Canadian Man Gives Up Solid Food For Lent, Survives On Beer

Bogey Wells11 years ago

For the Catholics who give up something for Lent, it’s a rough couple of months. Between giving up something you enjoy and not being able to eat meat on Friday, it’s as if God is hazing us. It’s for a good purpose, no doubt, but still hazing.

A Canadian man seems to have found a way around suffering while abstaining from his Lenten promise. Chris Schryer, a Toronto resident, gave up solid food for Lent and has survived on nothing but beer for the past 19 days. While he supplements his beer diet with water, juice, and tea to stay hydrated and to avoid getting belligerent every day for a month and a half, he says he receives most of his nutrients from the beer that he brewed himself in Amsterdam.

According to Schryer’s friend, he gave up solid food to emulate a monastic order in Bavaria, Germany:

[He] has given up solid food for Lent in emulation of the monastic order who created Doppelbock in Bavaria in the 17th century.

For those of you wondering about the possible connection between a Canadian and a 17th century monastic order, Google tells me that the Schryer surname is of German origin and the Schryers lived in Bavaria, Germany, many centuries before any of us were around. Doppelbock was a beer developed by the German monks as a form of “liquid bread” that was brewed for the Lenten season when they were not allowed to eat solid food between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. While I cannot confirm a direct connection, I’m fairly certain that history lesson has something to do with his decision.

While it seems like a great idea in theory, I honestly do not believe I could live off of beer for a solid 40 days. I wish the best of luck to you, though, Mr. Schryer. You will have the best Lent of us all.

[via Time]