Spring Seasonals: Saisons vs Bocks

Yeah- it was Merchant du Vin; they made the 80s very interesting indeed.

My first experience with Aass was for a special occasion in 1982, and the store had it on display by the register so I shelled out the $$ and gave it a shot. All I can say is that for that place and time, the beer was well worth the occasion- I was literally floored (well, almost literally ) by my first sip.

As of 5-6 years ago I still used to see Aass products, but I guess it's one of those things that you just take for granted and then it's gone. How I would love to get some of the mixed can sixers again (3 Pils and 3 dark). Even then, though, I never saw the bock- only those sixers and the occasional Jule Ol.

 

“I don't think it's necessarily that Beeradvocate's hate lagers…”

What I posted was that “the majority of BA folks are not big fans of lagers…”

I agree that BAs do not necessarily “hate” lagers but overall they are not fans of lagers. You do not see a lot of posts about BAs loving Helles beers or Pilsners or Bocks or …

During the early fall you will see some threads and discussions about Oktoberfest beers and some BAs liking that style of beer during that season.

There does seem to be a ‘cross over’ crowd that like beers such as Boston Lager. On BA I have read many posts where folks have opined that Sam Adams is not a ‘real’ craft beer and they express how they used to drink Boston Lager ‘back in the day’ but now they have found craft beer they no longer find a beer like Boston Lager acceptable.

Yup, there is no doubt in my mind that BA craft beer drinkers are not big fans of lagers.

Cheers!

 

My current hypothesis is that they simply grew popular enough and have strong enough sales in Europe that they didn't need to export through Merchant du Vin any more and probably grew very tired of English speaking people making fun of and mispronouncing the founding family's name because a coincidental similarlty to the spelling of the English word "ass."

 

Bocks for me. Just had my first Troeg's Cultivator last night and it was goooood!

 

Quoth Michael Jackson:
"Embarrassingly named (at least to English-speakers) brewery in Drammen, near Oslo."

 

Ill take a Bock, saisons are too effervescent and flowery. Give me a strong German Bock. Preferably a Doppel.

 

I was one who opted for the high road and pronounced it the way I'd learned, "Oours, of course!" But then I looked at their Facebook page... https://www.facebook.com/AassBeer

Note the last post, August 26, 2013, and the tagline under "about."

Makes you wonder if this is even sanctioned by the brewery.

 

Course it's hard to be sure of the level of English proficiency behind that....

Slang, double entendre, and punning are pretty hard to master in a second language.... Some don't even get good at it in their first.

 

I guess you could suppose that the resultant meaning wasn't the intent if the proficiency is lacking, but from what you said previously it sounds like the original family* knew the jokes that were being made.

*Of which, it seems there are still members involved in the business; the proud sales manager: http://www.aass.no/en/export-inquiries/

 

I don't know if this counts or not, but I've been known to use the phrase "funky-Aass house character" when describing their beers.

 

If you can find the Christian Moerlein Emancipator "doppelbock", you'll find a nice bright amber 6.5% bock. I have no idea what their distribution footprint is, though.

 

Norway has some pretty extreme laws against marketing alcoholic products, to the degree where it's not even allowed to display product images, or product descriptions, online.

 

That does sound like it would be right up my alley, but we don't get that brewery over here.

That's what I really enjoy about Augustiner's Maximator, though. It's labeled a 'doppelbock', but drinks more like a bock (perhaps a bock-and-a-half). The Schloss Eggenberg doppelbock is also kind of that way.

 

Dont drink alot of Bocks, im not sure why but it just usually doesnt makes its way into the line up. As far as late winer beers, its still Sibera in Chicago right now so BBA Stouts, Non-BA Stouts, and porters are still my go to right now. However I do start moving back towards I/IPA's this time of year.

 

Yeah, they mention that in the English version of their web site (well, probably the Norwegian version too, but I couldn't read that! ).

 

You need to find some fresh Einbecker -- and they market the six-packs covered these days, so it helps the green bottle syndrome.

 

Those are my fall-backs (Ur-Bock and Mai-Ur-Bock), but they are pricey. Still, it's one of the few available standard bocks I can think of; I just wish there a few more to choose from.

 

Bocks, and we make a lot of decent ones here in WI (with our high % German heritage).

 

Going through my files, MdV's 1985 material did not list Aass as one of their imports, and it is gone by 2008. (Other records show that by the 2000's it the brand was part of All Saints Brands portfolio.)

So, the best I can narrow it down is late 80's- early 2000's. The one MdV piece that lists the Aass beers (below) is undated, but includes both Cold Spring Export and the August Schell Pilsner and Weiss, so that should help someone date it ( no idea when those brands were dropped by MdV - I would have guess by early 90s).

 

We're lucky to have a great one here in Minnesota, the best 'standard' bock made in the US, imho. August Schell Bock, 6.1% and definitely made to drink several of in a sitting.