Legend has it that Doppel Bock was first made by monks as a hearty, full-bodied drink to be consumed in the tough fasting period. This 'Bonator' is brewed at the monastery at Weissenohe in the most traditional, painstaking way, using the best ingredients. It is named for Bonifatius, a missionary who came to the monastery long after brewing began in 1050 A.D.
At Weissenohe the Reinheitsgebot (the famous Bavarian beer purity law) is still observed, and the beer is made by the traditional, and painstaking, double-decoction method, which is only rarely observed in Bavaria today. Urban Winkler's brewing methods have been handed down to him from earlier generations of brew-masters at Weissenohe, and refined in accordance with the teachings of older brew-masters in the area. Franconians, a famously stubborn and uncompromising people, still support almost 300 small breweries in their tiny corner of Bavaria, and have kept the old ways even as breweries in the rest of Bavaria modernize, stream-line, and forget.
No one knows why all Doppel Bocks have names with the suffix '-ator'. That's just the way it is...
