Maibock Online Tasting - April 8th

The Feldschlösschen was much closer to the ones I drank in Dortmund. I'm really excited about it this year.

But. Are you calling Einbecker a southern german brewery? Or are you saying that you've primarily had Southern German Maibocks and even the northern german maibock (Einbeck) was lighter than the Feldschlösschen?

I hope Einbeck would be considered more northern german... Speaking as it's in Niedersachsen which has the North Sea as part of its northern border.

 

Sweet! Time to revisit the Primator and Abita Andygator. I'm gonna have to do some shopping around. There was a German Maibock (green bottle flip top) that I used to love, but can't recall the name. Was thinking it was Einbecker, but nope, that was not it. Any ideas ?

EDIT: Nevermind! Found it! Altenmunster Maibock by Allgauer. Hope I can find it again. Now I'm stoked!

 

If I was able to participate in this tasting I'd probably pick up some Troëg's Cultivator.
Will definitely look for that Aldi offering, whenever it becomes available.

 

Yup, but between the caramel malt profile, fruity/citrusy hops and lower attenuation it could better pass for an ESB.

Damn straight! I'm certainly game. Hopefully I can get some good quality singles. It'll be nice to revisit it as well.

 

This, though "lighter" probably isn't the word I'd use -- drier, crisper maybe.

 

Glad it's not just me.

 

Huh. I think it must really not be what I enjoyed 9 years ago. There was definitely not citrusy hops. And I remember toasty pale malts but no caramely... But of course that was years ago. There's no way to go back and confirm my recollections. And it doesn't really matter if that's not the case.

I didnt like saying it that way either... I thought about changing it but then I looked and you had said heavier so the antonym is lighter. Maybe the maibocks I enjoyed were more full bodied.

 

Rogue doesn't bottle date, so there could have been older bottles floating around; or they could be tweaking the recipe; or just perception differences. The more I think about it, the more definite I am about revisiting it for this event. Let's see just how it is these days.

 

Since the number of brands distributed here in South Dakota is much more limited than other states, I'm probably down to Dead Guy, the new Lakefont Maibock I just tried a month ago, and maybe Hofbrau Maibock. The BA brothers rated Dead Guy 96, and they do know something about beer. Granted, that was in 2002, so it could have changed. If I can find the Hofbrau, I'll get it and Dead Guy.

 

Does South Dakota get August Schell? If so, I'd recommend picking up their Maifest (Maibock). It's usually a good take on the style.

 

Hmm. No dating makes it difficult to justify a hunt. I see so many Rogue beers on shelves that never seem to move, I'm even more leery now.

 

Yeah, I put "thicker" in parens because I couldn't quite pin down my memories. To me, the Feldschlösschen seemed to be less attenuated and, as a result, the body and mouthfeel were "more dense." I just wondered if that was a common northern Maibock trait.

 

I have two regional beers I could bring so I will be there. I have Genesee bock and I 'll have to actually hide a can to save it that long AND Emprie Brewing's German Style Maibock Lager.

 

I'm not sure how these tastings are usually set up and run, so my question may not have any relevance, but I see a lot of folks saying that they'll be bringing certain beers to the party that aren't Maibocks -- other than the ongoing Dead Guy question, but that's listed as Maibock by BA, so I can see it brought in for further debate.

However, lumping in Traditional Bocks and Doppelbocks, let alone Weizenbock, to compare with Maibock or Hellerbock (some will even classify that differently) could make for a wide range of contrasting and hectic discussions that would compare apples to oranges.

But maybe that's okay with these events.

 

Would you allow pale/blond doppelbocks? Like Capital's?

I came across this label the other day:

I wonder what it would have tasted like!

 

Or Goose Island's recent Fassinator -- no. They're Doppelbocks (and it's not my place for "allowance," but I'd also disqualify a Doppelbock entered into competition in the Heller Bock category).

Delicious, I'm sure. Very interesting too, you rarely hear about Heller Doppelbock from Germany. Any idea how old this is? Spaten and Franziskaner merged in 1922, so I have to wonder if it's older than that.

 

I would guess it's newer than that: 40's-50's. I've seen other older Franziskaner labels (Post-1922) that don't mention the combined ownership, so I wonder if that's a more 'recent' trend.

 

Do you mainly do your tastings around midnight and avoid all mirrors and crosses?

 

You should be able to get both Summit and Schell's in SD.