Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Brewhog Determines An Early Spring Bock For 2016

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groundhog-day
Over in Gobbler’s Knob, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Phil the Groundhog — a.k.a. the Brewhog — raised up his head this morning and looked around, and this year did not see his shadow. You know what that means? It means an early spring, and earlier spring bock for us. You can see a video of Punxsutawney Phil here. And there’s more information about Groundhog Day from the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

groundhog-field-beer

And surprisingly enough, Phil wasn’t the only one. There’s also Shubenacadie Sam in Canada, who likewise did not see his shadow. And in New York there’s Staten Island Chuck along with General Beau Lee in Georgia, both of whom also predicted an early spring. Fingers crossed. And if you don’t have time to watch all of the deliciously wonderful Groundhog Day film today, here it is in a slightly shorter version just over three minutes.

Patent No. 911405A: Beer Cooler

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patent-logo
Today in 1909, US Patent 911405 A was issued, an invention of John D. Hendrix, for his “Beer Cooler.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to beer coolers, the object of the invention being to provide a simple and effective beer cooling device which may be sold at a reasonable figure, easily installed, and one which is adapted to be taken apart in order that the several parts thereof may be easily and thoroughly cleansed.

US911405-0

Beer In Ads #1808: George Washington — “Father Of His Country”

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Monday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1915, No. 1 in a series they did in 1914-15 called “Framers of the Constitution of the U.S.A.” The first one features George Washington, and tells the story of Washington presiding over the Constitutional Convention and draws some clumsy parallels between him and Anheuser-Busch. I especially love this one. “Like all of the great men of his time, he was a moderate user of good old barley brews.”

Bud-framers-1915-geo-washington

Bock

By

typology
In support of my newly hatched scheme to have a monthly discussion about different types of beer, Typology Tuesday, I offer the second style guide for Bock, which will be our second beer, to take place in February 2016.

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Bock

bock Bock is a traditional lager style that I’d never been too fond of, until at least, I drank it in Germany. I still prefer the bocks that have more restrained sweetness, and more nutty character, but I have grown to like them a lot more than I did when I was younger. Christopher Morley wrote “Oysters going out, the new brew of Bock beer coming in; so do the saloons mark the vernal equinox.” And although they signal spring, I tend to prefer them in late winter, just before the weather turns warmer, when the air is crisp and dry, but still very cool.

What follows is information about bocks, collected from a variety of sources. If you know of any additional resources about this type of beer, please let me know.

History

Originated in the Northern German city of Einbeck, which was a brewing center and popular exporter in the days of the Hanseatic League (14th to 17th century). Recreated in Munich starting in the 17th century. The name “bock” is based on a corruption of the name “Einbeck” in the Bavarian dialect, and was thus only used after the beer came to Munich. “Bock” also means “Ram” in German, and is often used in logos and advertisements (BJCP1)

 
 

 SpatenBockArt

Origin: germany

bock

A Comparison of Style Ranges

SourceSRMABVO.G.F.G.IBU
BJCP1 (6C) Dunkles Bock14-226.3-7.2%1.064-1.0721.013-1.01920-27
Brewery DB20-306.3-7.5%Varies1.018-1.02420-30
GABF2 (45A) Trad. Ger.20-306.3-7.6%1.066-1.0741.018-1.02420-30
Periodic Table7 (40)15-306.4-7.6%1.066-1.0741.018-1.02420-30
WBC6 (43A) Trad. Ger.20-306.3-7.6%1.066-1.10741.018-1.02420-30

Yeast

 Ale
 Hybrid
 Lager
 Belgian
 Brettanomyces
 Lactobacillus
 Pediococcus
 Other

BJCP Description: 6C. Dunkles Bock1

Overall Impression: A dark, strong, malty German lager beer that emphasizes the malty-rich and somewhat toasty qualities of continental malts without being sweet in the finish.

Aroma: Medium to medium-high bready-malty-rich aroma, often with moderate amounts of rich Maillard products and/or toasty overtones. Virtually no hop aroma. Some alcohol may be noticeable. Clean lager character, although the malts can provide a slight (low to none) dark fruit character, particularly in aged examples.

Color Range

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Appearance: Light copper to brown color, often with attractive garnet highlights. Lagering should provide good clarity despite the dark color. Large, creamy, persistent, off white head.

