Starkbierfest Goldenator Release Day and Lenten Fish Fridays ay Golden Age Beer Company
We are kicking off our Lenten fish fry season in a big, boozy way, with our first ever Starkbierfest, commemorating the re-release of our beloved Doppelbock, Goldenator, the release of our Fastenbier, and the release of our first ever Eisbock!
Starkbierfests in Germany are celebrations around the release of Doppelbock in Bavaria. These festivals began as a religious celebration celebrated by a single order of Monks, the Paulaner Friars — yes, the very ones whose monastic brewery ultimately became the brewery that we know as “Paulaner.” Contrary to popular belief, the origin of their famed Doppelbock “Salvator” was not associated with the Lenten fasting obligations of these Bavarian monks (although “fastenbier,” as a style originated for that purpose), but instead was brewed as a celebratory beer for the Feast of Saint Francis, which historically was celebrated on April 2 of every year, which only occasionally feel during lent. The beer was called “Sankt Vaters Bier” (“Beer of the Sacred Father”). In time, the Feast was moved by the Church into early March, the beer became known as “Salvator,” and the festival, which became known as “Starkbierfest” (strong beer festival), became a secular “volksfest” (people’s festival) as opposed to a religious one, all some two hundred years before the advent of Germany’s most popular volksfests, Oktoberfest!
This year, we timed the re-release of our Doppelbock “Goldenator” to coincide with the first weekend of our Lenten fish fries (an appropriately Pittsburgh day of feasting by anyone’s standard). And, to add even more power to the event, we’re releasing two other beers. First, we are thrilled to bring back our Fastenbier, a smoked red lager made in the traditional Franconian style. But, for those who REALLY love doppelbock and big boozy beers, we have an even bigger surprise for you: the release of our first ever Eisbock.
That’s right! We took a couple of kegs of Goldenator, froze them, removed the ice, and kept the rest. What does that mean? It means that a pour of 14% abv, highly distilled rauch doppelbock is in your future, big guy.
Last, but by no means least. Every Friday of Lent, we’ll be tapping another guest Doppelbock from a host of other great producers.
Prost!
We love lager.
We started Golden Age Beer Co. because we are passionate about making clean and crisp lagers that are eminently drinkable.
From crisp Northern German and fragrant Italian-style pilsners to luxurious dunkels and Franconian rauchbiers to the easy-drinking, “lawnmower” American lager, we believe that, with their clean, subtle and eminently-drinkable finesse, lagers are the beers that bring people together, that cross divides, and that are both the past and the future of beer. And so we brought a brewery that makes lager its primary focus to Pittsburgh and, more particularly, to Homestead. Indeed, we believe that to do anything else would be an injustice to this community’s hard-working, steely heritage and resolve. When this community rose up in 1892 to rebuff a barge full of armed Pinkertons, it was fueled by Homestead-brewed lager, while the very brewers who crafted that lager stood in solidarity with their steel-worker brethren on the banks of the Monongahela. We hope that we can stand in solidarity with this community once more as it continues on its path to a new golden age.
Our brewhouse is well-equipped to produce the finest lagers. We are fortunate to brew on a state-of-the-art 15 barrel BrauKon brewing system. Bavarian-made and designed to manufacture the world’s most precise beer styles, this system provides our brewing team with the tools it needs to walk the tightrope to make perfect lager, which is defined nearly as much by its absence of imperfections as it is by its pursuit of perfection. In what feels like a meeting driven by fate itself, we were fortunate to find a head brewer who is up to the challenge of working with a system that has a lofty reputation for precision and finesse.
Meet Head Brewer Aaron Dahl
Head Brewer Aaron Dahl joined Golden Age in 2021 to oversee the transition of the brew house and begin working on recipe development. Aaron comes from Chicago’s Alarmist Brewing, where he was the head brewer for six years prior to moving to Pittsburgh to head the Golden Age Beer team. In the past several years, Aaron has earned three medals in the Great American Beer Festival: in 2018, the Gold Medal in the Hazy IPA category for “Le Jus;” in 2020, the Bronze Medal for the Pale Ale category for “Pantsless Pale Ale;” and, in 2021, the Bronze Medal in the American Lager category for “Midwest Royalty.” He has dedicated his professional life to beer. And while he can produce some of the best IPAs and Pale Ales in the country, over the past several years, his passion — like ours — has turned towards lagers, and he is excited to run a brew house that is dedicated to and designed for the same passion.
Golden Age Beer Co. is located in historic Homestead, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. Founded by the same people behind Pittsburgh’s beer bars the Independent Brewing Company and Lorelei, Golden Age is dedicated to providing its community with an inclusive, accepting, safe and hospitable environment that focuses on people as much as it does great beer.
We are an equal opportunity employer that guarantees a living wage to everyone who works here. We welcome dogs and children.
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