Sudwerk Maibock

Brewed by Sudwerk Privatbrauerei Hubsch
Style: Heller Bock
Davis, California USA

The nose is mostly banana. The flavor is dry with some light sweetness hidden in the fold. It pours clear and very pale.

Thanks for DarkElf for the recommendation! Golden, bright and sparkling. Big malt nose is very clean. Fat malty, bready palate is clean and rich. A little bit of dryness makes this "moreish", to steal a phrase from Jackson. Very good.

On tap at the 2008 Boonville Beer Festival and in bottles. This is a good, crisp, very tasty maibock with a slightly more pronounced hoppy bite than I usually expect. It is light copper gold with a dense, creamy, off-white head steadily shrinking to a thin head. The smell is raisiny with fruity grain and some hops, honey, bread dough, hay, a bit alcoholic, but smoothly so. The tatse is similar, sweetish, but with a light spicey bitterness and bite, fruity, zesty, a creamy feel and grassy-herbal bitterness with a hint of apple peel. Overall, it is clean and crisp yet very tasty.

350 ml bottle from Bevmo. Light copper brown with a fizzy head. Faint malty aroma and taste with a clean finish.

12 oz. glass bottle- color of dark gold, with a minimal off white head - nose of vegetation, crackers(wheat), and sweet – taste of bright red fruit, sweat, sour cherries, and mild hops - body is light, and with medium to light carbonation – aftertaste of sour cherries, and ruby red grapefruit

Bottle Date of 03.22.07, Sampled September 2007
This beer sits in my glass with a brilliantly clear, pretty, copper color, when held up to the light it shows an orange tinged, gold color. The head starts out almost three-fingers in height and is a pale tan color. The aroma has a nice grain character to it up front and is finished with some lightly herbal hop notes mixed in. Aromatic notes of biscuits, sweet honey-like grain, hints of orange flower nectar, lightly caramelized bread crust, and a green, herbaceous note intermingle in the nose, with none really being dominant.

Lightly sweet, but with an immediately noticeable, slightly astringent, bitterness. The beer finishes with a doughy malt character as well as some caramelized grain sugar notes. Uncharacteristically these notes seem to linger more than the bitterness that was found mostly up front in this beer. Fairly thick and rich, though the lightly zesty carbonation helps to temper this a bit. Some touches of honey character as well as a minty hop note in the finish.

This is quite tasty and I really like the touch with the noticeable hop character; it is perhaps a touch more than traditional German examples, but it is a welcome addition. I have always welcomed the hoppy pale bocks (something I really consider this "new" Double Pilsner thing to be a part of). This beer is quite easy to drink, in some ways I wish it had a bit more character, but it seems to want to be quaffed by the liter, which would be quite dangerous.

(Bottle) Pours a clear golden body with a small white head. Aroma of florals, cereal, sweet apple, and grass. Flavor of honey, butter, pear, and dough with a sticky mouthfeel.

Date: 06/02/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

clear light amber, light sweet malt aroma, solid malt flavor well balanced between a touch of sweetness and a short bitter finish, tasty but nothing special

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 10/20
Rating: 2.6/5.0
Score: *4
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