New Pope and beer

Joseph Ratzinger, now known as Pope Benedict XVI is not the first German born Pope. There were a whole string of German born Popes in the 11th century. In the 11th century in Germany the church was very powerful and most of the religious power was centered regionally in monasteries. One such monastery was in Freising, Germany called Weihenstephan and during the string of German Popes in the 11th century there was an event that happened that we still can enjoy today, no matter if you are Catholic or not.
To back track a little bit, Weihenstephan got its start in 725 when a monk (later named Saint) Korbinian together with twelve companions, founded a Benedictine monastery on top of the local hill and, consciously or unconsciously, also founded the art of brewing at Weihenstephan. The first historical reference to hops at Weihenstephan goes back to the year 768. At that time there was a hop farm in the vicinity of the Weihenstephan Monastery, whose owner was obligated to pay a tithe of 10 per cent to the monastery. It is an obvious conclusion that these hops were brewed in the monastery since there is very little else one can do with hops.
It isn't until the 11th century in the year 1040 though that there are records of beer brewing officially at Weihenstephan. That year Abbot Arnold obtained from the City of Freising a licence to brew and sell beer. That hour marked the birth of the Weihenstephan Monastery Brewery officially which has operated continuously to this day. Some other places may claim to be older but they don't have the documentation of operating non-stop for some 965 years.

Now the question is, what kind of beer does Pope Benedict XVI like? I doubt it will be the Satan beer from Belgium that was served to last Pope. I am willing to guess with his Bavarian background that it could it be Korbinian from Weihenstephan. If you'd like to try it for yourself we have a keg of it that we will be putting on with a special price this week.