Demystifying bock! by Sean Kerry

Barley Days Brewery’s May Bock is a clean, malty, German lager designed and crafted on site by Brewmaster Jan Rorig.

History: The name “Bock” refers to the city of Einbeck, in Saxony.  During the heyday of the Hanseatic League (the late 1300s), Einbeck was a brewing centre whose beer was famous throughout Europe.  The modern style of bock was created in Munich in the 17th century based on Einbeck models.

Maibock/HellesBock: A relatively pale, strong, malty lager beer.  Hop character is generally more apparent than in other bocks.  Moderate to strong malt aroma, often with a lightly toasted quality.  Deep gold to light amber in colour.  Large, creamy, persistent, white head.  Medium bodied.  Moderate to moderately high carbonation.  Smooth and clean with no harshness or astringency.  A fairly recent development in comparison to the other members of the bock family.  The serving of Maibock is specifically associated with springtime festivals and the month of May.

Traditional Bock: A dark strong, malty lager beer.  Strong malt aroma, often with moderate amounts of toasty overtones.  Virtually no hop aroma.  Light copper to brown colour, often with garnet highlights.  Large, creamy, persistent, off-white head.  Complex maltiness, some caramel notes, hop bitterness is generally only high enough to support the malt flavours.  Medium to medium-full bodied.  Moderate to moderately low carbonation.

Doppelbock: A very strong and rich lager.  A bigger version of either a traditional bock or a hellesbock.  Very strong maltiness.  Darker versions will have a strong malt presence with tosty notes.  A moerdately low fruity aspect to the aroma often described as prune, plu, or grape may be present (but is optional) in dark versions.  A very slight chocolate-like aroma may be preent in darket versions, but no roasted or burned aromatics should ever be present.  Deep gold to dark brown in colour.  Darker versions often have ruby highlights.  Rich and malty with medium-full to full body.  Moderate to moderately low carbonation.