Maibock Online Tasting - April 8th

My 3rd and final Maibock for the night. I like this one the best of the three, and it has almost a year on it. Less spice, malt than the others.

Mardi Gras Bock | Abita Brewing Co.

Look: 4.25 | Smell: 4.25 | Taste: 4.25 | Feel: 4.25 | Overall: 4.25 Rating: 4.25 rDev +22.5%

12 oz. Bottle
Best By: 05/23/16

Almost a year on this one.

Pours a pretty nice dark golden orange color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice thick/creamy one-finger head, which leaves some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, slight hop, slight spice. The taste is malty, slightly hoppy, with some spice, nice little sweetness. Medium body, with a nice little dry/bitter finish. Overall a pretty tasty brew.

Cheers!

Miles Davis Quintet Miles Smiles (180G) (German) 1966 2008 Remaster Columbia Records, Speakers Corner Records NM

 

Having this Rogue Dead Guy Ale again, this time a bit fresher than when I last had it (for the first time).




My review from then, Oct. 31, 2016:

12 oz. bottle

Pours amber orange with a creamy off-white foam head. Smells like fruity apples, pear, raisins, plums, sweet melon, floral orange citrus, candied grapefruit, with malty caramel, molasses, toffee, brown sugar, vanilla, toasty bread, and earthy herbal grassy pine. Tastes like fruity apples, pear, raisins, plum, sweet melon, rich malty caramel, molasses, toffee, brown sugar, vanilla, toasty bread, candied grapefruit, floral orange citrus, with earthy herbal grassy pine. Feels medium-light bodied, creamy with moderate low carbonation. Overall a nice Maibock style ale.


Initially this time I wasn't thinking apple and pear aroma, and the candied grapefruit I'm getting is almost watermelon candy or bubblegum-esque. For the most part though I'm surprised at how similar this tastes to me now. Maybe the bottle I had wasn't so old after all, or maybe the beer doesn't change much within 6 months, or maybe I'm just not picking up any subtle differences because it's hard to put every little nuance into words. There might be a little more pine prominent, and now I think I'm picking up some honey, other than that though all the same notes are there for me. Toasty, bready, fruity, candied citrus, sweet melon, some dark fruits, dried fruits, caramel malts, with earthy herbal piney hops. Definitely Americanized and not nearly as good as the German example I just had. Technically not true to style since it is an ale and not a lager, still a pretty good Maibock-style ale though, and a tasty beer overall. Cheers everybody!

 

3rd entry: (I reviewed this beer last year, so consider this an update)

Summit Maibock Blonde Bock 2016
Aroma is bread, spice, perhaps a bit of fruit in there. Clear pale gold with very active carbonation in a Summit Beer Hall pint glass. White, thick head. Recedes lazily leaving nice looking lacing. Good body in the mouth feel. Initial taste is what the aroma would have you expect: bread, fruit, not too sweet. A bit of bittering in the middle and remaining into the finish. Clean finish, with the somewhat sweet malt remaing into the aftertaste. A nicely done maibock, between the Hofbräu and the Capital.

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

 

Rogue Dead Guy, 6.8% ABV. Gusher, never had that happen before, lost maybe a fourth of it. Pours hazy dark orange (all over the damn counter), medium viscosity, with a one finger white head that dissipated before I got a usable picture. Nose is sweet fruity bread, taste follows, with a slight dry/bitter close. OK mouthfeel, overall very good. I've had bottles foam over, but this gushered like a volcano.

 

Was hoping to find some over here, but a no go.

Cheers!

 

I've kept an eye on the thread all day and y'all look to have enjoyed some tasty brews. Happy to join in on the fun now that my chores for the day are (mostly) done.

I should say that lagers aren't my forte and this will be my first maibock apart from Dead Guy Ale.

My thanks to @THSdrummer for providing this one.



3.44/5 rDev -2%

look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a pilsner glass. Enjoy by date is hard to read but looks like 5/26/17.

