Schell Maifest

Brewed by August Schell Brewing Company
Style: Heller Bock
New Ulm, Minnesota USA

Bottle, part of a sampler pack, I did not enjoy this beer at all. Perhaps I don’t particularly enjoy Heller bocks, perhaps, because this beer is usually available in the Spring, and I bought it in the dead of Winter, it wasn’t that good. Effervescent and springy, like a diving board. Not great in a beer, but good in a diving board....although it looked good in the glass!

Bottle courtesy of csbosox. Pours a lightly hazy dark gold with a loose, frothy, off-white head that laces nicely. The nose actually matches up pretty well with the commercial description: pale, Munich and faint pilsner malts with noticeable Hallertau hops in the background. The Cascades and Mt. Hood are less discernible. Light to medium-bodied, soft and slick with a dry and lightly spicy/bitter finish. The flavor is sweet, bready and caramel malt up front with light earthy hops at the finish. This is a fairly tasty brew, but there’s something missing that keeps it from being "just right". Thanks for bringing back this interesting brew, Chris.

Name: Mai-Fest
Date: 12/22/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

hazy gold, fine white head, specks of drippy lace, sweet bready malt aroma balanced by earthy hops, lots of sweet malt flavor, big yeasty fresh bread character, nice caramel sweetness, light earthy balance,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *4

Cloudy off yellow beer with a huge head. All I smell is hops and a bit of sour mash? Very sweet malt with a sweet finish in a sweet body. This beer is mostly sweet, with some sweetness in its sweet.

Courtesy jsquire. I was hoping like hell this was gonna be good, since I haven’t had a Maibock I’ve really liked since Smuttynose’s. Alas, this was rather thin and uninspired. The malt was lightly sweet but lacked thickness, intensity, or complexity of flavors. The finish was clean but thin.

Poured from bottle with a thick stiff head. Slightly sweet. Good but not great.

This is amber with a small white head that steadily dissipates. The aroma is sweet grain and wheat bread, with a spicey hint. The taste is, at first, whole wheat and fruity, somewhat pungent, sweet, with some bitterness and a clear hint of the alcohol strength but, aside from the mild bitter element, no apparent hop flavour. It’s good, but somewhat flat, not particularly complex or interesting, and by about half way through the alcohol element starts to overpower the rest, making the beer fairly bland and more sweet and alcoholic by the end so that it ends up like a malt liquor. It’s also a bit heavy for the flavour, and gets somewhat tiresome by the end. It’s ok, smooth, and drinkable, with definite flavour, but it’s not great.

Poured a dark golden color with minimal head that dissipated rather quickly. Had somewhat of a spicey aroma to it. Taste was malty but not too sweet. Something is missing in the flavor. Mouthfeel is good. Ok, but I would definitely not seek out.