Neuzeller Kloster-Brau Black Abbot
 

Review Date 10/17/2001 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Schwarzbier   Brewery: Neuzeller Kloster-Brau   Country: Germany   State: N/A   $ Per OZ: $.21 (B)   ABV: 3.9%

Believe it or not, beer has not always been the beverage we have come to know and love today. Centuries ago, from before the dark ages through the middle ages and beyond, the art of brewing was not as well-known a science as it is today, and the ale you bought at the local brewery would not always taste the same as the flagon you got during your last visit. There were many reasons for this. The grain from which the brew was made would vary in its quality, as would other ingredients. Fermentation times and temperatures would also not be consistent, again affecting the final product.

Beer was looked on much differently than it is today in those days. With water quality suspect of infection by microorganisms, low strength beer was a welcome alternative to slake one’s thirst on a hot day. The boiling process in the brew kettle would kill off any infection and sterilize the beverage, and the alcohol present (and hops when they were used as a seasoning) helped ward off re-contamination.

Additionally, beer was a foodstuff in times past. At times when every calorie counted, a glass of rich malty ale might add 300 to 400 of them depending on the size of the serving. Malts during the times of the middle ages were certainly far less converted, meaning that the mash process was far less precise and did not convert out as many starches from the grain to fermentable sugars. That meant that those starches went unfermented and were digested by the human drinker rather than the yeast fermenting the brew. Then too, not all of the sugars ended up being fermented, which again left them for the 11th or 12th century equivalent of Norm and Cliff to enjoy.

Meanwhile, back at the monastery, those clever monks found a tasty way to get through those annoying Lenten fasts: they drank beer. While Martin Luther may have enjoyed his Diet of Worms (that’s a pun, people), the smart monks were enjoying cold flagons of monastic ale. You see, solid food was a no-no during a fast, but liquids weren’t. So those wily monks chugged down on their day’s version of Red Bull Energy Drink and all was well.

Neuzeller Kloster Brau’s Black Abbot is a beer any monk would love during a fast. Brewed on the original site of the monastery where brewing has occurred since 1268 and has been done commercially since 1589, this is a beer the brewery describes as a Schwarzbier brewed according to an old monastery recipe. Black Abbot is not as smooth as any beer I’ve tasted in that style however. It has a low alcohol content of 3.9% by volume, and has lots of nourishing sugars left in for your beer drinking pleasure. I have also tasted an interesting Bath Beer from this brewery, which I have reviewed separately.

Black Abbot Lager pours to a jet-black color with a huge creamy tan head formation and a smoky fresh malt nose. The palate is very sweet upfront, perhaps the sweetest beer I’ve ever tasted. It has an absolutely wonderful fresh malt flavor and is full-bodied, lightly roasty, smooth and silky with a smooth oat character. Tastes like fresh sweet wort; upon sipping I immediately suspected a lowly attenuated beer. There is a delightful hint of chocolate and malted milk flavor. Sustaining and refreshing, this is like chewing on fresh roasted malt. A slight roasty bitterness is perceptible in the somewhat nutty finish.

I really wouldn’t pair this with any particular food myself. Rather, I recommend doing like the monks did and enjoying it as a meal in a glass.