Flavor: Complex, rich maltiness is dominated by the toasty rich Maillard products. Some caramel notes may be present. Hop bitterness is generally only high enough to support the malt flavors, allowing a bit of sweetness to linger into the finish. Well-attenuated, not cloying. Clean fermentation profile, although the malt can provide a slight dark fruit character. No hop flavor. No roasted or burnt character.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full bodied. Moderate to moderately low carbonation. Some alcohol warmth may be found, but should never be hot. Smooth, without harshness or astringency.

Comments: Decoction mashing and long boiling plays an important part of flavor development, as it enhances the caramel and Maillard flavor aspects of the malt. Any fruitiness is due to Munich and other specialty malts, not yeast-derived esters developed during fermentation.

Characteristic Ingredients: Munich and Vienna malts, rarely a tiny bit of dark roasted malts for color adjustment, never any non-malt adjuncts. Continental European hop varieties are used. Clean German lager yeast.

Style Comparison: Darker, with a richer malty flavor and less apparent bitterness than a Helles Bock. Less alcohol and malty richness than a Doppelbock. Stronger malt flavors and higher alcohol than a Märzen. Richer, less attenuated, and less hoppy than a Czech Amber Lager.

CraftBeer.com Description

bock
bock-2
bock-3

GABF/World Beer Cup Description

43. Bock
A. Subcategory: Traditional German-Style Bock
Bocks are dark brown to very dark. Traditional bocks are made with all malt, and have high malt character with aromas of toasted or nut-like malt, but not caramel. Fruity-ester aromas should be minimal if present. Diacetyl aroma should not be perceived. Hop aroma is very low. Traditional bocks have high malt sweetness. Malt flavor character should be a balance of sweetness and toasted or nut-like malt, but not caramel. Hop flavor is low. Hop bitterness is perceived as medium, increasing proportionately with starting gravity. Fruity-ester flavors should be minimal if present. Diacetyl flavor should be absent. Body is medium to full.

Online Descriptions

Beer Advocate
The origins of Bock beer are quite uncharted. Back in medieval days German monasteries would brew a strong beer for sustenance during their Lenten fasts. Some believe the name Bock came from the shortening of Einbeck thus “beck” to “bock.” Others believe it is more of a pagan or old world influence that the beer was only to be brewed during the sign of the Capricorn goat, hence the goat being associated with Bock beers. Basically, this beer was a symbol of better times to come and moving away from winter.

As for the beer itself in modern day, it is a bottom fermenting lager that generally takes extra months of lagering (cold storage) to smooth out such a strong brew. Bock beer in general is stronger than your typical lager, more of a robust malt character with a dark amber to brown hue. Hop bitterness can be assertive enough to balance though must not get in the way of the malt flavor, most are only lightly hopped.

Rate Beer
The dark Bock has a deep copper to dark brown color. Medium to full-bodied, malt sweetness and nutty or light toasted flavors dominate. Hop flavor and aroma can be light to non-existent.

bavarian-bock-1876

Glassware

flute-1 pilsner pokal mug seidel stange tulip
Flute, Pilsener Glass (or Pokal), Mug (or Seidel, Stein), Stange (Slender Cylinder)3
Tulip5

Food Pairing

germany cheese-variety chocolate steak_meat deer chicken hummus monkfish cheese-swiss
Cuisine (German) Cheese (earthy; Camembert, Fontina) General (Chocolate) Meat (Game)3
Chicken Depends on the dish, but these suggestions are good if it’s by itself, Hummus, Monkfish4
Grilled Rib-Eye, Aged Swiss, Chocolate5

Seasonality & Temperature

Season:
467633357
Spring		 Serving:
temp-45-50
45-50° F		 Storage:
temp-40-45
40-45° F*		 Beer 101:
Beer101-bock
Bock

40-bock

Links About Bock

Further Reading

bp-bock

Commercial Examples of Bock

Aass Bock, Einbecker Ur-Bock Dunkel, Great Lakes Rockefeller Bock, Kneitinger Bock, New Glarus Uff-da Bock, Penn Brewery St. Nikolaus Bock1
Great Lakes Rockefeller Bock, Tommyknocker Butt Head Bock, Troegs Troegenator Double Bock5

