Multiplicity Maibock
BJ's Restaurants & Brewery

On tap at BJ's West Covina.

A- Pours a clear dark orange. Nice visibility and clear, little to no head present on the pour, but that's how BJ's bartenders tend to pour their beers.

S- sweet smelling.

T- Sweet, small banana presence- almost like a hefe, but some toasty and spicy malt take over at the end. A very tasty beer overall, though I don't think they completely nail down the maibock style.

M/D- Malty but with just a bit of more body to it than a lager. Had a bit of slickness to it that was good. Overall just a tasty beer to drink... although its only "good" in all categories that sorta combines to form something that pretty good overall.

On tap at BJ's Palmdale CA, Sampled July 2007
Pours with a wispy, off-white colored head that forms just a bit more than a ring around the sides of my glass. The beer is a brilliantly clear, amber-hued, copper color. Malty aromatic notes of brown sugar, caramelized grain, and even some malt driven almost-raisin-like fruit notes. Definitely has a malt driven nose.

Sweet tasting up front, but not cloyingly so; complexly, rich malt sugars that have been lightly caramelized and browned make up this flavor. The malt notes almost take on a rum-like note at times that is perhaps molasses like even (though this is really light). Rich tasting, with a definite fullness to it, though this is not so thick and rich as to keep it from being reasonably drinkable; I would not quite call it quaffable, which is certainly appropriate for a Maibock. This definitely has a really nice, concentrated malt character to it, this really makes it a nice example of the style. There is even some hop character here; a crisp, noticeable, yet not overwhelming bitterness lingers on in the finish (just enough to make you want another sip of this malt focused brew) and there is also a light, herbal, perhaps even vaguely pine-like, hop flavor here as well. The malt sweetness almost makes me think of a rich, concentrated fruit; perhaps something like raisins, but not really.

This is a nice example of a Maibock, clearly malt focused, but it still has a nice level of hop character here (which may be a touch more than is traditional, but this is American after all).