I sat down last night with a ½ liter glass of Schneider Brewery’s Aventinus Dopplebock – there was TV and snacks involved as well.  I can’t say enough good things about this beer.  It goes amazingly well with dinner (veg or carnivore style), it is a fine brew to enjoy after a stressful day, and is nice on a warn summer day curled up in the hammock mit mein frau und kleine welpe.

I actually found this premium brew the first time at 99Bottles in Federal way.  I have had regular weight Schneider Weiss on a number of occasions and our local pub serves it in a Schneider-branded Weissenglas, but somehow the Dopplebock escaped my attention while living in the cold Prussian north.  It is named for Johannes Aventinus (1477 –1534) who was a Bavarian historian and philologist. He wrote Annals of Bavaria, a valuable record of the early history of Germany and was/is called the “Bavarian Herodotus,”

Schneider is advertised as “Bavaria’s oldest wheat beer brewery” though what that truly means is not 100% clear – oldest family owned, oldest in one place, oldest just brewing wheat, oldest with a charter, ect…?  They do strictly follow the Reinheitsgebot – german beer purity law – and the current owner/brewer, Georg Schneider VI, is a direct father to son descendent of Georg Schneider I, who acquired the rights to boil wheat beer from King Ludwig II. in 1872.

The beer itself is a murky brown with a ruby tint.  It pours smoothly and finishes with a fine thick foam head.  The taste is amazing: velvet smooth with hints of clove, banana, bread, cinnamon, vanilla, milk chocolate & cherry aromas present. Those Bavarian yeasts make my heart beat so…  It is like a proper dunkelweizen crossed with a beer float.

One pint is great! and it would be easy to have a second with the right buddy and I might be talked into a third, but with the high alcohol content I would need help home after #3.  Normally a beer with 8.2 abv doesn’t really spin my wheels, but you truly can’t taste the booze unless you are careless and let your glass get too warm.  I give this brew my heartiest recommendation.