks found the story as captivating as I did, and B) one actually can live on beer and water for 46 days, I made some profound discoveries on my journey.

One is that the human body is an amazing machine. Aside from cramming it full of junk food, we don’t ask much of it. We take it for granted. It is capable of much more than many of us give it credit for. It can climb mountains, run marathons and, yes, it can function without food for long periods of time.
At the beginning of my fast, I felt hunger for the first two days. My body then switched gears, replaced hunger with focus, and I found myself operating in a tunnel of clarity unlike anything I’d ever experienced.

While hunger subsided quickly, my sense of smell provided persistent temptation for more than a week. But the willpower to carry out my objective brought peace to the “Oh man that cheeseburger smells good” thoughts. Soon, I could see, smell or discuss anything food-related without trouble.

Often, I cooked dinner for my boys, a task that became as simple and trouble-free as tying my shoes.

My fast also underscored for me that there is a difference between wants and needs. I wanted a cheeseburger, but I didn’t need one. I also didn’t need a bag of chips or a midday doughnut. I needed nourishment, and my doppelbock, while lacking the protein that might have provided enough backbone for an even longer fast had I sought one, was enough to keep me strong and alert, despite my caloric deficit.

Though I lost 25.5 pounds, I gained so much more. The benefits of self-discipline can’t be overstated in today’s world of instant gratification. The fast provided a long-overdue tune-up and detox, and I’ve never felt so rejuvenated, physically or mentally.

The experience proved that the origin story of monks fasting on doppelbock was not only possible, but probable. It left me with the realization that the monks must have been keenly aware of their own humanity and imperfections. In order to refocus on God, they engaged this annual practice not only to endure sacrifice, but to stress and rediscover their own shortcomings in an effort to continually refine themselves.

Though they lived out their faith at a higher degree of daily devotion than the average person, they could sense their loss of focus. Taking nothing for granted, they took steps to rectify that problem on an annual basis. Shouldn’t we all, whether or not our religious tradition includes Lent?

Fat Cat wrote:Are you still brewing Bats?

Fat Cat wrote: perhaps mead as something I could start producing. I've wanted to brew for a long time but somehow I'm chicken.

Freki wrote:http://www.dogfish.com

ccrow wrote: I consider the whole thing the emperor's new clothes. Something gives me douche chills about taking the peasant swill of the ages and talking like the douchebags in Sideways about it.

Then the microbrewery revolution swept the country and soon every abandoned firehouse, bank and shoe factory was outfitted with a vat and turning out every possible form and flavor of beer you could imagine, and some you would rather not.

It was perfectly natural then, with so many different beers to choose from, that a learned cadre of beer experts would appear to explain to the unsophisticated masses what is “good beer” and what “has the nose and character of a harbor-town harlot with a penchant for walking into walls caked with manure.” Thus arrived the beer snob.

ccrow wrote:

Freki wrote:http://www.dogfish.com

All these beer snob beers with the clever names, microbrews, homebrews, craft brews, gag, every one I have ever had, they have all been something between "meh" and "good god that is horrible" and generally nowhere near as good as a good regular beer like Yuengling or whatever. I consider the whole thing the emperor's new clothes. Something gives me douche chills about taking the peasant swill of the ages and talking like the douchebags in Sideways about it. Except Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA draft. I accidentally ordered one just choosing at random from what was on the chalkboard, was a little pissed when I found that I had ordered a $12 draft, then hoe lee fuck what a good beer, in fact it must have been something better than beer. And strong stuff too. Probably just as well I've never seen it on tap again.

Freki wrote:

ccrow wrote:

Freki wrote:http://www.dogfish.com

All these beer snob beers with the clever names, microbrews, homebrews, craft brews, gag, every one I have ever had, they have all been something between "meh" and "good god that is horrible" and generally nowhere near as good as a good regular beer like Yuengling or whatever. I consider the whole thing the emperor's new clothes. Something gives me douche chills about taking the peasant swill of the ages and talking like the douchebags in Sideways about it. Except Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA draft. I accidentally ordered one just choosing at random from what was on the chalkboard, was a little pissed when I found that I had ordered a $12 draft, then hoe lee fuck what a good beer, in fact it must have been something better than beer. And strong stuff too. Probably just as well I've never seen it on tap again.

Mak said he didn't care for beer and thought about mead, the ones I listed are more mead-ish than beer and Dogfish happens to be "local" so I knew about those particular ones. Theobrama is the only one I'd consider having again, partially b/c of cost and partially b/c most aren't to my taste. I skew more towards British Isle-type ales/stouts personally, but I'll try most things once. 120 IPA, and very hoppy IPA's in general are nasty.

Then you'll probably like this, we stumbled upon a beer geek festival in DC and went in. You got unlimited tasting and food. The longest line was for something called Pliny the Elder and everyone in line was talking like this stuff was handed down from the heavens. One time we passed by the line was relatively short so we gave it a shot. It was fucking nasty, like drinking pine needles or something.

Dunn wrote:

Fat Cat wrote: perhaps mead as something I could start producing. I've wanted to brew for a long time but somehow I'm chicken.

It is the easiest thing in the world. I have two handles of mead and one handle of hard cider working right now. Use this "ancient mead" recipe and you cannot go wrong.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/joes-an ... ead-49106/