The northern German city of Einbeck was the first center of commercial brewing in the 13th century. Beer from Einbeck became known as Beck beer (no relation to Beck’s beer). Beck beer was famous throughout the Hanseatic League of cities on the North Atlantic but completely unknown in the south of Germany. Bock beer’s eventual introduction to the south took place several hundred years later, at the wedding of the Duke of Braunsweig to the daughter of a wealthy aristocrat from the south. The wedding took place in Bavaria in the early 1600s and was attended by nobility from distant states. The beer style from the north was embraced by the Bavarians and was adopted as the beer of choice in the state-commissioned Hofbrauhaus in Munich. The brew soon became known as Bock beer -a corruption of Beck in the Bavarian accent.
Bavarians like to downplay the Einbeck connection in favor of a local interpretation of the beer’s origin. Bock means billy goat, which is associated with the zodiacal sign of Capricorn that rules over the months of December and January, when brewers start making Bock beer. Yet another version suggests that the male goat is a symbol of fertility synonymous with the Spring season. One thing is for sure — Bock beer is not what’s cleaned out of the bottom of the vats once a year!
Traditional Bock beer is a hearty bottom-fermented beer with a generously malty character and chocolaty dark-grain flavors. It has a creamy mouthfeel and the finish is lengthy and malty sweet. Hop bitterness is subdued — just enough to cut the cloying character of the malt. The color can run the spectrum from a deep burnt orange to mahogany. The alcohol content is usually considerable; a true German Bock beer must have a minimum alcohol content of 6.5 percent to be called a Bock beer.
Here are some great examples of German-style bock beer:
- Spaten Germany
- Einbecker Germany
- Aass Norway
- Uff Da Wisconsin
- Great Lakes Rockefeller Ohio
Bock beer’s popularity has also inspired many derivations:
- Helles bock- A pale version of regular bock. The profile is similar except for the deletion of the chocolate grain which, in essence, removes the chocolate flavors and most of the dark color.
- Maibock- This style is brewed for consumption in the month of May (Mai). It is basically a helles bock with a more pronounced hop character in the aroma and on the palate. Some brands are even dry hopped for added bouquet.
- Weizenbock- A regular bock beer that has a portion of its malted barley replaced by a portion of malted wheat; usually not exceeding 25 to 40% of the total amount of grain.
- Eisbock- Long before today's north American brewers jumped on the ice beer bandwagon, German brewers had been producing an eisbock. The method of partially freezing the beer and straining out the ice crystals leaves behind a maltier, more alcoholic product. This "revolutionary" process has been in use in Germany since the dawn of artificial refrigeration.
- Doppelbock- This “double bock”, oddly enough, was created by a religious order of Italian Monks. The Order of St. Francis of Paula, cloistered high in the Bavarian Alps, developed this distinctive brew.
