Appendix: Commercial Bocks

Einbecker Ur-Bock Hell, Maibock. These are, of course, the exemplars of the pale Bock style. They are more robust than some of the others, having more color and a higher hopping rate, both for bitterness and for flavor/aroma. It is no wonder that Martin Luther thrived on this beer.

Paulaner Salvator. Although this can be traced directly back through the brewery to the monastic days, the beer has undergone a gradual updating. The final gravity has dropped by more than 0.010 (2.5 °Plato) in the last century, with a corresponding increase in alcohol level. As a result, it has become drier and less filling. It has a rich, dark malt character that finishes long and lingering, with just background hop bitterness.

Ayinger Celebrator and Weihnachtsbock. The Ayinger brewery, dominating the tiny farming village of Aying southeast of Munich, produces some of the most distinctive dunkles Bocks. They are particularly rich and sweet, but the sweetness is balanced by a larger contribution of roasted malt. The result is a complex, elegant product of great depth. The Weihnachtsbock (Christmas Bock), introduced each year at the beginning of December, is a slightly stronger version of the Celebrator, with six months of lagering.

Ayinger Maibock. One of the palest of the helles Bock beers, and also very lightly hopped, this beer is very delicate in spite of its strength. The brewmaster is producing a straightforward product that focuses entirely on the malt character, which arises from the on-premises maltings and local barley.

Andechs Bergbock Helles Bock and Dunkles Doppelbock. The Andechs monastery, located south of Munich, produces some of the most intensely malty products in the world. The brothers are secretive and only by reverse engineering (detailed chemical analysis of the product)^16,17 is it possible to even talk about attenuation and hopping rate. The helles is deceivingly pale, being a light gold, but the maltiness immediately overcomes this first impression. The Doppelbock, one of the lighter of the dunkles beers, has a very low attenuation and is very rich and sating.

Doppelspäten Optimator. Spaten’s Optimator is a direct response to the Salvator classic. Optimator is made from a higher portion of black malts, and this shows through in its dry finish in spite of its lower attenuation than Salvator. The black malt is also employed as a substitute for hop bitterness, as Optimator has one of the lowest hopping rates.

EKU Kulminator and EKU 28. EKU (Erste Kulmbacher Actienbrauerei) is the largest brewery in the town of Kulmbach, nestled in a fold of the Franconian hills. Its brewery is housed in a fantastic modern sculpture of a building in the center of the city. Its beers are no less distinctive than the brewery’s architecture. Kulminator is a wonderfully rich dunkles Doppelbock, with a surprisingly high final gravity that harks back to Doppelbocks of the last century. EKU 28, so named for its guaranteed original gravity of at least 1.112 (28 °Plato), produces a beer that is one of the two or three strongest. It also has, by far, the highest quantity of unfermented residual malt sugars. This makes the beer extremely filling, and requires that it be sipped slowly.

Mönchshof Kloster Bock Dunkel. This brewery, also located in Kulmbach, is rightly famous for its schwartzbier (black beer), which might be thought of as the lager world’s answer to stout. Their Klosterbock is an extension of this style into Bock strength territory. The more strident flavor of the black malt is blended wonderfully with the usual large, rich body of the Bock beer. The combination is a winning one.

Kulmbacher Reichelbräu G’frorns Eisbock. The third of four breweries in Kulmbach, Reichelbräu along with Mönchshof and Sandlerbräu have common ownership, although they all maintain separate and distinct product lines. Reichelbräu claims to be the oldest brewery in the city, through a series of mergers and takeovers. Their specialty, Bayrische G’frorns (Bavarian Frozen) is an Eisbock—a beer that is concentrated by freeze distillation. It has an effective original gravity of 1.096 (24 °Plato). It is smooth, and as much as is possible for a beer of this strength, drinkable. Its richness and high alcohol do not diminish the dark malt character of the beer, and the higher level of carbonation also helps to lighten its immense body.

Aass Bock. The very pretty Bryggeri Aass built on the shores of the Drammen Fjord southwest of Olso, Norway, produces a double-decoction dunkles Bock which begins with a half hour infusion before the malt is run through the brewery’s wet mill. The resulting beer is redolent with caramel flavors and aromas and a bit of candy sweetness. It is sating beyond its original gravity, which is fortunate when one considers the extreme alcohol taxes in effect in Norway, where a normal Pilsener can cost more than six dollars in a restaurant.

Moretti La Rossa. This Doppelbock strength beer (18 °Plato, the neck wrapper proclaims) is a rich and very warming product from Italy. Its unusual color is in the amber range, in between the paler helles varieties and the dunkles.