Top to bottom: St. Agur, Garrotxa, Abbaye de Belloc

Bock and Doppelbock

STYLE NOTES: The richly malty bock and doppelbock styles originated in Germany centuries ago, and today’s fans will find many examples in American brewpubs. Beer historians trace the name to Einbeck, a German brewing town that specialized in extra-strong lagers for export, and they theorize that beck evolved into bock over time.

Bock gave rise to doppelbock (double bock), a name that, like many aspects of beer culture, has an element of hyperbole. Dopplebocks are indeed stronger, maltier, and heavier than bocks, but nowhere near twice as strong. A traditional bock might fall in the 6 to 7 percent alcohol range, while a doppelbock is likely to tally between 7 and 10 percent.

Paulaner monks at a monastery near Munich brewed the original doppelbocks in the eighteenth century and referred to these dark, malty brews as “liquid bread.” No doubt the beer was particularly appreciated during the fast days of Lent, when the monks were restricted to a liquid diet. Doppelbock versus water? No contest.

The famous Paulaner Salvator, although no longer associated with a monastery, is a descendant of the friars’ brew. Many modern brewers honor this history by christening their doppelbocks with a name that ends in “-ator.”

Bocks and doppelbocks are typically clear in aspect and range in color from amber to cola. Full-bodied and richly malty, with a smooth and satiny texture, these brews seduce with aromas of roasted grain, molasses, spice cake, grass, cooked wild rice, and wood smoke. Doppelbocks that incorporate deeply roasted chocolate malts may even smell like chocolate cake. Classic German examples have little or no hops aroma, but American brews may show the spicy fragrance of American hops. Bocks and doppelbocks are invariably malt-centric and often notably sweet, with just enough bitterness to balance the malt.

BEERS TO TRY: Anchor Brewing Anchor Bock; Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock; Bell’s Lager; Boulevard Boss Tom’s Golden Bock; Grand Teton Double Vision Doppelbock; Paulaner Salvator; Samuel Adams Double Bock; Smuttynose S’Muttonator; Spaten Optimator; Sudwerk Doppel Bock; Weissenohe Bonator.

CHEESE AFFINITIES: With their robust, roasted-grain flavors, bocks and doppelbocks pair best with aged cheeses that have a similar core of sweetness. Nutty cow’s-milk mountain cheeses like Beaufort and Appenzeller harmonize with these beers, as do mellow, buttery blue cheeses. Also consider Gouda and Gouda-style wheels, and sheep’s milk cheeses with caramel and brown-butter notes, such as Abbaye de Belloc, as opposed to a sharper, more piquant sheep’s milk cheese such as Roncal.

Aside from Roquefort, France’s finest sheep’s milk cheeses come from the Pyrenees Mountains, where sheep graze on flavorful high-altitude pasture in season. One standout among these Basque mountain wheels is Abbaye de Belloc, made at a Benedictine monastery from local milk. Weighing roughly 10 pounds, the wheels receive about six months of aging, rendering them dense, firm, and silky, especially when shaved with a cheese plane. The aroma fuses brown butter, nuts, and caramel, with little or none of the lanolin scent that pervades some sheep’s milk cheeses. A bock or doppelbock finds an echo in Abbaye de Belloc’s mellow nature and gentle brown-sugar sweetness.

Garrotxa, an aged goat’s milk cheese from Spain, sports a thin rind coated in penicillium, the same mold that makes the veins in blue cheese. The ivory interior is dense, semifirm, and smooth, melting readily on the tongue. Nutty aromas give way to a faint caramel-like finish, a quality reminiscent of the goat’s-milk caramel known as cajeta or dulce de leche. The rich, malty heart and evident sweetness in many bocks and doppelbocks match the cheese’s subtle cooked-milk taste.

The French blue-veined St. Agur qualifies as a double-cream cheese, a designation that reflects its high fat content. Made with cream-enriched cow’s milk, it has a moist, plush, dreamy texture that makes converts of even the most resolute blue-cheese resisters. Fans of piquant, spicy blue cheese: Look elsewhere. St. Agur is mild and buttery, a mellow complement to a velvety-smooth bock or doppelbock.

MORE CHEESES TO TRY: Bleu des Basques; Hoch Ybrig; Idiazábal; La Peral; Le Maréchal; Spring Brook Tarentaise; Tomme du Lévézou; Tumalo Farms Pondhopper; Vermont Shepherd Cheese; Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Dante.