Altenmünster Maibock

Brewed by Allgäuer Brauhaus (Oetker Group)
Style: Heller Bock
Kempten, Germany

Golden straw color with a slight haze. Sticky white foam. Succulent sweet candies and malt sugars in the aroma. Tastes of malt, wet dog, hop with a viscous mouthfeel. Well, it’s a pretty label at least.

Purchased a 1pt 0.9 oz bottle in West Philadelphia. Assumed the green color bottle meant something along the lines of "apple" - should have known. It’s labeled MALT LIQUOR on a corner of the label. And how! Syrupy, sticky, it manages to combine all the mustiness of stale hops with the wince-inducing intensity of pure cane sugar. Bathwater head, coppery bronze color marrred by flecks of floating flotsam. Ugh. Not the worst beer I’ve ever had by a long shot, but I’m glad I’ve got a backup six pack of miller in the fridge. Blech.

Bottle; poured a somewhat murky, dark gold. Aroma of sweet malt and fruit, perhaps overripe fruit. Flavor of sweet malt, very ripe fruit, with some grassiness/earth. Some breadiness and alcohol. A bit syrupy and not awesome, but it was the best I have had today (not saying much).

Bottle: quite sweet, alcoholic, some hay and straw, some malt, some sourness in the finish, medium body, ok.

Bottle purchased from Buckeye Beer Engine. Te bottle certainly gets style points, not too flashy, but caught my eye, (this isn’t the bottle pictured here.) The aroma of this is nice fruity cereal malt. A little bit grassy, but lots of banana and buttery cherry notes. Flavor is very smooth and carries over the fruity notes very well, but loses some of the grassier flavors and goes for a smooth cereal grain one. Very yummy and particularly smooth drinkin’.

16.9 oz. bottle. Sweet, fruity, surprisingly hoppy, buttery aroma features apple, nectar, and honey scents. Very pleasant and appetizing smell. Pours a dark gold to brass color. Slightly hazy with much suspended particulate. Large amount of fluffy, nearly white, light beige head. Flavor mimics the aroma: Fruity, sweet, and floral. Honey and nectar elements. Some alcohol noticeable. Light dry aftertaste with some dirt-bitterness. Very drinkable. Medium body. Crisp and lively in the palate. This is a good beer! It’s a strong, late spring refresher.

Bottled 50cl. Courtesy of Quack-Duck. Quite a lot of banana and alcohol in both nose and taste, otherwise not much going on. Malt accentuated for a maibock. Thanks Quack-Duck!

A cloudy golden body and the head is also light gold. Visible carbonation and suspended yeast the same size as the bubbles. Nose is yeast, fruit, and funk. Flavor is fruit with some pepper spice and grain. Some floral notes and alcohol. Just a bit of complexity makes this somewhat interesting.