Easy to find Bocks (New England/NE US)

Shiner Bock's pretty easy to find around the country. Not the "greatest" Bock by any means, but I never mind being tossed one.

 

Bocks are not widely distributed. Sams Winter is probably easiest by far. Click on "beers" then "beer styles" and then bock and you will see a long list of bocks. You're likely going to be limited to mostly local breweries.

 

Ah, the New England states are among the only seven that don't get it. Bummer.

 

Anchor Bock. Should still be on the shelves. It is available around here at the moment. Dead guy is a "maibock". I say that because they don't even use lager yeast, but it does have characteristics of the style.

 

In my experience, Dead Guy is very hoppy for a bock

 

There's a genesee bock that's pretty easy to find and cheap too. =)

 

It pretty much is. Try it next to an Einbecker Mai Ur-bock and you'll see why.

 

Are you close enough to the Mass border to get some Jack's Abby?

 

If you have a Trader Joe's near by you can get their Gordon Biersch-brewed Hofbräu Bock that's a nice Helles/Maibock, and their Winterfest (they may have re-named it "Winterbrew" due to trademark) may still be on shelves which is a decent Doppelbock. Other than those, the most widely distributed Bocks are probably the imports.

 

Not sure if you get these in your area, but some decent bocks;

Genny Bock (cool green cans!)
Yuengling Bock
Saranac Bock
Anchor Bock (one of my favorites, and this is the last year for it, sadly)
Pandora's Bock
Troeg's Doppelbock

 

Sorry, but I gotta disagree w/ John on the Shiner Bock. Not only is Shiner Bock not one of the greatest bocks, it has to be one of the very worst. It tastes like someone soaked a piece of caramel in a glass of water...DarkDragon you are lucky this beer is not available in your area!!! Shiner has done an amazing job marketing such a lousy product, it's everywhere!!!

Too bad Schell's Bock from MN or Mainstream Bock from Iowa are not available in your area....The Midwest Germans have got a good handle on the Bock scene....Try to find these Bocks if you can, they are great examples of the style!! Cheers

 

Firstly, let me comment about beers such as Shiner Bock, Yuengling Bock and Genny Bock (and I would guess Narragansett Bock as well). IMHO, while these beers have the word “Bock” on their labels they really aren’t genuine Bock beers. To my palate they are American Amber Adjunct Lagers (AAAL). I personally do not having anything particularly against AAAL beer, in fact I have a case of Genny Bock sitting in my basement since it is tasty and cheap as already posted by @utopiajane . A genuine Bock beer should be all malt with a prominent malty flavor.

If you leave near the Massachusetts border maybe you can get some Troegs beers? The Trogenator (Doppelbock) is very tasty and I recently saw Culmination (Helles Bock) at my local beer store. I have not had the chance to try Culmination yet but the BA reviews indicate that this is a tasty beer.

Finding US craft brewed Bock beers can be a challenge. I personally am lucky that Sly Fox Brewery makes a number of tasty Bock beers but they are draft only and they aren’t available in Rhode Island.

Good luck with your Bock search!

Cheers!

 

Seekabrew says you get GLBC (not sure if that is true), but their Doppelrock is decent albeit pricey.

 

Many Bocks are seasonal. I usually try one of Bells Consecrator Doppelbock when it is out.

To be clear, many Bocks in the US are Bocks in the same way as Miller Lite is a Pilsner, just a marketing label. Bock is actually a strength designation in Germany. Blocks will be at or above 16 Plato, which is about 1.064 OG or above. This will give a beer of about 6.5% or more. There are Bocks that are bottomed fermented and have malted barley as the grist, and ones that are wheat beers and top fermented, i. e. Weizenbocks.

Shiner bock at 4.4 ABV would not qualify as a Bock in Germany on the low strength. I don't know for sure, but they have been said to use adjuncts and color additives, which are not allowed in Germany.

Rogue Dead guy is all barley malt, but the use use of the top fermenting (ale) yeast means it would have classification issues in Germany. The IBU rate of 40 is high, so that is innovation or out of style based on your own viewpoint.

 

Jeff, Shiner Bock is most definitely brewed with adjuncts (corn grits). When I took a tour of Spoetzl Brewery in the fall of 2012 they ‘feature’ the cereal cooker as part of the tour.

On the Shiner (Spoetzl) website they describe Shiner Bock: “this lightly hopped American-style dark lager…”. Definitely sounds like an AAAL beer to me.

Adjuncts are also used to brew Yuengling Bock and Genny Bock (and I suspect Narragansett Bock as well). Not that there is anything inherently wrong with adjuncts, they just don’t belong in a genuine Bock beer.

Cheers!

 

that got scrapped from distro, and replaced with Rye of the Tiger.

OP, Einbecker Mai-Urbock is year round, and pretty tasty. Yuengling Bock is a legit beer (as is their porter but thats unrelated).