La-Trappe-bockbier new-glraus-uff-da

Top 10 Examples

Beer Advocate

  1. La Trappe Bockbier / Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven B.V.
  2. St. Nikolaus Bock Bier / Pennsylvania Brewing
  3. Great Lakes Rockefeller Bock / Great Lakes Brewing
  4. Aass Bock / Aass Brewery
  5. Millstream Schokolade Bock / Millstream Brewing
  6. Spaten Holiday Bock / Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu
  7. Schell’s Bock / August Schell Brewing
  8. Yule Bock / The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
  9. New Glarus Uff-da / New Glarus Brewing
  10. Brewing Blondibock / Mammoth Brewing

pretty-things-st-winefreide

Rate Beer

  1. Pretty Things Lovely Saint Winefride
  2. Pretty Things Bocky Bier
  3. Calumet Bock
  4. New Glarus Uff-da Bock
  5. Maisel & Friends Marc’s Chocolate Bock
  6. La Trappe Bockbier
  7. Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock
  8. Svatý Norbert Podzimní Tmavé Pivo (Antidepressant)
  9. Full Sail Limited Edition Lager (LTD 06)
  10. U Tří Růží Klasterni Special Sv. Jilji No.1

frankfurter-bock

Key to Sources

1 = BJCP 2015
2 = GABF 2015
3 = Beer Advocate
4 = Garrett Oliver’s Brewmaster’s Table
5 = Brewers Association / CraftBeer.com
6 = World Beer Cup Guidelines 2016
7 = The Periodic Table of Beer Styles 2001
8 = GotBeer.com

Key

* = Not recommended for extended aging, unless ABV exceeds average range

Announcing Next Typology Tuesday: Bock

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typology
Last month I kicked off Typology Tuesday with American Barleywine. This month, if you want to play along, we’ll be talking about Bock, specifically traditional German bock. Always the last Tuesday of the month, February’s Typology Tuesday will take place on February 23.

So on or before February 23, write a post on Bock. You can essentially write about whatever you like, with the only proviso being it should have something to do with the featured type of beer. After your post is published, please let me know it’s up so I can include it in the subsequent round-up. You can send me the URL to your post either by leaving a comment here, or even by including the hashtag #Typology in a tweet. I’ll be bock.

Schaefer-Bock

Patent No. 4005813A: Single-Opening Beer Keg And Method Of Producing From Conventional Keg

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patent-logo
Today in 1977, US Patent 4005813 A was issued, an invention of Mack S. Johnston, for his “Single-Opening Beer Keg and Method Of Producing From Conventional Keg.” Here’s the Abstract:

A single-opening beer keg is produced from a beer keg of conventional configuration which has a bung hole in the side wall and a dispensing opening in the top wall thereof, by closing the dispensing opening and the bung hole; moving the top wall inwardly to provide a wall of substantially spherical configuration and with an inner peripheral chine; moving the center portion of the bottom wall outwardly until it is in substantial horizontal alignment with the lower end of the side wall; and providing an opening in the center portion of the bottom wall to receive a valve assembly. An annular protective collar can be secured to the lower end of the side wall to protect the valve assembly during shipment of the keg.

US4005813-1

Patent No. 3232489A: Portable Cooler Cabinet Construction

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patent-logo
Today in 1966, US Patent 3232489 A was issued, an invention of H. L. Buffington, for his “Portable Cooler Cabinet Construction.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The principal object of this invention is to provide a portable cooler or refrigerated cabinet especially well adapted to the dispensing of beverages and for the storage 0 kegs, bottles or containers of beverages in a refrigerated condition in an extremely compact and accessible manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cooler cabinet having a complete mechanical refrigerating system incorporated therein in a greatly improved manner and having dispensing faucets independently operable for the dispensing of beer or other beverages from kegs and similar containers under a pressurized gas and for the mixing and dispensing of soft drinks.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a portable refrigerated cabinet having a beer dispensing faucet and/ or a soft drink mixing faucet removably carried by the exterior

US3232489-0
US3232489-1
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Patent No. 2496079A: Keg Puller Loading Device For Industrial Trucks

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patent-logo
Today in 1950, US Patent 2496079 A was issued, an invention of Daniel Wessman, for his “Keg Puller Loading Device For Industrial Trucks.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates broadly to industrial trucks, and, more particularly, to mechanism for loading articles upon the work carrier or load supporting platform of a lift truck.

US2496079-0
US2496079-1

Beer In Ads #1806: F. Klemm’s Bock

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Saturday’s ad is for F. Klemm’s Bock Beer, from around 1880. F. Klemm was located in Baltimore, Maryland. But the scene if pretty amazing, if a little surreal. I bock parade from the brewery includes a float with a giant goat and a large barrel of what I can only presume is F. Klemm’s Bock Beer, with Gambrinus leading from the flaot, which is being pulled by six goats. The throngs of people watching the parade look very happy, which I suspect is because they’re drinking some of F. Klemm’s bock.

Klemms-bock