Let's Talk Bock

On Tuesday evening, on the first truly warm spring evening of the year, I enjoyed three Trader Joe's Heller Bocks with four Trader Joe's imported German bratwurst. A beer garden in Munich couldn't have been nicer.

 

Krug is the generic German word for mug (Stein (stone) is specific to a clay mug). The Maß (measure or amount) in Maßkrug refers to the liter.

 

Whenever these Bock discussions come up I always go back in time in my mind and wish I could get some Berghoff or Augsburger Bock (pretty much the same beer for a while) from back then. They were always a favorite and I also hunted down Rhinelander Bock (also brewed at Huber) in the Spring seasons of the late 70s and early 80s.

 

Did you get that in NJ? My local Trader Joe's doesn’t have a liquor license.

 

Westfield and Princeton on Route 1 sells beer as well.

 

Bock poking, Poke-A-Bocking or caramelizing done by the Karmel Kaisers.

 

I haven’t had much of it, but whenever I’ve had that Trader Joe’s Heller Bock it fit me like a glove. The last time I had a Bock it was Sam Adams Amber Bock. Let’s just say that that one didn’t fit me at all.

@TongoRad

 

TJ's also has a more robust Heller Bock as a Spring Seasonal; the Spring Prost. I find it leans to the Hofbräu type of Maibock.

Also @TongoRad the TJ's German-style beers are brewed for them by Gordon Biersch and I think they're a great value for their prices.

 

Damn I'm pissed I missed out on that one. What pack was it in? I wish they would bring back their old Double Bock seasonal, that was one of the first beers that got me into craft.

 

Anybody know if Einbecker bottle dates their Ur Bock? Finally, a shop somewhat near me has it in stock, so I'd like to pick some up this weekend, but won't buy it if I can't tell how old it is. Thanks.

 

Here is a nice write-up on Bock beers courtesy of the Burlington Free Press:

https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com...04/13/bock-beers-review-jeff-baker/100420026/

Cheers!

 

Good link, thanks.

 

world beer cup winners 2018
https://www.worldbeercup.org/winners/award-winners/

Category 47: German-Style Bock or Maibock - 70 Entries
Gold: Wonderland, Silver City Brewery, Bremerton, WA
Silver: Moninger Bertold Bock Dunkel, Hatz-Moninger Brauhaus, Karlsruhe, Germany
Bronze: Breakline Bock, Rip Current Brewing, San Marcos, CA

Category 48: German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock - 79 Entries
Gold: Smooth Like Jazz, Revelry Brewing Co., Charleston, SC
Silver: Doppelbock, Kansas City Bier Co., Kansas City, MO
Bronze: Double Love Honey, Lost Forty Brewing, Little Rock, AR

 

Concerning American bock beers I think this article from Letters on brewing from 1904-1905 is interesting in hinting at a difference between American and German bock beers already back then, with OGs for the analyzed bock beers sitting between 11.5-14.42% plato. All of the bocks analyzed are darker than the regular draft beer as per the color scale analysis.

Fast forward to the post-prohibition era and Nugey's book Brewing formulas practically considered has a few interesting references to bock beer in an American context.

From page 2:

On page 5 he has a table giving basic specs for various types of beer, two of which being bock beers at 13.5 and 14.3% balling respectively and with an abv of around 4.5% each.

On page 40 he shows a basic layout for a Bock beer formula which lists malt, caramel malt and grits. On page 42 he has a table giving an overview of different beer types and formulas for brewing them, with four different entries for bock beer at 12, 13, 14 and 15% balling original gravity.

It's interesting that Bock beers of a regular lager beer gravity could be brewed in the US as early as the early 1900s, but I guess it shows the degree to which pale Bohemian style beers had come to dominate the market. But there was obviously a range to the style also in the US, and I recall here jesskidden posting an advertisement for Rheingold's bock from the 50s which advertised their bock beer as being brewed to 16% OG.

I also recall reading an interesting transcript from Transactions of the American Brewing Institute from 1902-1904.

From page 191:

So even though there was seasonal demand for a heavier, darker beer, some brewers obviously tried to satisfy that demand with a lighter brew (though perhaps also lower attenuated than their regular beers, as the analyses from the article from Letters on brewing and Nugey's book hint at).

 

... ... ... Ahhh, I'm pretty sure a beer garden in Munich COULD have been nicer! Better bratwurst and bier in my opinion.

 

Jeeze -- don't kill the man's buzz! I've been able to "recreate" that Biergarten feel in my own back yard and it makes me happier than I might have been -- show some compassion!

 

OK, OK, I take it all back!

And to lighten things up I'll tell you a funny story... my wife, not being a big drinker, asked a biergarten server if they offered a halb mass (1/2 liter rather than the full one) to which he replied, "Das is ein biergarten, nicht ein kindergarten." (This is a beer garden, not a kindergarten).

 

Just have to...Lol!

Edit: time for a halb mass of Schlenkerla Urbock!

 

These are all unfamiliar to me- any thoughts on these, people? I have had a few Lost Forty brews that I thought were well-made, but that's as close as I can get.

 

German humor is unexpected, but usually pretty damn funny. I love that story!