Feb. 19 (UPI) -- An Ohio man is marking the Christian tradition of Lent by giving up solid foods for 46 days and getting the majority of his sustenance from beer.
Del Hall of Cincinnati said his Lent diet includes only beer, water, black coffee and herbal tea, and as of his Friday morning weigh-in -- day 3 of his diet --
he was down 5.8 pounds.
Ohio man forgoes food for 46-day Lent 'beer diet'
Monastics in parts of Europe traditionally referred to beer as "Lenten bread"
Bockbier: ‘Liquid Bread’ for Lent and Beyond – Germanfoods.org
A group of Bavarian monks from the order of Francis of Paolo, called Paulaner, lived in the monastery of Neudeck ob der Au (today in the heart of Munich) about the same time that Pichler came to Munich. They strongly observed the fastening rule, but must not have liked the hunger pangs of 40 days of Lent. Food was forbidden, but liquids were not. Already familiar with the craft of brewing, they adopted Pichler’s recipe, but upped the alcohol and doubled the amount of residual malt. Out came the Doppelbock or Starkbier. The Paulaner monks called this new beer “Blessed Father” or “Sankt Vater.” The name later morphed into Salvator (savior, in Latin) as this beer is still known today. As word of this new beer spread, Munich residents flocked to the monastery for a taste. In 1629, Prince Maximilian permitted the monks to produce their beer in greater quantities and sell it to the public, providing the monastery with a steady income. And while the Neudeck monastery eventually became a correctional institution, the Paulaner brewery has continued to produce delicious beers under private, professional ownership until today. Those beers include Helles (lager) and a variety of bock beer, such as Bock, Doppelbock (Starkbier), Eisbock, and Weizenbock. Many other breweries followed suit, adopting the “-ator” suffix, such as the Maximator, made by Augustiner, and Triumphator, from Lowenbrau. Despite strong competition, the Paulaner Brew Pub and Beer Garden on the Nockherberg, close to the original brewery, remains a focal points of the annual Starkbier Festival.
