| There is a common misconception in North America that spring bocks are made from the dregs of large breweries’ fermentation tanks and transfer hoses. Nothing could be further from the truth. Beer sugars that are left uncared for become mouldy and skunky, as I’m sure you know if you have ever come across a half-empty beer days or weeks after a party.
Monks first brewed bocks as liquid bread, nourishment to get them through the period of fasting during Lent. I am always surprised at the connection between brewing and the church throughout history. I can’t picture myself surviving on an eight-per-cent beer for weeks at a time with no food. It sounds like a recipe for lots of headaches and lots of mid-afternoon naps.
Bocks originated in Einbeck, a southern German town famous for its brewing of the finest beers. Einbeck beers were the first to be shipped throughout Europe and beyond. There are several theories about the origin of the word "bock," but the most plausible stems from the stories that other Germans mispronounced the name of the town Einbeck, calling it Einbock, which in German means "one goat." A large proportion of bocks still proudly display this one goat on their labels and end their names with the suffix "ator," defining a bock’s extra strength.
The bock is commonly associated with a Northern European celebration of spring and comes in several sub-styles: the classic bock, which is dark; a stronger version known as a doppelbock; the helles-maibock, which has a look ranging from Pilsner yellow to straw-coloured; and the fortified eisbock. The bock is a strong, full-bodied, malty lager, no matter what the colour or ranges in alcohol content.
We happen to have four bocks available in this one-goat town:
The most famous of all is the Paulaner Salvator. Monks in the order of St. Francis of Paula founded this brewery in 1634. This extra-strong dark lager (7.5 per cent alcohol) has a dense head that is similar to whipping cream. It has a nice, deep amber-brown colour, coffee, buttery undertones with a hint of tangerine in the taste, and a subtle warming of alcohol in the finish.
Faxe Festbock from Denmark (7.7 per cent alcohol) is a strong, dark-brown lager that is full of body character. This bock has a roasted malt taste with hints of coffee and citrus. The Festbock finishes with a pleasing hint of bitterness.
Holsten brews two examples of bocks: a Festbock (seven per cent), which is darker, and the Maibock (seven per cent), which is more the colour of the classic Pilsner. The Holsten Maibock has hints of citrus in the taste profile but strong fusil alcohol. This beer is well worth a try but not the best example of a Maibock I have tasted. Big Rock’s seasonal example from last year was a much better illustration of this style of beer. I called Big Rock to see if it would be making a bock for 2004, but its low-carb Jack Rabbit is doing so well that there was no room in the production schedule for a bock this year.
Calgary’s pint-sized brewery, Wild Rose, although also bock-less this spring, is celebrating the season by ambitiously undertaking to make an organic German-Czech-style Pilsner. This beer contains certified organically grown Saskatchewan two-row Pilsner malt (definitely not grown and raised in metal cages), from one of the best grain-growing belts in the world. The hops are organically grown German Hallertau bittering from New Zealand, with Calgary’s free-range mountain water and Czech Pilsner yeast as the other ingredients.
The beer, which became available on April 1, is dubbed Natural Blonde and has a rich, Bavarian noble hop aroma without being overpowering and comes through on the palate with the full, rounded mouth feel of a quality European lager that can be savoured at any time.
All the products mentioned here are available at better-stocked liquor stores, including Royal Liquor Merchants, Kensington Wine Market, the Edmonton Trail Liquor Store and Willow Park Wines & Spirits. |
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.