BREWniversity Style Guidelines: Maibock

It's May (although just barely), so it felt appropriate that the next style in our BREWniversity series is inspired by the month. Today we're looking at the Maibock, or Helles Bock.

Appearance: The beer should pour out a deep gold or a light amber with good clarity. There should be a creamy white head that persists while you drink.
 
Aroma: Expect a moderately strong malt aroma with some toasty qualities along with a moderately low spicy hop aroma. Overall the aroma should be very clean.

Flavor: The dominant flavor will be from the malts, but with very little carmelization. You may get some toasty notes, or a slight DMS flavor. There should be a moderate noble hop flavor with a possible spicy or peppery quality. There may be a moderately dry finish with both malt and hops.

Mouthfeel: This is a medium bodied beer, with moderate carbonation. It should be smooth and clean.
 
Local Example: Black Acre Goat Race- I had the chance to try Goat Race this past weekend. If you have the chance to hit up Black Acre, this would be a great beer to try. I thought it was refreshing, and really fit the style well.

In order to get a better idea for the style, and not be too biased in my representation, I looked at a few sets of guidelines. Links are below in case you're interested in delving in a bit more.

• BCJP Style Guidelines: http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php
• Beer Advocate: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/162/
• Brewers Association: http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/business-tools/publications/beer-style-guidelines
• GABF Style Guidelines: http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/the-competition/beer-styles/

Cheers!

Barrel Aged Maibock

I live only a few miles away from Sun King Brewery, but I don't really take advantage of this awesome local resource, like some people named The Big Guy, who I swear has a mole on the inside.  The alacrity with which he snags all of their special releases is envy inducing and totally not fair.

So when I was able to snag Sun Kings Barrel Aged Maibock on tap before he could, I considered it a personal, if childish, success.  SUCK IT BIG GUY

It was late April (so technically not May) and spring had broken and I love a good Maibock.  The Bavarians, being the beer nerds that they are, always paired their seasons with the type of beers they brewed.  Fall begins the Starkbierzeit, or strong beer time.  The dark 8%-12% bocks are rolled out to hunker down for the alpine winters.  In the Summer, Americans are very familiar with Munich's Helles blonde beers that are served by the stein and easily quaffed with friends sharing a sense of Gemütlichkeit, that feeling of bright euphoria wrapping around friends that are warmed by good beer where time doesn't exist.

The transition between those two very distinct styles is the Maibock.  Pale malts, lots of hops, and noticeable alcohol are the perfect transition when people are ready to shed their cabin fever, but not warm enough yet to enjoy a good garden party on a syrupy summer night.

Maibocks are great and although I am not a big fan of this whole bourbon barrel panacea trend, I was exceptionally pleased with the outcome.  It took those sweet whiskey notes from the barrel and paired them well with the booziness that comes with a Maibock.  Even though it was aged four months, the aggressively hopped bock shined with a wonderful German hop finish.  Hoppy, sweet, light and boozey.  It was a perfect mouthful.

I give it a 4.5.  Before I had Founders Doom and the other aged IPA iterations this spring, I probably would have only given it a 4, but seeing how Sun King was able to punch their hops through, which I think is pretty difficult for four months of aging, it gets an extra half point for execution.  I hope to see this again next May!  Der Maibock is ausgezeichnet!

The Big Guy: I had this one at a tap takeover at Chatham Tap in Fishers a little while back. I thought it was outstanding;. Unlike El Duque I love the barrel aged beers. I am pretty sure I would drink bourbon barrel aged Miller Lite and be pretty happy. I had never had a maibock when I first tried it, but it was described to me as May's version of an Oktoberfest, and I dug that. This brew had bright hoppy flavors, mixed with big boozy heat and some great barrel aged sweetness. I really don't appreciating you telling the guys at SK that I have their warehouse bugged, it might get me in trouble. Anyway, I give this delicious spring treat a 4.5 as well.

Sun King Tap Takeover

Sun King came up from downtown and took over the taps at Chatham Tap in Fishers. They brought eight beers with them and dominated the bar. 

I am not sure what I was expecting, but it was mostly the normal bar at Chatham with some taps changed out (when I went to a Bells take over they had stickers, raffles etc.). The cool thing was, Sun King brought some of their rare and hard to find beers. If you like something different this was a great event.

I had three of their beers, the Bourbon Barrel Aged Maibock, Stupid Sexy Flanders (sour), and Timmie Imperial Stout.

These are all beers that I was excited to try. I missed the Sourfest, but I heard good things about Stupid Sexy Flanders.

The Bourbon Barrel Aged Maibock was my favorite. It was 8.4% abv and 24 IBU Bavarian Spring Lager that was nine months barrel aged. It reminded me of an Oktoberfest, but lighter. The nose was basically honey and bourbon. The beer showed up with a great looking light brown or dark yellow color and a light white head. It tasted like caramel, toffee and natural honey. The bourbon mingled well with all the different sweet flavors without the usual vanilla flavor that you get from a bourbon barrel aged beer. It helped balance the whole thing out. It had a heavy alcohol finish.

I give it a 4.5

I had the Stupid Sexy Flanders next. This sour or wild ale had 5.4% abv and 23 IBUs. I have not done a lot of sours, so the review is going to be brief. I liked it a lot. The beer was a dark red to mahogany in color with no head.  It had a nice sweet and sour flavor to it that took some getting used to. It reminded me of bitter berries and red wine vinegar, but it was not very fruity. The flavor was complex and very very unique. I recommend you get your hands on it when you can.

I give it a 3.5

Lastly I tried Timmie Imperial Stout. Timmie has 10% abv and 70 IBUs. It came out in a tulip glass. It was a dark brown to black oil colored beer. It smells like heavily roasted malts and boozy alcohol. The beer started off with a very nice dark roasted flavor, not super smokey but it was nicely balanced. The malts tasted like baking chocolate and coffee. There was a nice sharp bitterness with the sweetness. I am not sure that the hops came out heavily but the beer's flavors were so well balanced it was not needed.

I give it a 4