Pours copper / gold in color reminiscent of apple juice / cider. The head is small, white, and recedes into a cap of film that leaves behind a small bit of lacing on the glass.

This one is not particularly aromatic but smells of sweet maltiness balanced by floral and grassy hop notes.

The taste follows the nose with some sweet maltiness balanced by a floral / grassy hop flavor. Notes of caramel can also be detected. A bit of alcohol is also noticable in the finish.

The feel is medium bodied and crisp.

Lagers are not my favorite, but I was glad to have the opportunity to try this one for the tasting. It's well balanced and refreshing, great for Spring

Cheers!

 

#4, and unless I've missed it, I'm surprised no one has included this one before now. Schell's is the top brewer of German styles in MN, but as the final of 4 reviews this evening, I'm afraid I'm not really doing it justice... Anyway...

Schell's Maifest
Bready aroma, a little spice and earthiness. Attractive amber color with a moderate level of rising carbonation bubbles. Topped with a tall, bubbly, creamy white head leaving lots of lacing as it recedes. Substantial feel, moderately thick. Bready taste with a touch of earthy grassy spiciness. Slight bittering in the finish. Clean finish.

Yes, as the fourth of the night, the review is a bit brief, so assume this review has credibility at your own risk!

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

 

Good looking beer and nice review - Cheers!

 

2011 Stone Old Guardian

 

I'm sorry... but this just struck me as funny... relatively sober!

 

Finishing this one off with my new resident dwarf goat Navin! He drank most of it while I was informing @LeperJim that ended up in the Biergarage after running away from home.



Surprised to not have seen this tonight! Honestly, it's not bad, and I may even pick up some more, at $5.99 a sixer. Pours beautifully clear amber with a foamy white head that completely recedes. No lacing. Smells of pumpernickel bread with a touch of spice. Tastes sweet and of lightly toasted bread with minimal grassy hops. Feel is smooth, light to medium bodied, and flavor stays between sips. Very easy to drink. Overall, not a bad bang for your buck, and it's ease to find makes it even better for this style. Prost!

 

First off, I want to say how great it is to have this thread. I love it because it is about a listed style here, but one that is ignored otherwise. The most popular Maibock and the highest rated Maibock on this site are the same beer - Rogue Dead Guy Ale... and yet, people always talk about how it is a poor representation of the style (at best). When I went to the store looking for something for the thread, I found ONE Maibock... and the bottle was from 2011 (Smuttynose FYI). Alarms should be going off!!!

I think @steveh was the first to point out Trader Joe's Spring Prost in this thread... so thank you to steveh. I ended up buying a bottle of that brew, plus a Dead Guy can... and I already had a bottle of Trader Joe's Heller Bock (which I really like). I did a non-blind side-by-side.





Josephsbrau Heller Bock is the lightest color of the three, and it is also my clear favorite. The label calls it a "golden bock beer." It's 7% abv and 22 IBUs. It has a touch of sweetness. It's bready. The herbal hops are very present. The finish is dry. This beer has a special charm for me. It's beguiling.

Josephsbrau Spring Prost is the darkest color of the three. The label calls it a "Maibock style lager." It's 7.3% abv and 26 IBUs. Hops are Hallertau and Tettnang. This beer was the sweetest of the three. It's somewhat one-dimensional. Hops are in the backseat.

The Rogue Dead Guy Ale label/can calls it a "Maibock Style Ale." Compared to the to Spring Post label, the alarms should be going off again. Perhaps this should be considered a case of honest marketing... do the American Oktoberfests that are really "ales" advertise themselves as such? Where the other two beers are smooth, this one is crisp and sharp. The body is extremely light in comparison. The finish is dry and it's all hops. The hops in this beer are spicy and bright. They overwhelm the beer with their citrus notes.

The blend of these three beers was really great.

I've ignored reading any of the other posts before doing mine. I look for reading them now.

 

Ha. Nice glass.

Speaking of which, I'm surprised that so many people here happened to have plastic toy goats.

I was hoping someone would feature this beer.

 

Do they actually distribute in clear bottles?