SC - Lenten fasting...

[grizly at mindspring.com]

sca-cooks at ansteorra.org wrote:
> > >. . . .  I seem to recall reading that bock beers (generally
double or triple gravity, although not necessarily very high in alcohol) as well as March beers, are intended specifically for Lenten use. 

My point about heavier beers has more to do with infusion mashing
(apparently older than the decoction method) and the resultant heavy
alpha conversion, which creates a relatively dextrin-rich, low-alcohol
brew, as compared to lower-temperature mashes with higher beta
conversions, which produces a thinner, but higher-proof, beer. < < <

Master A representin' and talkin' all brewing chemistry!  I love it!  While they certainly were knowingly not controling the alpha and beta amylase, or the protein rests, they WERE certainly controlling the techniques that led to the same end:  beer that eats like a meal.  Marzens were used for two reasons: the newer beers for lent, and the balance aged/stored (with hop advent) for Early fall festivals.  The 'weight' of the beer allowed graceful aging.  It does seem interesting, as you point out, that the Bock, doppelbock and Marzens (heavy by any count) were brewed in later winter in general . . . . awfully coincidental with the major religious season if not on purpose.

niccolo