Greetings, beer lovers! Happy Friday, and yes, ‘tis chingchongchinaman once (or not) again hosting FNBB this evening, giving esquimaux a well-earned night off from FNBB. After the slight mishap that led to my last FNBB 2 weeks ago (albeit a nice mishap, based on the response), this one is a bit better organized, or at least less worse in that sense. For this one, 3CM the loser heads back to Germany for a subject, with this story, “A Pilgrimage To Meet Germany's Last Beer-Brewing Nun”, from NPR’s All Things Considered back in August as the starting point. The transcript doesn’t reflect reporter Rob Schmitz’s exact text, so if you hadn’t heard the original broadcast of this story back in August, you will want to listen to the audio anyway, to hear the voices of all the folks involved, not least the nun herself, Schwester Doris, i.e. Sister Doris Engelhard of the Kloster Mallersdorf in Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg, Bavaria. As Schmitz reports in the piece (not exactly reflected in the transcript as shown):
“Sister Doris has made her strong beer for nearly 50 years. She’s the master brewer at the Mallersdorf Abbey brewery in northeastern Bavaria. The cloisters were founded in the 12th century and are home to 400 nuns.”
(The prior line from Sister Doris puts the “strong” in proper context, perhaps to state the obvious.) The transcript does provide some bits that didn’t get included in the original audio, such as this additional context to this cloister that Schmitz didn’t mention in his audio:
“In the late 19th century, the nuns were caring for hundreds of poor children and they decided to open the brewery in 1881 to raise money to help fund their mission.”
The text version of the story quotes Sister Doris on the issue of beer and faith (which seems more of an American / temperance kind of hang-up), in translation (natch):
"Beer is part of the Bavarian soul. If you're not happy with yourself, you won't be happy in a cloister. And eating and drinking are part of that life. It's not about being pious. All I need to do is believe in a higher power that accepts me as I am."
Sister Doris is quite the legend in German beer circles, as one can find earlier articles about her such as this 2016 article, “Schwester Doris und das Bier” (even a non-German speaker like me can translate that title at sight) from the Katholisch.de website, which I presume to be the official website of the German Catholic Church. However, self the loser certainly cannot read the article at sight. Thus, via Google Translator, the 2016 article shows that Sister Doris wasn’t exactly a fan of beer when she was younger:
“Beim Bier ist Schwester Doris eine Spätberufene. In ihrer Familie wurde, so weit sie sich erinnern kann, außer Most kein Alkohol getrunken. Die erste Halbe flößte sie sich 1974 ein - da hatte die Abschlussprüfung an der Brauereischule in Ulm schon begonnen.”
(“Sister Doris is a late caller when it comes to beer. As far as she can remember, no alcohol was consumed in her family except when needed. She poured her first half in 1974 - by then the final examination at the brewery school in Ulm had already begun.”)
Her “conversion” to becoming a braumeisterin happened in due course:
“"Mit zugehaltener Nase haben mich die Kollegen so weit gebracht", erinnert sie sich. Die süßlichen Dampfschwaden, die aus der Klosterbrauerei ins Internat herüberwehten, hatte sie schon als Schülerin kaum ertragen. Überhaupt - eigentlich wollte sie Landwirtschaft studieren. Doch dann wurde sie von Brauschwester Lisana zur Nachfolgerin auserkoren. Aus der Selbstüberwindung wurde rasch eine große Liebe. Der Duft von Hopfen und Malz? "Es gibt nix Besseres", sagt die 67-Jährige heute. Und zur Brotzeit am Abend lässt sie sich stets eine Halbe Selbstgebrautes schmecken.”
(“"My colleagues brought me this far with their noses closed," she recalls. Even as a schoolgirl, she had barely endured the sweetish steam that wafted from the monastery brewery into the boarding school. In general, she actually wanted to study agriculture. But then she was chosen by brewer Sister Lisana as her successor. The self-conquest quickly turned into great love. The smell of hops and malt? "There is nothing better," says the 67-year-old today. And for lunch in the evening, she always has half a home-brewed meal.”)
