Editor’s note: This post was written for a monthly international beer bloggers event. Each month everyone interested goes to the site of the month and posts their comments about a beer in a certain style. This month, the style was Double bock. You can read all the posts at Brevana.

And here’s my post:

I’ve discovered I live in the Land of Great Ales. Double Bocks in the San Francisco Bay Area are rare indeed. I visited my favorite beer store in suburban San Francisco this evening looking for a double bock for this very fascinating day of posting.

There are two very authentic double bocks made in the Bay Area each winter, Winter Bock from Gordon Biersch in San Jose _ the brewery, not the brewpub chain _ and Doppel Bock from Sudwerk Hubsch in Davis, CA. Neither one was in stock. The store had more than 300 ales and a handful of lagers. Aventinus and Moretti La Rossa were sold out, the only double bock they had in stock was Paulaner Salvator, so that’s what I’m sipping tonight.

Sampling this strong (7.9 percent ABV) classic Munich beer is much like meeting an old friend after a long absence. Has it happened to you?

You’re in the U.S., where the beer world has turned on its ear several times since first you met: Double IPAs, barrel-aged beer, spontaneously fermented beer. He’s still back in very traditional Munich and is now part of a growing conglomerate where the only commandment is either “blander and blander” or just maybe “stronger and blander.”

I remember being shocked, blown away and impressed by Salvator back in the 1980s. I was a beer newbie in those days and I recall that it was quite dark with intense notes of dark malt and a luscious, creamy, towering head. I’d never tasted anything so interesting. It had a great story line too. It was originally brewed as a strong beer to sustain monks during their 40 days of fasting for Lent.

Michael Jackson described it this way in his 1982 The Pocket Guide to Beer: “Salvator (5.8% w, 7>51% v) is lagered for ten weeks. It has an impeccably balanced palate and a well-rounded body” He gave it FIVE STARS!. So did I for many years.

What I’m sampling tonight is a light copper color with a thick head that fades in a heartbeat. I was so concerned that I pulled out another glass, washed and rinsed it thoroughly, then poured the rest of the bottle into the new glass. Same thing: head vanished quickly.Taste: toffee, sweet malt, a bit of warming alcohol in the follow. Sumation: a decent beer that would be fine to drink in a snowstorm in Munich sometime _ if global warming still allows snowstorms there. But not now, I’m headed back to my beer fridge for either a Green Flash Tripel or an Allagash Triple Reserve. Lager-smager. Love them ales.

Last note: In tiny type on the front label I found the note:Produced on 03/07. So the sample I got was easily within the best-by date. Well, at least within range for the old Salvator. Dunno about this version.