OnTap Magazine

B eer, with its seemingly infinite varieties, often surprises and challenges. Sometimes, a beer comes along that grabs your attention because it is so different to what you were expecting. The bock is just one of those styles: it is so magnificently schizophrenic, so contrary to conventional perception. It’s a lager but it’s not yellow, nor bland. Bockbiers are generally dark amber to dark brown in colour, strong in ABV, scantily hopped with layered malt flavours that could have you believing that the beer has been conditioning under the watchful eyes of monks for 600 years in some forgotten Bavarian cave. Sweet rich malt aromas of toffee, toast, dark fruit and caramel coat the inside of your mouth while the finish is well-attenuated and crisp, with a subtle bitterness that has you coming back for more and more. This is a lager, but it is worlds apart from the “hot country lagers” that dominate the macro-brewed landscape. It is strong and bold yet still manages to be refreshing. It is its very own paradox: a lager in ale’s clothing. Bock as style got its name from the Bavarians’ inability to pronounce the name of the Hanseatic German town of Einbeck, where it was brewed for the first time in the 14th Century. The Bavarians of Munich adopted the style a century later, originally brewing it as an ale, though to be fair, all beers prior to 15th century were ales. With its new Bavarian name, and the advent of lagering – that is, ageing beers for long periods in cool caves – the beer we know today started to take shape. Bock means “billy goat” in German and many modern brewers pay homage with goat or ram iconography on their labels or bottle caps. However, all great stories have many origins and some say that the association with the goat is not linguistic but rather a reference to the zodiac since it was initially brewed in December and January – under the sign of Capricorn. THE BOCK FAMILY Origins aside, the Bockbier has several substyles on which various German towns and brewers have put their own stamp. Maibock, meaning “May bock”, is a paler, more highly hopped version often made for consumption at spring festivals; doppelbock (double bock), is a stronger and maltier THE BOCK STYLE GUIDE It’s full of rich malty flavours but delivers the crisp and clean finish you expect from a lager. Could this be the perfect beer for the South African winter? Murray Slater takes a few sips to find out. It is strong and bold yet still manages to be refreshing. A LAGER IN ALE’S CLOTHING 48 | Winter 2018 | ontapmag.co.za