Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-24
ORIGIN OF BOCK-BEER.
First Made in the Fifteenth Century
by Two Noted Brewers.
4 YOUNG GOATS PART IN 1T.
His Nimble Capers at the Wrong Tims
Settled q Famous Wager.
MATERIALS IN THE STRONG STUFF

The season for book beer is here and tn
drinkers of that strong beverage are asking
ing their friends to join them, perhaps, ,
| little oftener than is the custom, tor its stay
| is brief, and therefore all the more enjoyed
In many instances the word book is pro
nounced as it is spelled, though not cor
rectly. The old lover Of that intoxicant
will always say buck when ordering OF
| speaking Of it. Webster saws:
BooK-BEER, Nicer. bockbier. from book
a buck, and bier, beer; said to be so named
from its tendency to cause the drinker tx
caper like q goat. IA strong beer, original
ly made in Bavaria. Also written buck
beer
Quite number Of amusing stories are
told of its origin. but the true one is a sub
ject of record in thu archives of the city Of
Munich, and is thus related in an amusing
strain by continental traveller:
Away back in the fifteenth century the
brewer to the crown of Bavaria, the Duke
Christoph, or "Chistoph the fighter" as he
was generally known, considered himself
the best brewer of his time, and never
disputed on this point by others in his
country, for reasons obvious However, 1t
SO happened that the Duke Braunsehweig,
of Enbeck, made q visit to the Duke Chris
toph, and while they were drinking beer
together in the gardens Of the palace
Braunschweig casually remarked that if his
brewmaster could not brew better beer than
that he would cause things to be done to
him which are unpronounceable in the lam
guage of the English.
Resulted in Historic Wager
Christoph thereupon sent for his brew
master and demanded what he meant by not
producing beer which could not be criti-
cised. The brewmaster became very indig-
nant, and said that he had always made bet
ter beer than anyone in the city of Enbeck
ever heard of. In earnest of what he said,
he put up 200 ducats and staked all the
possessions he had in the world besides
his position, his wife, etc.-all of which was
covered by the Braunschweig brewmaster.
The terms of the contest we're that each
brewmaster was to do his best with the next
brew-this was in November-and on May
! of the next year they were to meet in
Munich and each drink bumper, which is
seven quarts, of the other brewers beer
while standing on one foot, and then thread
q small needle. The one failing to perform
this feat would be regarded as having lost
his wager, for it proved the other beer to
have been the stronger and therefore the
best
The Mayor of the city of Munich was
and referee, and all the big and
mighty beer drinkers of the kingdom and
swarm of the small fry gathered at the
Mayors palace May l, 1850, to witness the
struggle for supremacy on this important
question.
Trouble Made by q Goat.
When the assemblage was in readiness the
referee gave the word and the race was on.
While the contestants were slowly draining
their big mugs the master of ceremonies
retired to room in the palace to get the
necessary needles and thread for the final
test. In passing through one of the rooms
he unconsciously left the door open and
young goat or kid, which was confined
there, escaped and made break for the
courtyard in which the contest was
going on.
He arrived at an inopportune moment for
the Duke Braunschweig's brewmaster. The
Christoph brewer had finished his social
glass very comfortably and threaded his
needle, and the Braunschweig brewer was
trying to find which end of his needle had
the hole in it, when the goat ran against
bim, disturbing his equilibrium and dignity
at the same time, and he rolled ignominious-
" under the table. The Duke Of Braun
schweig claimed that the ''bock" was the
cause of his brewers defeat and not the
Christoph beer, but the claim was not al
lowed BY the referee, who asserted that the
"bock" that did the business was in the
beer, and he exonerated the goat And
from that time until the present the pecu-
liar kind of beer which was drunk at that
contest has been called s'bock."
How 1t Differs From Lager Beer.
There is vast difference between the or