Mahrs Bräu Christmas Bock

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

I really enjoyed this festive bock. It was smooth and malty. A nice, lacy color. Hints of honey, caramel, vanilla all lend themselves to a rather nice and unoffending sweetness.

Pours a hazy golden color, thin white head that lasts. Aroma of some sweeter malts, honey, and possibly a bit of alcohol. Flavor is malty, fairly sweet, light banana, and some bitterness on the end. Smooth and creamy body helps out the overall average-ness of the beer.

Pours a hazy yellow with a medium white frothy head. Sweet malt and spice (nutmeg?) aroma. Grainy malt taste with a nice bitterness. There is also a taste of honey. Nice mouthfeel.

This has got to be the lightest colored bock I’ve seen. Imagine if you will,beer fan takes half pint Salvator Dopple and equal part Michelob Amber Bock and proclaims,Voila!,I’ve made the same beer.

Two bottles each yielded dissimilar results. The first was rather alcoholic, with Mahr’s trademark variety of bitterness. The second was sweet and syrupy and could have used some more of the bitterness to balance it. Combined, it would have been quite a good Heller Bock. But they were not combined, now, were they?

Not what I expected. A yellow color with a strong brown intermixed (it has no oxidized flavor or aroma but this is the color of a maibock that I would assume oxidized to a slightly brown color). The head collapses quickly and fizzes like soda pop at first pour. There is a consistent rise of medium-sized bubbles from the bottom of the glass but they do not help form or sustain any kind of head. Aroma of honeyish malt and solid, noble hops. Flavor is solid with a pronounced matchstick sulphur, a good viscosity, a toasty honey grain character, and a tasty sweetness in the finish that is complemented by some spicy, perfumey hops. This malt sweetness and hops combo creates an almost winey character that also has a little cooked vegetables to it.

Golden color with large foamy head that quickly disappears. Aroma of sweet malt and bread. A hint of spice. Sweet malt flavor with a balancing hop finish. Nice mouthfeel. Very enjoyable.

500 mL capped bottle: dark, clear amber with a steady, but limited flow of golden bubbles through the center of the body…thin white film, leaves a sticky lace around the glass. Thick malty aroma that does have a sense of Christmas: nutmeg spices, along with sweet honey cloves and raisin bread. Sharp, spicy flavour with a lingering herbal bitterness. Nicely carbonated plate that delivers that flavours throughout the mouth and helps spread the strange floral hops among the sticky malted grain. You know, I was expecting more interesting flavours than this one offered, but overall it was tolerable.