Stowe Style - Helles Bock
von Trapp Brewing

 

Appearance - hazy golden body with white head

Smell - bready and doughy with some citrus, lemon and orange rind

Taste - Upfront is citrus, lemon and orange rind, yeasty biscuity and bready in the middle, hint of honey in the finish

Mouthfeel - medium bodied, high carbonation, citrus upfront, bready in the middle and the finish, crisp, spicy finish

Overall - good version of a maibock, nice balance of flavor. A beer that is crisp and refreshing. Certainly worth a try

Price Point - $10.99/ 4 pk 16 oz cans

Snagged a 16oz can recently for $3.25. Should have checked it out closer, as I now see a best by date of 30AUG22. Oh well....

Poured hard into a Willi Becher, it produced a superb, off-white dollop of creamy suds, sitting at 1.5" and slowly ebbing. Lacing sticking around is pretty nice. The bier itself is slightly hazy, with slow carbo and a rich golden color. Aroma is malty and bready, with hints of green apple and pear. Body is decently medium, with subtle, light prickle on the tongue.

Taste has more of the bready/malty aspect of the nose. Also has the light green fruit, though the emphasis is on "light". Has a smidge of honey, some florality, and a hint of spiciness. Would like to try one of these fresh, if it comes around again. Prosit!

3.92/5 rDev -0.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

2394

Taster at VT Bierhall. Dark golden , small creamy white head. Bready aroma, sourdough. Taste brings some strength with it, creamy, bready flavors. Finishes with a little snap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loved the label and the collaboration behind this as who wouldn't appreciate a well-brewed Helles Bock? That's what this was as it was immensely enjoyable and true to form as the dry-hopping made this plenty strong, flavorful, and ultimately balanced.

Deep gold in hue with plenty of head to top it off, this had a nice clarity to it with plenty of bubbly head topping it off. The lacing that stayed behind was sufficient, with the main ring being quite wavy and near the bottom of my pint glass. Lots of fall fruit, caramel, herbal, and spicy tea in the aroma as the taste had some candied sugar, bread, floral and grassy notes, and honey stickiness to it. Very deep and varied for a beer of this style, here as a ton to enjoy here as the Pilsner and Munich Malts were crystalline and sweet in nature, while giving this the depth and body that made this so enjoyable.

Some chewiness and sweetness could be felt in the aftertaste as the spice held up throughout, with the carbonation being perfect for this particular style. The dry-hopping ensured that the bitterness and burn would be subdued, but present from start to finish as this was plenty slick and bold throughout my time with it. The "Best By" date on the bottom of can was 8/30 but no matter, this held up well near that deadline as I'd easily reach for this again. This easily deserved it's rating on here as it was clean, flavorful, and fun and for this style, who could ask for anything more?

Nucleated Pilsner
Look: Hazy orange pouring a 1/2finger head which dissipated into a thin cap
Smell: Floral and grassy nose, with some light malt notes and a hint of citrusy hops
Taste: Fairly neutral at the start. malt and hops come at the start followed by a light hops bitterness and some citrus notes. The finish is malty and carries lingering hops
Feel: Light moderate body with a smooth finish

 

 

A: Poured a deep golden color. This is on board with most Maibocks I have seen.

S: Very grassy and hoppy. Similar to what one would expect from an IPA. However this is not what a maibock should smell like. I didn't get any notes of malt or baked bread.

T: Disappointing would be an understatement. Now look, if this beer was marketed as an IPL, I would be willing to re . evaluate since the flavor would match that style. However, Von Trap marketed this as a maibock. While tasting this beer I got nothing but dose after dose of Hops. There is not nearly enough malt character to qualify this as a maibock. It is just simply too bitter.

F: The mouth feel isn't great either. I get bad memories of having my mouth washed out with soap while sipping on this one. The hop profile messes up the mouth feel as well.

O: This beer was a huge disappointment to be because I love bocks and German lagers. Many will sadly give tis a high rating because of how popular IPAs are. However, as someone who has sampled plenty from this particular style, I need to be honest here. You simply don't dry hop a maibock. Final rating 2/5.

Best by 2022/08/31
Pours a frothy creamy 1 finger head with good retention and messy lacing, slight hazy med orange golden color

Nose sweet golden malts, a bit of cereal and bready notes, little light golden caramel sugar, fair fruity notes, candied pear apple like, light floral herbal hops

Taste brings mild sweet malt, golden sweet malt like with a hint of candy like notes, mild candied sweet fruit, a little pear apple tree fruit again, fair herbal floral hop, getting a touch spicy later, med-light bitterness, hint of smooth alcohol, drier finish with med to a bit higher hop bitterness getting a touch spicy

Mouth is med bod, soft lager, med to higher frothy creamy carb

Overall nice Helles Bock, clean, good hops, nice fruit like notes malty sweet but not overly sweet, good strength, quite enjoyable

 

 

Beautiful dark gold. Smells of malt and herby hops. The flavor of the malt hits first, followed by floral hops.. Light mouthfeel. Really good!

16 oz can
Best by: 08/30/22
Consumed: 15 June, 2022
Glass: 0.5L Stange
Temp at Pour: 49.4 F


Look:
Slightly dark golden yellow with a 3 finger foamy and frothy head. The head slowly dissolves to a 1-finger cover with excellent lacing.

Smell:
Hops. Grassy, herbal, and spicy hops. These seem to be North American hops. Some lemon. Underneath is some doughy bread that struggles to be noticed.

Taste:
Doughy bread and biscuits with honey and lemon. And, of course spicy, herbal, and grassy hops, but not quite to the degree that the nose suggests. The sip finishes very slightly dry and somewhat bitter. The bitterness lingers in the aftertaste and adds up over time.

Feel:
Slick mouthfeel. Body is medium-light.

Overall:
A noticeably hoppy Maibock/Heller Bock that does have a fair dose of malts. I am not a fan of hoppy beers, so I am struggling a bit to get through this one. If you like hoppy beers then you will probably find this one up your alley.