Well before this NPR profile, Sister Doris has not been averse to other media appearances, such as this 2016 chat show interview with Frank Elstner (keine untertitel, natürlich, so here’s a chance to brush up your German):
If you want a video about Sister Doris with a bit of English:
Interestingly, the 2016 article notes that Sister Doris isn’t much into the craft beer thing, and is definitely “old school” (OK, alte Schule) when it comes to brewing:
“Jede Woche verwandelt Schwester Doris 76 Hektoliter Wasser in Bier. Das ist weniger ein Wunder als solides Handwerk auf der Basis des 500 Jahre alten bayerischen Reinheitsgebots. Im Umgang mit dieser Lebensmittelvorschrift ist die Ordensfrau bekennende Traditionalistin. Auch Experimente mit Aromahopfen, der das Bier nach Mandarine oder Grapefruit schmecken lässt, sollen andere machen. Sie selbst kann den neumodischen Craft-Bieren nicht viel abgewinnen. "Die hopfengestopften Biere hängen am Gaumen." Eignen sich höchstens als Aperitif.”
(“Every week Sister Doris turns 76 hectoliters of water into beer. This is less of a miracle than solid craftsmanship based on the 500-year old Bavarian purity law. The nun is an avowed traditionalist in dealing with this food regulation. Others should also experiment with aroma hops, which make the beer taste like mandarin or grapefruit. She doesn't really like the newfangled craft beers herself. ‘The beers filled with hops hang on the palate.’ Only suitable as an aperitif.”)
Both articles confirm that Sister Doris only makes two kinds of beer, a Bock and a Helles. Schmitz says that she makes 2 flavors of Bock. The earlier 2016 article mentioned that Sister Doris was looking for a successor, just as decades earlier, Sister Lisana had chosen her.
‘Sorgen macht sich die Ordensfrau allenfalls um die Zukunft ihres Betriebs. Mit 67 Jahren hat sie das gesetzliche Rentenalter erreicht - das aber in ihrer Kongregation nicht gilt. "Im Kloster wird gearbeitet oder gestorben." Ist denn eine Nachfolgerin in Sicht? Schwester Doris seufzt: "Ich hoff immer noch, dass jemand kummt. Schau mer amal."’
(“The nun is mainly worried about the future of her business. At the age of 67 she reached the statutory retirement age - but this does not apply in her congregation. ‘People work or die in the monastery.’ Is there a successor in sight? Sister Doris sighs: ‘I still hope that someone will show up. Have a look.’”)
5 years later, Sister Doris is still working the same trade there, and in the NPR article, she is apparently still looking for the right successor (again transcribing the video, not quoting the given text):
“You can only buy her beer here, at the Mallersdorf Abbey brewery, where she sells it herself. But not for long: she says she's going to retire soon and she's looking for a successor.”
Here’s hoping that this works out for Sister Doris and the cloister, to find a new Braumeisterin to keep the tradition going there. Plus, if nothing else, this story does add a bit of gender nuance to the whole history of beer, where we seem all pretty much to take it for granted that the history of beer is a male-dominated / bro thing, and neglect female brew masters, both past and in the craft beer present. In fact, and bringing home the point about Sister Doris’ long-standing reputation in the world of German beer, CNN Travel had this profile on her as far back as 2014, which noted:
“Germany's beer scene is seriously dude-centric. And Bavaria's is even more so.”
3CM the loser has been fortunate enough to have beer in Bavaria, though I’ve never sampled any of Sister Doris’ concoctions, as I didn’t know about Sister Doris until finding the NPR story. Instead, 3CM has to settle for the chosen non-cloister beer for the evening, although by coincidence, it is a Helles, and “Munich-style” at that, namely a Workhorse Brewing Co. ‘Golden Lager’. This is a very nice Helles indeed, IMHO, although no doubt Sister Doris would stand up for her Helles, presumably without necessarily dissing the Workhorse Brewing version ;) .
With that, time to turn it over to you folks. What are you drinking tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Inquiring minds, etc..