Heller Bock Saphir
Brauerei Hofstetten / Krammer

Heller Bock SaphirHeller Bock Saphir
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From:
Brauerei Hofstetten / Krammer
 
Austria
Style:
Maibock
Ranked #19
ABV:
7.4%
Score:
88
Ranked #13,247
Avg:
3.95 | pDev: 8.86%
Reviews:
45
Ratings:
82
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 16, 2023
Added:
Jan 23, 2011
Wants:
  8
Gots:
  4
We dry-hopped this beer with full-cone saphire hops from the Mühlviertel to produce the fine, clean hop aromas of mild tropical fruits you’ll find in the glass.

Behind the dry-hopping and new name lurks the ever-beloved Hofstetten Christmas Bock.

Along with the heathy additions of Magnum, Aurora, and Select in the boil, this bock was also dry-hopped in our lager keller. This means we stuffed as many full-cone hops – fresh from the fields – as we could into a lager tank and filled the rest of the space with our bock beer. The beer was then left to mature for two months before it was once again enriched with hop oils.
To preserve all the wonderful flavors developed during the process, this beer goes directly into bottles without filtration.

Light-golden in color with a mild cloudiness, our Saphir-Bock shimmers tantalizingly in the glass. The floral hop aromas harmonize perfectly with the warm ester notes. When taken to the nose, you may make out hints of mandarin, lychee, and ripe pears. On the tongue, you'll immediately be struck by the full-bodiedness. As it moves back across the palate, the hop notes open up, revealing themselves in all their glory in the finish. The pleasant fruity-bitterness travels up the throat, across the palate, and into the nose, where it is greeted, once again, by the sweet ester notes of the yeast.

This constant play between full-bodied maltiness and floral hoppiness ensures an unforgettable drinking experience.
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Ratings by Zraly:
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Reviewed by Zraly from Virginia

4.22/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Pours a pale, cloudy gold with a healthy, rocky head. Nice whiff of citrus and bread upfront. Lacing is good.

Hops are assertive upfront and supported by a doughy malt backbone. Hops snap with citrus. Medium-bodied and smooth, clean mouthfeel. A smattering of grain husk touches the palate in the finish, which dries down nicely. Well-balanced German lager.

A really nice European lager. I've only tried a few in this style (i.e., maibock) but so far, I'd have to say this is my favorite. The Saphir hops, with their crisp citrus presence, really shine with the malt bill. I could really go for a weisswurst right now!
Dec 03, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.5 by trevorpost from Pennsylvania

Mar 16, 2023
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Reviewed by BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia

3.77/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
From the bottle (bottled in 2018), it pours a slightly hazy amber color with a nice white head that slowly reduces as you enjoy the brew. In the nose, it is a bit spicy and malty. The mouth gets a light bitterness over the malt.
Sep 26, 2021
 
Rated: 3.75 by aasher from Indiana

Jun 20, 2021
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Reviewed by sulldaddy from Connecticut

3.83/5  rDev -3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Sampling this for the Online Bock tasting. Bought it on a whim at the store, even though the bottled on date is 2013. I bought it for $4 anyway. No idea where this beer will go but we are off!
Pouring into my .5L dimple mug at cellar temp, the beer pours a pretty clear copper to golden color with several active streams of carbonation in the glass. there is quite a bit of sediment in the bottle that I leave behind to not impact my beer.
The beer has a fluffy eggshell white head of easy 2cm. This dense fluffy head sticks around and makes clingy lattice on my glass throughout the sampling.
Aroma is some light caramel malt and a bit of light fruits, I get some peach notes and white grape, but also some candi sugar notes. Aroma is not what I expected and appears to be a result of the age on this bottle. Smell is appealing overall. Also no hints of any booziness.
First sip reveals a lighter body than anticipated with slightly watery texture and fine tingly carbonation. The texture is a little disappointing, but still the beer is ok.
Flavor is briefly some light fruity note with a bit of pear and some light biscuit and then rolls to a bit of a grassy hop character and then disappears and my palate dries out. there is a bit of an oxidized malt note, sort of stale flavor that comes through on the finish. Otherwise the beer is decent. I wouldnt buy it again at this age, but would try a fresh bottle
Apr 25, 2021
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Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Brauerei Hofstetten "Heller Bock Saphir"
.5L brown glass bottle "Best after 2014"
$4.79 @ Mo's Wine & Spirits, Fairfield, CT

Notes via stream of consciousness: "Best after 2014"? Well it's March of 2021 now so it must be real good! ;) I know the hops couldn't have held up but let's see how the rest of the beer is. It's poured hazy deep amber beneath a full head of off-white foam. This is a helles, yes? So the color probably shows its age. How's it smell? Well that's not back. It's malty and there actually is some hop left. How's that possible? It doesn't smell oxidized but I'm sure it is so let me give it a taste... ahh, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. The malt is pleasant, bready and honeyish, and there's a bit of a tangerine flavor to it - again, that's got to be the hops, so how is that possible? I'm really surprised; I thought this would be a drain pour but I'm actually enjoying it. Now, the secret here is that I've been a professional brewer for over a quarter of a century (it sounds more impressive if you say it that way ;) , but the amount of tasting that I've done allows me to 'see' what a beer was before it became damaged. I can't be 100% accurate of course, but I can get a pretty good idea. There's the malt, and then there's the hop, and then there's the bitterness which is totally in balance now but probably seemed a bit sharper before. The malt will have become more caramelish with age, and of course the hops are dampened. I'm surprised they're coming through at all. In the mouth it's medium bodied and crisp. The head held up OK, which was a little disappointing, yet I still have a solid surface covering and it's left some limited lacing about the glass. Given it's age I can conclude that this was a very good beer over half a decade ago! :P I'm hoping to head back to Germany and Austria this year but I doubt that'll happen because of COVID-19, and to be honest I doubt this beer is even made anymore but if I come across it I'll update.
Review #7,290
Mar 29, 2021
 
