Ramstein Maibock

Brewed by High Point Brewing Company
Style: Heller Bock
Butler, New Jersey USA

Thanks to dickinsonbeer for bringing this growler to a weekly tasting. Pours a translucent orange amber with an off white bubbly lacing head. Aroma of sweet malts, fruity and caramel. Flavor was also sweet and malty with some light citrus.

Tap. Rose/berry and malt aroma. Cloudy red amber color with moderate head. Cherry malt flavor primarily with a mild hops finish. Had a strong artificial cherry flavor aftertaste that I didn’t particularly like but otherwise a nice beer.

In short: A strong and superior maibock.
How: Hand-bottle from BrianK, huge thanks a lot Brian!!! Consumed within a week of receiving it
The look: Partly cloudy golden-orange body with a small off-white head
In long: Ripe citrus on the nose and some boiled eggs white. Taste is smooth, bready with very ripe fruits (citrus, apples and peaches). That typical lager sensation that I can never put into word. Alcohol is mostly absent from the flavour profile which is surprising for the relatively strong abv. Splendid body with a not-completely-baked bread mouthfeel (almost doughy) and a lot of small bubbles. Very chewy. An excellent Maibock that truly deserves to be one of most highest rated Heller Bock on ratebeer (if not THE highest one). And that’s totally justified, if only the word was that fair… Elvis would still be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.

I liked this beer more than the Heartland Maibock, frankly. Less harsh alcohol taste. In fact, the Ramstein’s alcohol is virtually undetectable. Not terribly malty and somewhat innucuous, IMHO. I have no idea why it’s rated so highly, although I love Ramstein as much as the next guy. On tap at The Gate (Brooklyn).

[draught] This beer is amazing! - dirty-blonde pour with medium carbonation and compact head - sweet aroma of light fruits and candy - a tiny hint of tartness up front, that fades away to a medium bodied, malty explosion of flavors - there are a lot of more "summer oriented" fruits here, strawberries in particular, but also cherries and a touch of pears - this beer is clean, yet chewy and malty at the same time - strawberries stick around in the finish for quite some time - excellent stuff - the best Ramstein I’ve had so far, and that includes the winter wheat.

I wish I could have more appreciation for this style. Very floral nose, or perhaps more garden-y, almost. Not as much lilac as, like, a fresh salad or something. The same notes in the taste underly a strong biscuity roundness, and the beer is very drinkable. Sampled from a hand-bottled bomber provided by Dickinson beer at RB CL gathering.

12oz handbottle, courtesy of artusory. Thanks, Ryan! Pours a hazy, orange-amber color; thin line of off-white bubbles at the perimeter. Pleasant, dried fruit and candy sugar aroma; reasonably dense and chewy. Light carbonation. Medium-to-full, velvety mouthfeel: sugary and dense dried fruit maltiness; some toasty vanilla and light citrus; excellent taste and density for a maibock. Lengthy, candy sugar and lightly bitter finish.

12 oz handbottle, via Dickinsonbeer. Pours a slightly hazy copper colored body under a fizzy one finger white head that fell to a patchy film. Aroma is all sweet munich malt. Light notes of toffee and alcohol. Flavor is of munich and toasted malts, fairly dry for the style, with a light hoppiness up front. Fades to a toffee and lightly alcoholic finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, slightly syrupy in texture, with fairly active fizzy carbonation. Overall, a fairly straightforward and clean Maibock.