Sixpack Sez

Click here for Alex Drobschoff's bock recipe

May 1, 2009 | Thirst no more: The search for a traditional bock is over

SOMEONE IN America must be brewing a traditional bock.

Not one of those super-strong doppelbocks that craft brewers seem to favor. Not a maibock, the pale version that appears in May as a transition to the lighter lagers of summer. Not an ice bock, not a wheat bock, not a Christmas bock.

Just a plain, old bockbier, also known as a dunkelbock - a dark but not sodden lager with perhaps 6 percent alcohol. A potent but not crippling brew.

Alex Drobshoff, a homebrewer from Livermore, Calif., has been looking for one for years with little luck. "Just a run-of-the-mill traditional bock - that's all I wanted," he said.

His friends traveling to Germany would come home with tales of the malty goodness of the style served in Munich's beer gardens after the close of Oktoberfest. But when he got around to sampling imported bottles, they seemed spoiled from the long trip to the West Coast.

After he went searching for one at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Drobshoff shrugged and said, "I was underwhelmed."

Do it yourself - that's the essence of homebrewing. So Drobshoff, who works as a laser engineer when he's not stirring his wort, experimented for two years to perfect his own version of bock.

Normally, only Drobshoff's wife, Angie, and friends ever get a chance to sample the brew, which he calls Serene Lakes Lager, for the quiet spot where he owns a cabin.

But now you can taste this traditional bock, too. It's part of Boston Beer's annual Samuel Adams LongShot variety case of winning recipes in the brewery's annual American Homebrew Contest.

In addition to Drobshoff's Traditional Bock, the case includes Double IPA by fellow California homebrewer Mike McDole, and Cranberry Wit created by Carissa Sweigart, a Sam Adams national account manager. The lucky three, whose faces appear on the bottles, were among nearly 1,000 homebrewers who submitted entries.

Drobshoff said he worked so long to refine his recipe because "it's a style I like but it's so hard to find . . . It seems like craft beer has gotten extremely hoppy or extremely malty. But there's more to beer than that."

When you sip his beer, he said, "you taste plum and cherry - all these wonderful flavors that come out in the malt, with just enough Hallertau hops for balance."

It's only fitting that LongShot is hitting the shelves this month. Spring is the traditional season of bock in America, typically released in time for Lent.

Back in the 1950s and '60s, regional brewers - including Genesee, Schmidt's and Knickerbocker - celebrated the season with cans of bock decorated with goats (bock means "goat" in German). Some of these long-gone lagers were memorable; more often, they were simply the breweries' normal pale lager with added caramel coloring and, perhaps, a bit more sweetness.

(Contrary to popular myth, bock is not made from the bottom-of-the-barrel dregs of typical lager. Indeed, if it were, it would be a decidedly weak beer, for it would lack much of the fermentable sugar required for higher-alcohol content.)

While most of those mainstream bocks disappeared, Shiner Bock from the 100-year-old Spoetzl Brewery still lives as a popular, cult-like favorite in Texas. This year, America's oldest brewery, Yuengling, began brewing a unique version, essentially a blend of its Porter and Lord Chesterfield Ale.

Smaller craft brewers, meanwhile, tend to favor more potent double bocks with as much as twice the alcohol of a traditional bock. Among the exceptions: Anchor Bock, New Glarus Uff-da, Berghoff Famous Bock and Saranac Black Diamond.

Of course, you can give those original Germans a try. Look for Einbecker Ur-Bock Dunkel and Mönchshof Bockbier.

If you'd like to brew your own, try Drobshoff's winning recipe. It's available at my Web site.

And, for a great local treat, head out to the Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery's annual Bock Fest and Goat Race on Sunday. The event, held at the Pikeland Village Square shopping center (519 Kimberton Road, Phoenixville), features a half-dozen different styles of bock from brewer Brian O'Reilly, including that rare dunkelbock.

The fun begins at 11 a.m. with the goat races at 2 p.m.

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Traditional Bock

by Alex Drobshoff

Recipe Specifics

Batch Size (Gal): 6.50

Wort Size (Gal): 6.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 17.13
Anticipated OG: 1.070 (Plato: 17.00)
Anticipated SRM: 15.5
Anticipated IBU: 27.6
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain Bill

*Potential represented as % Yield, Fine Grind As Is.

Hops

Yeast

WYeast 2206 Bavarian Lager

 

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