Style: Bock/Bok
Bock beer is a seasonal beer which nowadays is enjoyed right around this time, fall. The earliest records of bock go back to the 14th century in the German town of Einbeck. There the beer enjoyed great regional popularity.
A couple of centuries later (no big deal) the style was adopted by the brewers of another German city, Munich. You might have heard of Munich, they have a small annual october gathering where a few people drink a couple of beers.
But back to the point
These brewers adapted the style to a more advanced method of brewing, and something similar to what we know as bock beer today was born!
But why the name?
This had to do with the bavarian accent of the people of Munich, and the town where the style was adopted from: Einbeck. Einbeck is pronounced in bavarian as 'ein bock', which translates to male goat/billy goat. This explains why a number of bock beer brands still symbolize the beer with the image of the goat.
As can be derived from the slightly disturbing image displayed above, Bock beer was traditionally drunk at parties, back then called religious festivals.
The beer is also very season bound, with in the fall/winter the traditional bock and in the spring a variant named 'lentenbock'. I highly prefer the traditional version.
There are a number of variants of bock: Traditional (Darkish / 6.3-7.2%), Doppel (Dark gold to dark brown, 7-12%), Maibock (Light golden, 6.3-7.4%), and Eisbock (dark amber to dark brown 9-12%)
There are a number of variants of the Bock beer style, making this a very interesting style of beer to discover. The beer is most popular in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria and the Czech Republic. These countries also host the majority of breweries which produce Bock. However, breweries that produce bock exist in many additional countries.
The Netherlands has even developed its own style of Bock beer, with the most notable trait being that Dutch bock beers can be both top and bottom fermenting. The style became popular in the Netherlands in 1868, and after experiencing a dip in popularity a number of years later, it came back in full force around 1978. The Netherlands now produces more than 50 different brands of Bock Beer!
All in all, an interesting and usually tasty beer style to discover!
Cheers!
Bock beer is a seasonal beer which nowadays is enjoyed right around this time, fall. The earliest records of bock go back to the 14th century in the German town of Einbeck. There the beer enjoyed great regional popularity.
A couple of centuries later (no big deal) the style was adopted by the brewers of another German city, Munich. You might have heard of Munich, they have a small annual october gathering where a few people drink a couple of beers.
But back to the point
These brewers adapted the style to a more advanced method of brewing, and something similar to what we know as bock beer today was born!
But why the name?
This had to do with the bavarian accent of the people of Munich, and the town where the style was adopted from: Einbeck. Einbeck is pronounced in bavarian as 'ein bock', which translates to male goat/billy goat. This explains why a number of bock beer brands still symbolize the beer with the image of the goat.
 |
| Bock Beer, always a party... |
As can be derived from the slightly disturbing image displayed above, Bock beer was traditionally drunk at parties, back then called religious festivals.
The beer is also very season bound, with in the fall/winter the traditional bock and in the spring a variant named 'lentenbock'. I highly prefer the traditional version.
There are a number of variants of bock: Traditional (Darkish / 6.3-7.2%), Doppel (Dark gold to dark brown, 7-12%), Maibock (Light golden, 6.3-7.4%), and Eisbock (dark amber to dark brown 9-12%)
 |
| Enjoying a Bock |
There are a number of variants of the Bock beer style, making this a very interesting style of beer to discover. The beer is most popular in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria and the Czech Republic. These countries also host the majority of breweries which produce Bock. However, breweries that produce bock exist in many additional countries.
The Netherlands has even developed its own style of Bock beer, with the most notable trait being that Dutch bock beers can be both top and bottom fermenting. The style became popular in the Netherlands in 1868, and after experiencing a dip in popularity a number of years later, it came back in full force around 1978. The Netherlands now produces more than 50 different brands of Bock Beer!
 |
| Enjoying a Dutch Bock |
All in all, an interesting and usually tasty beer style to discover!
Cheers!
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