Gordon Biersch Maibock

Brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Style: Heller Bock
Palo Alto, California USA

The aroma is very toasty bread crust. A big malt taste but with caramel undertones. A little bit too sweet for me.

Pours copper with an off white head. Smells of caramel, light spice, crisp. Tastes of caramel malt, a touch of pepper, some light spicy notes on the finish. Enjoyable.

Served in the style labeled GB pint glass at Bollingbrook IL.’s charity Maibock tapping party. Presented by the server with a hazy, orange/amber tone, an off white, 3/4" foamy head, with some good, thick lacing. The aroma gave off some initial toasty malt notes, along with subtle fruit and on reviewing the nose as the beer warmed, a touch of earthiness. The flavor then added some caramel and Munich malt notes, with a pleasant dryness/bitterness in the background. Medium bodied and smooth, with a touch of creaminess to the tongue. Good beer to welcome spring.

Cloudy, dark dull amber. The aroma is very toasty with some whole grain bread crust. Very toasty sort of a cracked munich malt taste but with caramel undertones. A little bit syrupy.

Pours a hazy golden-orange with a creamy, off-white head and cascading lace. Sweet, fruity malt with lightly floral hops in support. Medium-bodied and slick with a dry, slightly metallic finish. The flavor follows the nose with a grassy hop finish. This was the best of the three GB brews that I sampled that evening, but it is probably my least favorite Maibock to date.

Sampled at the Scottsdale location. Just wasn’t a fan of this at all. Extremely sweet and cloying and somehow was able to taste the alcohol @ only 6.44%. I’ve had beers twice as strong that hid this better. Yuck.

Poured from the tap in Bolingbrook, Illinois into a take home growler. First pour produced a dark, golden-brown body topped with a light head of off-white foam. Aroma is bittersweet, with balance notes of hopes and malts. This bock is sweet and syrupy with a bitter finish, along with some spice at the end. I feel that the bitterness and sweetness were layered very well, though I thing that is its body is leaning a bit to the full side, given its slightly syrupy nature. I was happy with the glass that I had in the restaurant and took a batch home. Not bad.

500ml draft at Kansas City location. Sweetly malty and floral aroma, some honey, light caramel and faint licorice, along with touches of dried, leafy, herbal hop. Cloudy light amber in color with a rapidly subsiding head. Flavor is sweet and lightly fruity to start, becoming bitter and lightly spicy, finishing with touches of floral honey, pale, grainy, cereal-like malts, pear and some faintly peppery alcohol. Lingering fruity bitterness and licorice noted. Full and effervescent on the palate, body is medium-full. Some pleasant nuances to be found here. Decent Maibock.