Ahornberger Maibock
Ahornberger Landbrauerei

500ml swingtop. no date or batch number found.

pale honey color. cloudy (lots of sediment in the bottle). creamy foamy head fades to wispy layer. thin lacing at first. lots more later on in the glass.

bready aroma, with lightly toasted malt and hint of noble hops. light caramel. trace of phenols in the back.

sweet malts in the flavor are also bready with caramel note. hint of white grape juice. mild noble hops with balancing bitterness. another trace of phenols in the finish. otherwise off-dry with more maltiness.

medium body, not too thin. carbonation is quite sharp and prickly upfront, but backs off quickly.

This is one outstanding maibock, full-bodied with great character and taste, highly drinkable, yet interesting.

It is deep gold with a medium, faintly off-white head slowly shrinking to a lasting thin foamy top and leaving a little weak lace.

The aroma is full-bodied with toasted bread, raisins, grapes, lots of herbs and juniper, with hints of pine and citrus.

The taste is simialr, with a smooth, full-bodied toasted bread quality, some honey, and a lot of raisin and grape, giving a good, sweet body that has smoothly alcoholic warmth and slightly oily feel. It has a lot of herbal-junipery hops to balance, adding light, very zesty, tingly bitterness and some dryness for the finish. There is also a nice faint mineral quality near the finish. There is more to it than this, with a lot of flavour elements going on, but it's hard to fully pin down the character. Suffice it to say that it is rich in flavour and body with quite a bit of subtle complexity.

I got this bottle in a trade with Nutbrown. Thanks Alan!

It pours a slightly hazy light yellow gold with a 2 finger head of foam. Head retention and lacing turned out to be good.

The smell is all fruity and spicy...a nice mix of sweetness with some bitterish tones. And man, there's a big bread nose here as well as a goodly amount of honey. Inviting to say the least.

The taste has all sorts of things going on. First up is the big bready malt I noted in the smell. It's slightly spicy... I'm not sure of what's there are but they sure add some good flavour punches to the brew. Also, some honey sweetness and good, flavourful bitterness that comes near the finish. Mmmm. What a treat!

It has a solid medium mouthfeel to it, the carbonation is light but works brilliantly, and it finishes spicy and bitter. Great drinkability here and whatever abv this has, it's not noticeable.

Bottom line: A superb Maibock, it could be the quintissential one, and it's great that I got a half liter of it. 12oz would *not* have been enough!!

I'm so glad that I've got to try this amidst the dozens of IPAs and Stouts that seem to have filled my backlog of beers to try. The pile of stouts in the living room right now is really quite impressive.

This beer is almost perfectly to style. A true example of German beer at its finest. Oddly though, I have had more enjoyable beers but again this is a bock as it should be not the way I want it.

Very clear and clean pour. Light brown, I think I read copper somewhere, sounds like a good synonym to use here. Only a 4.0 in appearance because of the lack of that tall fluffy head that I've come to equate with German beers. No yeast at the bottom.

Smell is very malty and bready. Only the slightest hints of yeast and/or spice. Exactly what a bock should be; that is, malty and sweet and inviting without being too sugary or alcoholy.

Flavor is bready, a little bitter, very smooth, and mildly sweet. I wanted more than I got but I was splitting the 16.9 oz bottle.

Body is heavy and smooth. Not oily surprisingly. Could stand to have a touch more CO2 but that was only a minor flaw as it wasn't in any way flat. Too dirnkable. This is the perfect beer to introduce someone to bock beers, not too dark, not too strong.

Friend at my brewing club brought this one in.

A - Light, copper golden with a medium head. Dissipates fast.

S - Honey, nectarines, passion fruit, and caramel.

T - Caramel, honey, and malts. This is so good compared to American style Maibocks.

M - So well-balanced. So smooth and delicious.

D - Prime example of a Maibock. Need to find more before this beer is out of season.

Purchased at the Canoga Park BevMo. Enjoyed in a Becker glass.

Appearance:
Deep gold, almost amber, and perfectly clear. A generous cloud of soft white foam settles into a sturdy collar and leaves attractive lacing on the glass.

Smell:
Rather honey-ish and bready at first, with spicy hops and a hint of anise. A nice toasted bread note develops as the beer warms.

Taste:
Sweet malt and bread flavors, with a light fruitiness like a slightly under-ripe pear. Underneath is a tasty herbal spiciness. Notes of honey, nutty malt, fennel, and marzipan. Excellent drying finish with a firm hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel:
Light bodied and soft. Carbonation feels a little low. Overall this beer is very pleasant on the palate.

Drinkability:
A soft and pleasant maibock. Flavors are clean, balanced and uncomplicated. Very good bitterness plays off a sweetness which is never heavy. No rough edges here, either from the carbonation or the alcohol.

Appearance- Very clear, light amber/apricot color with a fluffy, loose white head. The head settles down fairly quickly, and leaves a very nice lace behind. Some effervescence continues for quite some time.

Smell- Slight breadiness, slight spiciness. Some maltiness in there to. No hops, a little malt sweetness comes through.

Taste- Very smooth, maltiness up front with a very nice blending of the malt sweetness and herbal notes from the hops. Very nice herbal hops on the back of the tongue and in the jowls.

Mouthfeel- Light body. Fairly low carbonation.

Drinkability- Quite nice. A very soft, pleasant beer.