Rated: 4 by paulish from New York

Aug 17, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by Griffith from Connecticut

Jul 12, 2019
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Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

3.54/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4
Welcome to the next phase of Bock Me & Bock Yinz! I Almost Forgot That It's New Evil Voodoo Twin Ranger Sunday (Week 745)! It's gonna be interesting!

From the Bottle: "Seit (since) 1229"; "Dry-Hopped with Sapphir Hops for over 8 Weeks"; Flower hops used only"; "[undersigned] Peter Krammer Dipl. Biersommelier".

This one is more a curiosity for me than one that I would otherwise seek out. I was fascinated & not disappointed by the previous Steinbier, thanks to its use of a hot rock or stone to caramelize the sugars during the boil of the wort. This one might be simply awful, but at the price point, I could not pass it up.

There were a LOT of lees on the kick so when I Pop!ped the cap, I went with a VERY slow, gentle pour. This only raised a brief finger of soapy, foamy, ecru head with limited retention, quickly fading to mere wisps. OTOH, nothing was roused, which I take as a success on my part. Nose had an odd cooked vegetal & meaty odor. It was like Latrobe Rolling Rock (which I loved, BTW) met with a Schlenkerla beer & had a child. Hmm. Mouthfeel was medium, light for a Bock. The taste was what I am sure would be an acquired one for many. It was VERY meaty & smoky with a cooked mixed vegetable flavor. Rauchbier with DMS? Hmm. What an oddball this was! I was reminded of supper at my maternal grandmother's as a child: meatloaf with Del Monte mixed vegetables from a CAN. I might be overselling this since I actually enjoyed it, but I envision others being completely put off but it. I'm not sure what I was supposed to get from all of the dry-hopping, but it was more a product of the malts that I tasted. I love smoked beers & this had a really lovely smokiness throughout, but it was shamefully not up to spec for the style. Finish was semi-dry, well fermented as a Lager but just not quite up to snuff as a Maibock. I sent a LOT of Change Requests/feedback, so once the dust settles, perhaps I will reconsider some of my numbers, but in the current iteration, I can only flex so much. YMMV.
Jun 02, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by a77cj7 from South Dakota

Oct 10, 2018
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Reviewed by jeffdr123 from Florida

3.79/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
On tap at the Pharmacy in Nashville. Pours a clear yellow with a two-inch head. Not much in the nose, but a great layered flavor of malt, fruit, grass and just enough hops.
Jul 25, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by John_Beeryman from Virginia

Jun 03, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by tykechandler from Kentucky

Sep 21, 2016
 
Rated: 3.8 by EdgarGerik from Venezuela

Sep 14, 2016
 
Rated: 4.25 by JTuomi from Finland

Sep 27, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by aussiebeer from Illinois

Sep 03, 2015
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Reviewed by generallee from Virginia

3.68/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Presentation: It was poured from a brown 1 pint 0.9oz bottle into a mug.

Appearance: The body is a pale yellow color with an average white head. The head fades slowly and makes a little spoty lacing on the glass.

Smell: The aroma has a deep bready quality with notes of clover honey and a touch of hops.

Taste / Palate: The base is bready and sweet. The hop balance is light but it does add some grassy and earthy notes to the finish. It feels soft and smooth with light carbonation.
May 04, 2015
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Reviewed by Bitterbill from Wyoming

2.96/5  rDev -25.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
A pale gold brew with more than enough foam and lots of flakes. Best after 2014 on the label.

Smell is sweet ish, vegetal, earthy.

Tastes like the above only with more of a vegetal almost rotten vegetable flavour. Has some semblance to a helles Bock but imho, the glory days, if it had one, are long gone.

Decent mouthfeel.

Not something I would ever drink again. Enough said
Apr 11, 2015
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Reviewed by Cyberkedi from Georgia

3.31/5  rDev -16.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
Reviewed originally in 2012.
Pours a clear amber with a typical cream-white head. Crisp, malty aroma has a hint of fruit, a mixture of pear and apple. Malty flavor has a definite undertone of hops, with bitterness to balance the fruity sweetness. Texture has average body and fizz, leaving a rather hoppy finish. If not outstanding, still enjoyable.
Feb 16, 2015
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Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

3.84/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured from bottle into a modified tulip glass,
A - Hazy pale straw colored, a gentle escalator of carbonation feeds into a light creamy cap. Glass stays laced gently for the entire experience.
S - Honey, orange peel, lemon drop candy, toffee, and biscuit round out the nose, fresh
orange scone from the oven.
T - Malt forward, citrus quickly follows lead by tangerine, orange and lemon reduction.
F - Round, lush to begin, quickly tightens up leaving a soft coating of orange drop lingering on the palate.
O - A full, soft body, and intriguing flavors have me wanting more from this Austrian brewery. Very well done.
Cheers
Jan 27, 2015
Heller Bock Saphir from Brauerei Hofstetten / Krammer
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 82 ratings