Mahrs Bräu Christmas Bock

Brewed by Mahrs Bräu
Style: Heller Bock
Bamberg, Oberfranken/Bayern, Germany

Ah, not what I was expecting. This one came across as a mix between a maibock and a pilsner - not good. The pour was the most impressive part, clear amber color with a nice head and great lacing. The aroma was skunky upon opening the bottle and then skunk to grassy in the glass. The flavor was bready and earthy with a grassy hop finish. Malts were maybe caramel-like, but overshadowed by the hops. Mouthfeel was fairly light and dry, as I was expecting something more thick.

From a 1pt. 9oz. euro brown bottle with a bottled on date found on the back label. Made a decent appearance, poured a semi-hazy golden hued amber with a soapy pale tannish head that settled into a thin bubbly lacing, good carbonation. Spicy herbal nose with a sweet fruitiness, caramelized malts and alcohol in the background. A crisp, slick and smooth medium bodied mouth feel, good drinkability. Spicy and herbal hop taste, biting in it’s bitterness, a dry yeastiness and sour fruity maltiness, a slight alcohol warmth in the palate and a yeasty, herbal and sour fruity finish. A nice Christmas seasonal from Mahrs, a quality brewer.

Pours a three finger light tan head that fades slowly to a ring leaving some lace. Clear, deep mahogany color. Light-medium carbonation and medium bodied. Almost malty nose. Flavor is almost sweet malty with spices, some honey. $5.45 for a 500ml bottle from John’s Marketplace Portland, OR.

Although I did not detect a typical "Christmas" flare, this was a nice Bock. Paler in color than typical Bock, it was a deep honey color, nice malt sweetness, and very easy to drink.

Pours honey brown, white head. Nutty, caramel, brown sugar, but thin and watery, and not very christmasy at all.

Sampled from bottle. I can see this one can cause problems. Lots of phenols when opened, and a bit of a wet dog smell. Not very sweet, and a little bit of skunk. When you call yourself a Christmas beer, you need some special character to make your product stand out: spices, special malts, whetever. Best I can say about this is that it was too well balanced; outside of the off flavors, there was nothing to really stand out.

Light amber color, big bountiful head with some nice lacing. Aroma has some nice touches of spices, hops and honey. Sweet semi-malt and hoppy, honey flavor. Has a very smooth finish. Has some small undertones of a mead. A great find at Sun Devil Liquor in Mesa, Az

"What a mess this one was not sure what went wrong. Pour amber color with a okay head and good lacing. Aroma was skunky at first then grass hops? Flavor was overwelmed by grassy hops. Mouthfeel was thin to say the least. not good"