I say from time to that I do not like lagers but what I am really saying is that I do not like the mass marketed insipid pilsners generally passed off as beer by BulkCo's A, B and C. Lager or rather lagering is really just a reference to a period of cold storage, a central European technique from hundreds of years ago which created a rounder softer drink and also one which was available in the spring or summer months, depending on the style, when the short-brewed ales of the day would quickly go off. There is a lot of detail that could be filled in but for now it is enough to know that the choice of cold storage facility for lagering was either caves or monestary cellars having the temperature stabilizing combination of depth into the ground and stone walls.

Michael Jackson in his Great Beer Guide says of Paulaner:

This brewery was founded in 1634 by monks in the order of St. Francis of Paula. They brewed an especially malty beer as "liquid bread" to sustain them during Lent. They called it "Salvator," Latin for Savior."

Now called a dopplebock or double bock, this beer generated a style marked by the suffix "-ator" so if you ever see a beer with that in its name, as in this list, you can expect a drink like this as described by the Beer Advocate:

Double Bocks or Doppelbocks are huge beers with enough malt packed in them to consider them a meal in its self. Generally having a very full-bodied flavor and darker than other bocks with a higher level of alcohol also. The range in color from dark amber to nearly black. Dark versions may have slight chocolate or roasted characters.

My liquid unit poured a deep toffee brown with a tan head. Like another old lager style, marzen the first sniff is full of rich burlappy butterscotchy malt sweetness. This is confirmed by the sip - supported as well by a healthy dollop of treacle. In the mouth, however, there is a strong zag of greenish metallic german hops, which challenge me greatly in the poorer versions of bland light pilsner of which the world is awash but which in this beer cuts the cloy and balances. What is really singular about this sip is the yeast which makes something of a marzipan creamy nuttiness combining with the hops to make that burlap quality. It is not the biggest ale, especially for 7.5%, but it is lovery reminding me of an over-hopped scotch heavy ale in a way. Hey - I like a lager! The BAers do, too.

I found this at the LCBO in Ottawa for $1.95 CND a 330 ml bottle.