Beer Review: Straub Maibock

Serving Type: Draft/Growler

ABV: 6.9 percent

Appearance: This Maibock poured a pretty amber color with a few orange hues dabbling around here and there. The body was crowned by an ivory white head that was foamy and strong at first, but faded away after a few minutes with weak lacing. The color of the head was quite complimentary to the amber in the body of the brew. I couldn't pick up much carbonation at all that led me to believe that there wouldn't be much in the texture of this beer.

Smell: I didn't pick out much in the aroma, but I got two distinct things. There was a good bit of some roasted malt, albeit somewhere in the middle of not roasted and roasted. Let's just say medium roasted malt. The other aspect was a big hop presence. Almost into the land of IPA. It was that intense.

Taste: It kind of went the wrong way for me once I started drinking it. I really couldn't pick out anything else other than the intensity of the hops in what I can generously classify as a bitter finish. There wasn't much of anything sweet or malty to compliment the intensity. At least for my taste.

Overall Rating: 

Started on a slightly positive note with this brew, but ended on a much lower one. Could this be a bad batch, perhaps? I've heard both good and bad things about this one. I know maibocks are supposed to be a bit more hop-concentrated, but I also like ones with a touch of something sweet to take some of the harshness away.

Much of the Maibock

Over the past few weeks I've had chances to try two of the local maibocks. A while ago a growler full of Straub Maibock fell into my hands by chance. Over this past weekend I ordered a glass of Penn Brewery's Penndemonium Maibock while on one of my Blue Dust excursions.

I think that both brews were diverse in nature given the way the style of beer is. Maibocks are traditionally a spring beer, tend to be a bit darker than bocks  and have a hop character that's a bit more noticeable.

The two local ones I tried were at two ends of the spectrum, though. Straub's was really strong. The hop bitterness was intense as was the alcohol presence. It was a bit of a struggle. On the other hand, the Penndemonium was subtle and pleasant. There was a sweet maltiness that was present and mixed well with the above-average hop bitterness. It was just right.

One could make the argument that the Penndemonium might not fit under the Maibock category due to it's lighter hop content. Don't forget who's writing this, though. You know how I am when it comes to that. While I'm talking about Penn Brewery.

You might remember an older post about the new Summer Berry Weiss they brought out. I also found myself a bit of that. The wheat presence was very strong and provided that backbone that reminds me of a well-baked pie crust. Oh yea, and there was some tasty berries.

Beer Review: Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 6.5 percent

Appearance: Dead Guy Ale is a light shade of amber, but gives off an effervescent orange hue.Atop this brew, there was an off-white head that was thick and frothy. This was the type of head that gets stuck on your nose and upper lip on the first sip. I love that in a beer. There was a ton of bubbles surging towards the top of the glass. I also noticed a lot of thick lacing left inside the glass as I kept drinking more of it.

Smell: I mainly was able to pick up a ton of hop bitterness in the aroma for this beer. There was also a highlight or two of citrus, but I doubt that was from orange or lemon. My guess it was a characteristic of the hop content. I'd prefer a bit more diversity in this section, but this wasn't quite on an IPA level.

Taste: I tasted plenty of honey and sweet malt on the front. There was plenty more malt than honey as we should expect in a German Maibock, but I also like some honey presence.That was followed by a tasty combination of pale wheat, a creaminess and hop notes on the finish. The aftertaste was calm, yet bitter. In my opinion, a great Maibock/Helles Bock has honey sweetness and a lot of sweet malt present. Sometimes the malt can even have a bitter bite to it.

Overall Rating:  

When it comes to German styles of beer, I want whatever I have to make me feel like I'm sitting in a beer garden somewhere smelling the fresh hop vines and eating a salty pretzel. I got pretty close when drinking Dead Guy Ale. I missed the malt presence in the aroma. I got too much hops, but the attractiveness and the wonderful taste of this brew was more than enough for me.

Monday Rant: Homebrew Extracts

One of Beer Snob Sr.'s earlier homebrews.

I was visiting the infamous Beer Snob Sr. a few nights back to try one of his homebrews. This time it was the blueberry ale he had been working on.

Other homebrews I had the chance to try that were his included something from a kit called Cowboy Lager, which was some type of lager with a tart apple flavor, and a Honey Maibock.

His most recent creation was a blueberry ale which had a surprisingly dark tone to it. It was surprising to me since most blueberry ales I've come across in the past have had pure blonde bodies. It was his opinion that the blueberry taste wasn't as powerful as he expected.

Let it be known that he uses the Mr. Beer homebrewing set-up and that each of the kits he uses include some type of extract. (Remember that Beer Snob Sr. is not my father. In fact, he is a close friend that shares my interests in beer and great food. He's older than me and friends began to call us Beer Snob's Sr. and Jr.)

The kits that my father and I have used don't have extracts. We strive to use as many natural ingredients as possible. If any type of abstract is involved, we attempt to replace said extract with the original, and natural ingredient.

When Beer Snob Sr. complained about the lack of blueberry flavor, I pondered whether or not the flavor could have been more explosive if he had chosen to replace the extract with natural blueberries.

From experience, I know that the brewing experience gets that much harder when you decide to go the natural ingredient route. You also have to sometimes time the addition perfectly. It might benefit your beer's flavor if you wait to add the fruit during the secondary fermentation as opposed to the primary.

It does get more complex. Years ago I helped to make a cherry wheat beer with homegrown cherries only to have the top of the fermenter blow off in our coat closet. It's a tougher process when you replace the extracts, but I feel that the flavor ends up being more noticeable in the end.

Beer Review: Appalachian Brewing Anniversary Maibock

Serving Type: Draft

ABV: 7.2 percent

Appearance: Appalachian Brewing Company's Anniversary Maibock pours a deep golden color. It has a very thin layer of creamy and foamy head that fades fairly fast. Don't expect to much lacing as you drink the beer. Carbonation doesn't seem to be too present either. I wish there was more of a head on this beer, but the color was fairly impressive.

Smell: This beer emanates a strong aroma of alcohol, as evident by the fairly high ABV. If you can get behind the booze, you can sense some attractive aromas such as caramel and honey.

Taste: The honey and caramel tastes are very complementary to the alcohol that is present in this brew. There is also a surprising hop character on the back of the tongue upon drinking this beer.

Overall Rating: 

Anniversary Maibock has a beautiful color and a very interesting, yet fun taste. Would definitely have again. The only downsides were the lack of head and intense aroma and taste of alcohol.