Slue's Maibock Lager
Berkshire Brewing Company

Right, so looks the part. Smell is very rich, almost as though I'd poured a wee heavy or doppelbock. The taste follows, it's very robust. I just finished a rueben and this feels rich comparatively. Which says a lot. It's malty, with a big caramel bite at the front and maybe a hint of pilsner character carrying it, but only if you're looking for it. Last maibock I had was Primator's and it felt lighter, robust but lighter. This is very decadent. Couldn't find an abv on the can but I see on the site, it's 7.2 which makes a lot of sense. There's some alcohol heat but I don't mind it. It doesn't betray the beer. Could be somewhat cleaner on the palate but overall really good. It's all malt sugar, dates, caramel and maybe some booze. If that's your thing, this is it.

 

 

Can date off the edge of the can so unreadable
Pours a large foamy fluffy 1.5 finger head with moderate retention, some lacing, mostly clear slight chill hazed medium tan to amber color

Nose sweet candy and sweet malt, grainy sweet with candi sugar, light fusel alcohols give way to solventy notes unfortunately, hint of citrus and some cake icing

Taste brings more sweet candy malts, candy sugar and cake icing again, more mild citrus and fruity esters, light phenol notes tempting at the solvent but doesn't get there it just stays at light fusel alcohol which is surprising for only 7.2% abv, toasty malt note, drier finish, a little crisp lager note finally, and more alcohol on the dry finish

Mouth is med bod, med-high foamy carb, some tingly alcohol

Overall meh, I really want to like BBC given their history and my past with getting into craft beers as they were one of the pioneers, but the last number of years they seemed to have lost some of their touch, the base beer was decent if not for the hot fusel alcohol and solventy notes

Delighted to see a very fresh 4-pack box on the shelves of a market in MA not far from the brewery. First Maibock I've seen this season and, similar to last year, it's an excellent example of what I enjoy about this style. Berkshire does a consistently fine job with its seasonals and I believe this is the best of the group. It's not available in my area of NH but I made another relatively short trip to MA that included the purchase of
a couple more 4-packs. Would have purchased a case but not enough product available at the store. My only regret is that it's generally been not available year-round but I'll certainly enjoy it while I'm able to do so.