Paulaner Receives Permission to Serve Its Festival Beer

In 1751, Elector Maximilian III Joseph gave the Paulaner friars permission to serve their beer publicly on the feast day of their order's founder, Francis of Paola, on April 2. At the monastery of Neudeck ob der Au in Munich, the celebration centered on a malt-rich strong beer described as Sankt-Vater-Bier or Heilig-Vater-Bier, a predecessor of Salvator. The permission recognized a festival tradition that would become central to Munich's strong-beer culture. Later in the eighteenth century, Brother Barnabas, also known as Valentin Stephan Still, became associated with the monastery's brewing; Paulaner credits his work as the basis of today's Salvator recipe. In 1780, Elector Karl Theodor granted unrestricted serving permission, widening the legal basis for the monastery's beer sales.