Favorite Colorado Lagers!

https://punchdrink.com/articles/your-move-german-pilsner-beer-tipopils/ pretty good article about it, but yeah more of a "style" based around tipo. I mean I love Pivo. Don't remember trying any others off the top of my head.

 

Timbo Pils from Highland Park was maybe my most mind blowing beer of 2019. They call it “West Coast Pilsner” for marketing as “IPL” is about as attractive as an Amber Ale to most consumers right now. Hands down the best smelling hoppy beer I had in 2019 but drank like a pils. Very little hop flavor for how hoppy the aroma was. I think I had 6 and bought a 12 pack to take with me. What was in cans wasn’t quite to the level Of what was on tap at the brewery (2 different batches) but was still crazy good. I believe it was GABF gold this year or last.

Lager yeast can do some really interesting things to hops. In fact 34/70 is one of the most studied yeasts when it comes to biotransformation of hop compounds.

I’ve had quite a few of the Jack’s Abbey IPLs at the brewery and thought most were fantastic. All great representations of the hop variety. Had a Strata one last time I was there that was phenomenal.

 

Prost usually puts theirs out around now, but who knows what will happen this year. I've been drinking the dunkel lately, and need to find more of that shit.

 

Dry Dock and the Bull & Bush usually have my favorite Maibocks. I have to admit it's not a style I typically seek out, though. Even in Munich I skip them most of the time. Ditto with most exports from that region, too. Something about stronger pale lagers comes across as one-note for me. Andechs and Spaten (oddly) would be exceptions, though. People say the pale bocks in Franconia are the best, but I've never lucked upon any of them on tap. Backcountry's was probably the best one I've ever had anywhere.

 

Yeah, I second Jack's Abbey's IPLs being as amazing. IMO, they're as good as the top-notch IPAs in the country, though not exactly the same. Hoponius Union, Kiwi Rising, and Mass Rising being my favorites. I didn't realize there was a hatred of IPLs from a lot of people--interesting. I have had quite a few IPLs from good breweries that are pretty lackluster though, so I could see where it comes from. I like me some hoppy lagers though, even if they're not traditional.

 

Dry Dock's Maibock is now available. It's a GABF silver winner and is basically a successor to Backcountry's (my old fave).

 

Comrade is tapping an export strength Mexican-Style Lager, 5.8% ABV. 15% flaked corn and hopped with Mount Hood

 

I got a chance to try the new Dry Dock maibock and it might be the best one I've ever had. Again, not my favorite style, so it's not like I'm a connoisseur or anything. Still, it's really, really good.

 

Damn, I wish I weren't on the complete opposite end of the metro area from DD. I've been expecting to see at least one or two sixers of maibock on the shelves by now, but so far I've seen zilch.

 

check out the link to the Craft Beer & Brewing article in travis224"s post above (#927). I coincidentally read that yesterday before noticing this thread today. It's basically, I would say, a German-style pilsner but with a good-sized dry hop (without re-reading, maybe 1 to 1 1/2 lb per bbl? so not as big as a juicy west coast or hazy new england ipa, but big by pre-2010 standards) , and the dry hop must be one of the noble hops--not looking for tropical fruit flavors.

 

A. Well that figures B. God DAMN I loved that beer. Can't wait to drink something like it (or even identical, that would rock) again.

 

Disturbing to day the least.

 

I dunno if I can even name a local packaged Maibock other than Prost's.
The ones that I usually drink (Dry Dock, the B&B, CB & Potts, Comrade, S26, etc.) have always been draft-only. I think even the Tivoli and Wibby versions weren't packaged. Very few German breweries send theirs, too. Hofbrau's is the most common, but it's a "normal" bock that they serve from April until August. I like it way more than the real ones, but it's atypical. Unlike Oktoberfest and Doppelbock, Maibock really IS only a seasonal. At least in Munich. Up north I guess some places launch pale bocks in the fall and winter, but they just call 'em bockbier.

 

Good to know. I remember back in 2016 it was pretty easy to find Prost and Finkel/Garf's Maibock on the shelves by probably late May. Still hoping to see those around in the coming weeks, but I'm not optimistic. I think the past 1-2 years, even Prost has had bottles available only in the taproom (or maybe on very limited distro).

 

I didnt see prost bottles on the south side last year and haven't seen em this year either. I've become disgruntled as I have seen wbaydn posts from PA featuring bottles from last year.

 

The Prost website shows that the maibock should be available in cans this year. At the same time, it's not showing up on their online order page while their (brand new) seltzers are. The images of the cans are also very clearly design mock-ups and not photos, too. I dunno. I guess it's pretty safe to assume that if you see cans - they're from this year. The distro has always been weird, though. I saw waaaay more Prost bottles on the shelf in Wisconsin than in any store here. I get that's the right audience, but it's also one with about 50 locally brewed alternatives.

 

Grimm Brothers Maiden's Kiss is a nice, packaged Maibock.

...assuming it's not was a nice, packaged Maibock. Not in Colorado, no idea what the status is there.

 

They have at least partially re-entered Denver distro. If they're still making it, it should be available in stores. Glad you mentioned them, though. When they disappeared from Denver for a while, I kinda forgot about them. Their beers are typically really, really good.

 

It looks like Maiden's Kiss has gone through some changes over the years. It was once a maibock, then became a "helles bock lager" and now is no longer a bock -- it is now a lemon radler:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjqUPhwBPq9/?igshid=1pcv9656j65wp

 

Wow.

Way to destroy a good beer.