Bock Thread (2024)

if you haven't drank the barrel aged bocks, drink them there fading.

 

don't drink them when your hot thou

 

Kloster Andechs Mai Bock (Bergbock Hell)

 

Haven't had this in a while

None of these had the little goat in the neck

 

Enjoying a Schell's Bock from Jerry in the Minneanoplace/St. Pauli area, from an undated can, seems a bit stale/flat, not very appealing looking but has a nice flavor to it. Hey, it's beer.

 

We're 22 days into Maibock season (actually longer since most Maibocks seem to be released prior to the traditional May 1st) and I've been busy finding and drinking them. The one American Maibock (none can beat he Ayinger Maibock) that has been my favorite over the years has been Three Nancies from one of my local breweries, Territorial Brewing.

I grabbed some of the 2024 version, and when loading it into the beer fridge I discovered that I still had one from last year, and it's been stored there since last May. I've always believed that Maibocks age well and don't lose much flavor. So here's an opportunity to check out my theory, so a side-by-side was in order.

The color is a bit darker in this year's beer, and the foam from the pour of both beers was essentially the same. (Disappointingly it reduced to zero in both.) Last year's beer was 6.3% abv vs. 6.9% for the current version, so some flavor difference should exist, hopefully more malt character. I actually experienced more hop character in the '24 version, so I think it was slightly unbalanced, which is unusual because this beer has always been slightly more on the malty side over the past 10 years. (Especially so when the beer was first born and the abv was 8.4%.) Looking past the slight hop character in the '24 version, these two beers tasted identical, which proves, at least for this Maibock, that it can still be a very tasty beer when it's a year old.

 

I wonder if you would have noted the "more hop character" if you just drank the 24 beer as a standalone. It is possible that the 23 had the same level of hop character when it was fresh but over the year of aging the hop character faded.

Cheers!

 

Drinking some of the 23 did cause me to realize there was a difference when I drank some of the 24, otherwise those hops would not have been noted. However, my memory tells me that I've never noticed the hops in prior years, and that's why I felt the 24 version was brewed with a slight imbalance toward the hops.

The abv on this beer seems to vary every year, so I'm guessing that the brewery is tinkering with the recipe, even after the first version from 10 years ago. One of these days I'll remember to ask him why the variances.

 

Could be.

I have posted in some of my past side-by-side tasting that when I noted 'something' about a certain beer I wondered whether that aspect would have stood out for me if I was drinking that beer as a standalone.

Cheers!

 

I have two bottles of Ayinger Maibock and several cans of Yuengling Bock in my refrigerator. I guess I have 5/6 days to deplete that stock!?!

I suppose this fits with the "a good problem to have" category!

Cheers!

 

@GreenBayBA suggested I contribute Bad Habit's Maibock to this thread...more detailed thoughts in NBW

 

I don't have as many bocks on hand as I used too. One reason why is there is not all that that many around that I haven't had before. But I did drink maibocks at 2 taprooms yesterday. Plus I'm in a barleywine drinking phase lately.

 

Getting into a maibock from the smallest brewery in MA, while it's still Mai!

Rich and complex; the excellent New England grains really shine here.