Bockbier
Brauerei Hofstetten / Krammer

 

Appearance: Clear, yellow body with a half inch of sudsy, white head.

Smell: Sweet-scented, curious nose, smelling of blended cider, sweet mead, and a pilsener. It's different, I'll give it that.

Taste: Sweet, grainy pilsener malts with some slight perceived cidery qualities and a strong, strong taste of sweet, pure, nigh unfermented honey. Unfortunately, this one'll leave you wanting, leave you waiting for some balancing bitterness that never comes. Faint floral undertones. Finishes decidedly sweet.

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium-low carbonation. Very chewy mouthfeel, surprisingly so, even.

Drinkability: Being a fan of sweetness is a prerequisite with this one. I did find this to be just knocking on the door of cloying and I found myself thankful it wasn't in a large portion and that I had a cool glass of water onhand.

On tap at the Brick Store Pub. I dentified just as "Hoffstettner Bockbier" on the menu, this is from the same brewery as the Granitbock they've had on before. The brewery and the Brick Store identify this as a Heller Bock. Pours a pale golden with excellent clarity and a thin, tightly beaded, white head. Smells a bit grainy and with lovely notes of honeyed malt. This beer is all about the clean, sweet, fresh tasting malt. Beautiful notes of citrus honey, and not too much else- not too sweet, and just light enough not to be cloying. The citrus notes help refresh. Somewhat one-dimensional, but it's quite a nice dimension! Smooth and clean in the mouth, overall this is light, clean, sweet, and delicious. A nice beer to have available.