Maibock Online Tasting - April 8th

A quicky before I hit a wedding. Will probably have another when I get home, but up first is this Primator Maibock in the fanciest Stein I could find .



Pours amber with lots of floaties and a thin white head that dissipates to almost nothing. Smells of lightly toasted bread drizzled with a touch of caramel. Tastes similar with an earthy and grassy hoppiness to it. Feel is sweet with just enough bitterness to almost balance it, medium feel with some slickness to it, and hides the alcohol quite well. Overall, a pretty solid Czech version of the Maibock. Prost!

 

My 2nd Maibock for the day. This one is better in my opinion. Totally different taste/profile.

Look: 4.25 | Smell: 4 | Taste: 4.25 | Feel: 4.25 | Overall: 4.25 4.19 rDev +17.7%

12 oz. Can

Pours a very nice dark golden orangy color, very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick/creamy one-finger off-white head, which leaves some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, some hops, kinda roasty. The taste is pretty nice, malty, slightly hoppy, some roastyness. Medium body. Overall, a pretty tasty brew.

Cheers!

Miles Davis Sextet Someday My Prince Will Come (200G) (45 RPM) 1961 2010 Remaster Columbia Records, Analogue Productions NM

 

Enjoying my first real German Maibock and I really like it! Einbecker Mai-Ur-Bock, have to agree with @TongoRad, this is fantastic!

4.12/5 rDev +8.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

11.2 oz poured into a slim pint glass

A- A clear golden amber with a two finger white head.

S- Sweet bread, biscuits, some floral hops, touch of something fruity.

T- Biscuits, toasted sweet bread, hints of dark fruits, hops are mainly floral but a little earthy.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- A really nice beer, perfect for spring time.

 

Only bought the hofbrau, it's a bit skunky otherwise it's a solid beer. It starts out with a sweet breach malt and then the skunk and floral hops take over.

 

Hofbrau v Dead Guy




The HB has supposedly got a January bottling date (016 Q). The RDG is undated, but has the older logo, so probably has some age on it. Here goes...

A: HB is a bit clearer and has a way bigger, airier, multi-fingered head. RDG has a very slight haze and only a half-finger head, but it's longer-lasting, much creamier and leaves much stronger lacing.

S: They're both sweet smelling. The HB has a lightly-skunked, Euro-lager quality, some light caramel and some honey wheat bread. The RDG has an almost cake-like breadiness and strong fruit, like an underripe plum.

T: The HB comes across pretty delicate with caramel, honey and bread, and is mildly sweet. The RDG is straight-up sweet with strong plum-sauce fruitiness and a dry bread in the finish.

F: The HB is lighter bodied, with just a touch of creaminess and decent carbonation. The RDG is heavier bodied and creamier.

O: Both are really solid beers. The HB is more balanced, caramel-forward, refined. The RDG is much fruitier, creamier and heavy-bodied.

I give HB the slight edge, but they're both seriously tasty. Live and learn. Cheers, BAs!

 

My next and last two are in the form of a compare and contrast-

Lakefront Maibock and Rogue Dead Guy

Aroma-
Lakefront: fairly faint, bread crust, some caramel and spicy/herbal hops, maybe a hint of orange peel.
Dead Guy: rich and creamy, lots of fruit- orange and maraschino cherry- plus a big hit of caramel.

Taste-
Lakefront: much bigger flavor than the aroma suggests. More toasty than bready, but a bit too rounded with no pop. Smooth feel and medium body, with just barely enough hop bitterness. Semi sweet finish, with the caramel and slight herbal hops riding on the finish.
Dead Guy: More toasty than the aroma suggests, with the fruit dipping down quite a bit. Orange resurfaces at mid palate along with some caramel. After a few more sips the toastiness falls way back and the caramel starts to dominate. It's a semi-sweet, almost syrupy beer with just enough bitterness to make it work. Finish is long with toast crust and orange peel.

Overall Impressions- I'm still hesitant to classify Dead Guy as a Maibock, and it definitely has little to nothing in common with the Einbecker I had earlier, or any other classic examples. The Lakefront, on the other hand, while definitely in the stylistic ballpark of the style, feels like it is lacking something; probably a third tier example, maybe second at best, depending on how the rest of the glass goes. It's fine, but not something I'd recommend to somebody.

Honestly, I'm just plain enjoying the Dead Guy better right now, if I just sit back and take it on its own terms. It wouldn't get past the first round against the Einbecker, though, no matter how I looked at it ; and that's what the best examples of certain styles bring to the table, they don't just hit the bullet points, they are superbly enjoyable at the same time.

 

If you found prost maibock, that is a year old. I emailed them because I was hoping to nab one for this, but it won't be released for another couple weeks.

 

My submission this evening is Kalnapilis Bock f/k/a Kalnapilis 7.3 Bock Beer, winner of the gold medal at the 2004 World Beer Cup, Catagory 27: German Style Heller Bock or Maibock. Brewed by Kalinapilo-Tauro Grupe (Royal Unibrew) in Panerezys, Lithuania:



Pours a deep gold with a fluffy white head; good cap retention; solid ring and moderate lacing; excellent clarity. 4.25



Light spice, bready, hay nose. 4.25

Slightly spicy, very light sweet malt, light hop bitterness, some lemon, alcohol and a peppery finish. 4.0

Moderate plus carbonation; grainy but not really a bready feel; lite alcohol bite. 3.75

Overall a good balance and some heft, with subtle flavors from the Magnum and Saaz hops; I was expecting more malt; more similar to strong Euro lagers, without the DMS, I've had in the past, rather than maltier bocks. A maibock? I'm not so sure... 4.0

Cheers!

 

Like @larryi86 , this is also my first German Maibock, and I also really like it.


