Foothills Gruffmeister Maibock

Brewed by Foothills Brewing
Style: Heller Bock
Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA

Date: 07/28/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

clear dark gold, fine beige head, rich munich malt aroma with earthy hops and a touch of spicyness, rich malt flavor, lots of rich munich character, nice earthy bitterness keeps it mostly dry, almost peppery spicyness adds a sharp edge, a bit of nice caramel sweetness comes through for balance and gets a bit sticky

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Pours a transparent golden with a spotty-lacing froth of white head. Aroma of sweet caramely German malt and noble hops with an authentic yeast strain. Body starts fairly full and doughy caramely sweet with a nice bittering hop balance and a crisp, slightly warming bittersweet finish. A nice Maibock and true to style.

@ fb. A golden amber pour with an off white gooey lace. Rich malt aroma with hints of abv. Hops, malt, and abv all come through. A very pleasant bitter and hints of dried fruit as well. Just a bit over aggressive on carbonation for me. Very nice beer. The pleasant abv warmth was a plus.

Draught at the brewpub. Pours bright copper with off-white head. The aroma is malty with some cotton candy and herbal hops, maybe a hint of strawberry. The flavor is assertively toasty with some sweet wild honey notes. Hints of lemon and alcohol come out toward the finish, and maybe even some oak. It leaves a strong, woody aftertaste. Not bad at all.

Light hazy amber pour with a thin off white head and spotty lace. Honey and caramel on the nose. Light corn, toast, caramel, lemon, and a fruity finish

Tasted 2006 version at the Sexual Chocolate release. Pours a peachy amber with a thin amber head. The aroma was sweet, fruity, caramel, berries, malty. The flavor was sweet, malty, caramel, fruity flavor, some grassy hops at the end. Crisp sweet mouthfeel with a moderately lasting finish.

Is it my imagination. Or is this a pretty damn fine beer?! Beautiful clear goden orange with fair wispy off-white head. Clean, sweet corn with honey on the nose. And the flavor is sweet with strrawberry notes just the faintest hint of alcohol. Body is medium and sticky on the tongue. I rather enjoyed this one.

On draught at WBF in Raleigh. Drank this immediately a 4oz sample of sexual chocolate. Suffice to say, it didn’t mesaure up. Golden orange with a small white head. Toasted malts and yeasty, a little banana too. Ok, but I can’t say I expected much. I need to explore Maibocks more at a later date, but right now this one just ranks as mediocre.