When last I drank (for public consumption), I recommended following a Tröegs Hop Knife with something sweeter, maltier, and more alcoholic.  It is good fortune, therefore, that the seasonal variety 12-pack, the Fall “Anthology,” from the brewer includes the Troegenator.

The word “Anthology” always brings to mind the Steve Miller Band’s greatest hits album of that name. It was the first greatest hits album from a band that was once arguably the king of greatest hits albums.  Released in 1972, it covers years of music when psychedelia was in full effect, which matches well with the design of the Tröegs variety pack.

With its relatively high alcohol by volume of 8.2%, the Troegenator doesn’t hide its alcohol flavor, but it’s blended with a malty sweetness, some general spice, and the lingering sense of its chocolate malts.  It took me a moment to bring to mind the association, but it’s vaguely (with some psychedelic imagination) like brandy-filled chocolate.

As the brewer’s write-up explains, Troegenator is a doublebock, which derives from the stratagem of some monks to manage their periods of fasting with a “liquid bread.”  Some years prior to my birth (roughly around release of Mr. Miller’s “Anthology”), when they were free to do such things, my Baby Boomer parents backpacked through Europe, and it became a matter of family lore that the beers of Europe are practically a meal in themselves.

The era of peace, love, and backpacking are over, and having never made it that far, myself, I can’t say.  I can say that the Troegenator goes well with that bit of Thanksgiving Americana, the pumpkin pie.  Homemade whipped cream preferred.  Maybe with “Your Saving Grace” on the mp3 player.