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SPRING SEASONAL BEERS: It's Maibock Time
Post #16 | 4-22-10
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Anyone can certainly appreciate a good transitional beer for the period between those hearty winter lagers and the lighter summer ales. What you need is a less malty lager, but still hearty enough to wean you comfortably off of those full-bodied dark beers. Enter the Spring seasonals, today we look at the Bock. These lighter lagers are traditional for spring, ranging from amber to dark in color but having a lighter taste and flavor than winter-style beers. We'll take a special look at one of the varieties, the Maibock, brewed specifically for springtime.
MEET THE BOCKS
German of course in origin, a Bock beer is a broad stylistic category describing a wide range of malty, rather potent, lightly-hopped lager beers, ranging in color from light straw to dark brown, from medium to full body. The idea of special beers for spring is perhaps still strongest there, especially in the state of Bavaria and its capital, Munich. Spring beers there are usually strong lagers, often dark in color. Let's begin by a quick look next at the bock ("dunkel" or dark) and it's three variations the doppelbock, eisbock and maibock.
The Traditional Bock (Dunkles)
Traditional Bock is most commonly brewed in the winter and spring and it is a strong, enticing version of the Dunkel style of beer common to Munich. Munich malts are commonly blended with the lighter Pilsner malts, which results in a style rich in sweet-malt character with strong melanoidin, or caramel-like, qualities and toasty flavors. It is full-bodied, and ranges in color from deep topaz to dark walnut. It has a low hop bitterness, usually enough to not overwhelm the malt flavors, allowing a slight sweetness to linger into the finish, with virtually no hoppy aromas. You'll find a large, creamy, persistent off-white head, with moderate to moderately low carbonation.
The DoppelbockIn Munich, a Doppelbock (Double Bock) is regarded as a strong warmer to cure the winter blues as spring arrives. Usually maltier with more depth of flavour than a normal bock, it is a Bavarian specialty with alcohol content ranges from 6% to over 10% by volume.
It’s easy to assume that doppelbock, or double bock, developed when a brewer produced a bigger bock, but this isn’t the case. Doppelbock developed quite on its own and only after it became popular did the bock comparing nomenclature appear. Munich means “the home of monks” and it was so for the followers of St. Francis of Paula who, cloistered high in the Bavarian Alps, developed this distinctive brew.
When the beer became available to the Munich public, they noted its superlative similarities to bock and began calling it doppelbock. The Paulaners had always called it Salvator and this is the name still applied to the beer made by the Paulaner brewery. Salvator is the original double bock, one at 7.9% ABV. All other dopples with the "ator" suffix, as in, Optimator are named so to honor the original.
The EisbockAs always, brewers always take their craft to the edge, and so Eisbock was born. Long before today's north American brewers jumped on the ice beer bandwagon, German brewers had been producing an Eisbock("ice bock"). The method of partially freezing doppelbock and straining out the ice crystals leaves behind a maltier, more alcoholic product (the alcohol freezes at a lower temperature and therefore remains in the beer in a greater concentration). This "revolutionary" process has been in use in Germany since the dawn of artificial refrigeration. Alcohol content ranges from 9% to 40% by volume. It is deep copper to dark brown in color, often with ruby highlights with velvety, seductively smooth character and malty sweetness.
The Maibock
The maibock is the newest member of the bock family, being developed after the advent of light beer in the 19th century. Typically found between March and May, Maibocks are very different from their darker, full-bodied
brothers. These beers have a lighter body and crisper taste, a pale version of a traditional bock lager if you like.
You can expect a clear lager, deep gold to light amber in color, with a large, creamy, persistent white head, and moderate to moderately high carbonation. It is brewed entirely with pale malts, but also more aggressively hopped than other bocks for a refreshing finish.
Though less malty than a traditional bock, Maibocks still have a rich, malty, full flavour that can range from full-on graininess to more complex notes of biscuit, caramel, and toffee. Maibocks also have a more pronounced hop aroma and bitterness than their stylistic brethren, typically coming in between 15-30 international bittering units, and employing traditional Noble hops such as Hallertau or Tettnanger to give it an herbal, sometimes minty nose. The sweet and spicy aspects should be well balanced and those German quality malts are a big part of the main taste.
Even though Maibocks are lighter in color, the good ones still retain the higher alcohol content of the original Bock beers. They usually range between 6 to 8 percent ABV, and — if you get a good one — they’re deceptively easy to drink.
Maibocks are customarily served in connection with spring festivals and celebrations in the month of May (Mai) generally marking the onset of summer. It is the official beer of many May Day celebrations the world over. A growing number of fun and popular Maibock festivals featuring impressive selections of beer and food help to usher in the "Biergarten Season" each year. This strong golden spring lager is just the tonic for ringing in summer.
PROCESSES
The key to a successful bock lies as much with the decoction brewing method as with the ingredients used. Even so, there are some ingredients that remain constant for the style. The malt bill generally contains some percentage of Munich malt which contributes to the malty depth and color of the style. Noble German hops should also be used even though the hop character of bocks are generally downplayed. Finally, a lager yeast with lower flocculating tendencies should be used so it can survive in the high gravity wort.
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