Wild Rose Maibock

Brewed by Wild Rose Brewery
Style: Heller Bock
Calgary, Canada

The second treasure from my WRB stash. Bottle: Pours an amber-orange lager in the glass with a small sticky cap that goes to a ring quickly. Lacing is modest as is the soft carbonation. Aroma of rich toffee sweetness, vanilla,some toastiness and woody hopping. Smell more like double Vienna. Good malt spine, toffee toasty malts in the front, some light spiciness, vanilla, beech nuts, goes to an almost cloying rich malty finish with a bready sweet after taste. Nice effort, malty, full bodied, flavourful with the alcohol well hidden but the sweetness need a tad more balance, next time use Tettnangs to dry hop.

[2431-20090807] 500mL bottle. Mild floral vegetal aroma has some corn characteristics. Slightly hazy, orange brown body with a quick foamy white head. Sweet corn grainy vegetal flavour has a sweet aftertaste. Medium body. Possibly past it’s prime but the bottle was only a couple months old; would be willing to re-try.
(c/o Rob, w/ others)

500mL swingtop courtesy Savvy1982. Thanks Kyle! Pours hazy orange with a lacy but fading white head. Honey-nut aroma with a hint of flowers. Medium body, light-ish carbonation. Sweet taste with nuts/caramel/bread cleaned up by a grass and flowers finish. There’s also a little bit of plastic in there somewhere. Would be super sessionable and a bit more hop-forward if they backed off on the ABV a bit.

Hazy golden pour topped by a lasting white ring. Here we have a lightly spicy and mostly honeyed offering with a soft, though misplaced tartness and a fair bit of mustiness. Basically, it could be cleaner, especially for a lager. Also, the almost flat, just barely bubbly palate removes from the crispiness. Mostly spicy finish with a fair amount of minerality is short and lacking in toastiness to my palate. Fair.

In short: A bland Maibock lacking hops and lacking overall character. Really boring.
How: Bottle swing-top. Consumed fresh soon after purchase.
The look: Partly cloudy orange-copper body topped by a small off-white ring of foam
In long: Nose feels a little stale and lacks the floral/grassy hops usually found in the style. Taste is a bit too heavy on the caramel for the style. Fruity notes and bready malts gives a slight rye sensation. Very soft body and very soft carbonation. Lacks hops character. Easy to drink but very bland. A lame first Maibock attempt, if beers were like software this would be an Alpha release and we’d have to agree to some As-Is clause before opening it.

My Bottom Line:
Spicy, rye bread-like Munich malt character delineates this lean and perhaps underhopped Maibock.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the hazy, dull amber.
-The quiet carbonation and slender mouthfeel make for a very drinkable vehicle.
-Floral hoppiness does make a showing, albeit a shy one.
-Alcohol was not much of a player in the flavor profile.

Bottle.

a complimentary 14 oz pour at the brewery... a special thanks to Andrew, tending that afternoon. a nice, clean amber. Head retention is mediocre, but leaves a good ring of lacing. Sweet and sugary, some notes of tropical fruits, spiciness and a hop presence; slightly floral. Complex. Quite nice. An intense flavour for the style. Fruity... tropical fruits, with a bitter side. A spicy alcohol side, though not intensly warming... the taste is there, the alcohol itself is hidden, if that makes sense. A bit of a sipper, being on the stronger side. Given that, though, it’s an incredibly easy drinker. It would be far too easy to get carried away with this. A soft carbonation, somewhat sticky and medium bodied.

500mL swingtop courtesy of Alraomon. Thanks Sean! Copper-brown pour with a one-finger head. Decent head retention. Caramel, banana aroma with some citrus notes. Smooth, grainy taste with banana, citrus and hops. Full bodied. A little sticky but very drinkable.