Pours golden amber orange with a creamy white foam head with nice retention. At first sniff all I could think about was Märzen. Big rich malts, beautifully fruity, with hops balancing the sweetness very well. Rich notes of caramel, toasted bread, molasses, brown sugar, toffee, honey, caramelized fruits, plum, red apple, black grape skin, raisin, dark fruit, dried fruit, some indiscernible note that reminds me of a slightly funky dried apricot, not tart or too funky, just a slight damp and musty note, balanced by spice and floral earthy grass. Tastes like rich toasted bready malts, caramel, roasted molasses, brown sugar, toffee, honey, caramelized fruits, plum, red apple, black grape skin, raisin, dark fruits, dried fruit, a mild musty note, with spice and floral earthy grass. Feels creamy smooth, medium-light bodied, slick with low carbonation. Overall I'm really liking this Mai-Ur-Bock. Nice slightly roasted flavor with big rich toasted caramel malt notes, elegantly complex fruity ester profile with a perfectly balanced hopping. I would certainly buy this again, and now I kind of wish I got more, like a 6 pack when it was available, when I only got a single. Now I haven't seen it since, but I know that a Maibock is a style that I can enjoy. I'll be moving on to an American take on the style that I've already had probably a bit older, and I'll be trying it fairly fresh to see if it's any different from my original review. Cheers all! and Happy Maibock Tasting.

 

Hofbräu Maibock, 7.2% ABV. Pours medium viscosity and burnt orange, with a two finger off-white head. Nose is sweet, malty, and bread, taste follows, with slight bitter close. Excellent mouthfeel, overall excellent.

 

Drinking an ABK Hell. About a month out of code but still delicious. I'm glad this tasting happened. It reintroduced me to a style I should drink more of.

Cheers!

 

My first of the evening:


Date code L 016 Q 07:43, which apparently means bottled in mid January, 2017. Bready aroma with spice. Deep golden color with tiny carbonation bubbles. An impressive looker. Topped (after a vigorous pour) with a tall, bubbly, off-white just nudging toward tan head, leaving thick lacing, but in no hurry to recede. Substantial to moderate feel with tingling on the tongue. Bready, toasty, and slightly spicy. Moderate bitterness asserts in the middle and finish, fading quickly. Leaves a pleasant sweetish malt or even caramel taste on the tongue and in the mouth. Malty, pushing toward but not to the point of being sweet. Balanced by the spiciness and moderate to light bitterness ("moderate to light" in the context of American craft beer, not in the context of traditional German lagers). (Glad my first impression from yesterday ... or was it the day before... was probably just me.)

This is excellent and a great start to the 4 maibocks I have lined up. As that is twice my typical daily consumption, I'll be taking a little time between beers. Which also means no side by sides. Oh, well; it's a tough job but somebody has to do it! (Although I did this review about an hour ago now, so #2 will follow quickly.)

L: 4.25
S: 3.75
T: 4.25
F: 3.75
O: 4

 

Work day done. Going big right now. Grabbed this in Bloomington, Indiana the other day. Looked everywhere for a date, in the store, except printed right on the label.

By far the oldest beer I've had. Bottled 2007. The head didn't last long enough to catch in the photo. The nose is mostly alcohol but smooth. Tastes more like a desert wine with hints of toffee and dark fruit. Mouthfeel is soft, hot smooth and amazingly not overly sweet. Overall, fantastic, but I'm not sure this beer qualifies as a maibock fresh. Aged 10 years, definitely not.

 

The store I shop at had plenty of 6-packs if you want more I could send some your way.

 

My #2:

Bready, earthy aroma, perhaps some caramel and fruit. Attractive golden color accented by rising carbonation bubbles. Topped with a 1 inch thick, creamy off-white head receding at a moderate pace. Substantialness to the feel, not thin. Thick-tasting (if that makes any sense). Bready with a touch of spiciness and fruit. The spiciness provides a nice balance to the bready malts, since there is not much bittering at all. Not sweet, but nicely balanced. Very enjoyable spring-time seasonal. While not quite up to the Hofbräu, it is a good American representation of the style.

L: 4
S: 3.75
T: 3.75
F: 4
O: 3.75

 

I'll probably be able to find it again. Just saw it at a shop in Boston but it seems they haven't reordered it since. Maybe a big packie store might have it. Thanks for the offer though. I really should start trading.

 

Rogue Dead Guy Ale (Lager?)

It has been at least two years since I have had this brew. I don't remember liking it a whole lot, but I have only had one other beer in the style, so I didn't have much to go on. I looked at least 6 other stores in my area for another maibock (specifically Hofbrau) with no luck. But, I enjoy partaking in these tastings, so Dead Guy it was. I generally avoid Rogue because their prices are always significantly higher comparable beers, and they do not have bottle/can dating. But, I know these nifty new cans came out within the last couple months, so I rolled with it.



The appearance is nice. Solid amber color with a substantial head. The aroma comes off mostly sweet to me, with the sweetness predominantly over-ripe fruit with a touch of grain and yeast. The flavor is lead by that same sweetness, but also has more bready notes, and the finish brings a bitterness that has both hop and yeast notes to it, though it never quite balances the beer for me. The texture is really on the heavier side for the ABV. There is a certain syrupy-ness to the body that I get in bocks of various types, and it is not all that crisp.

Overall, I think this is a well-made beer. I like guess I like my bocks to be either a single bock that brings more drinkability,or a doppelbock/eisbosck that brings more depth to accompany the richness. Although it is not something my palate craves, I can appreciate what was done here. And, even more important, I am glad I got another chance to participate in an online tasting.

I will finish out my night with a few of my traditional go-to beers that I noticed I have been neglecting for the last few months.

Cheers, BA!