Style
Maibock—sometimes known as heller bock or helles bock—is a strongish German lager on the paler end of the bockbier spectrum, with less of the rich melanoidins that define the darker ones. Hops tend to be more prominent. Many brewers go too heavy on malt character, using Munich for at least half their grist or even adding melanoidin malt (or something like it) to further bump those malty notes. Respectfully, I think that’s a mistake. What those brewers are really making is a traditional bock that looks somewhat paler. They’re also throwing away an opportunity to distinguish their maibock from others in the family. There’s room for interpretation here—use it.
Ingredients
I use Munich in my maibock, but nowhere near half. My base is 40 percent pilsner, 40 percent Maris Otter, and 20 percent Munich. That’s right: British pale malt in a German lager. It contributes nice doughy-bready notes without being heavy. Increasing the Munich or Vienna could bog down your flavor profile; this lighter blend makes that nearly impossible. No specialty malts—this grist should give you everything you need. Some brewers like to add a touch of acidulated malt for a slight lactic “zip” and to lighten the color a touch. I don’t, but I don’t think it would hurt. Meanwhile, I aim for a starting gravity around 1.075—we’re going to put that alcohol to work.
Hops present another opportunity to deviate from the norm—no need to use them only for bittering. I like moderate hop flavor and aroma in my maibock, but from a specific variety: Mt. Hood. This classic American variant on Hallertauer has a fine dose of floral notes, but it’s also relatively high in myrcene, associated with piney-resinous flavor. The piney, floral, and bready characters mesh beautifully, especially in conjunction with the spicy notes from the higher ABV. Besides the bittering addition, I add for flavor at 15 minutes and aim for 25 IBUs. You can go higher, but you don’t want bitterness to take over the flavor.
For yeast, either Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager or White Labs WLP830 German Lager will treat this beer well, with good attenuation and clean fermentation character.
Process
If you’ve read enough of these columns, you know I mash basically everything at 152°F (67°C)—same here, but you could go lower. You don’t want a heavy beer—you want a lot of nice, simple sugars for your yeast to consume. The lager fermentation also is pretty straightforward: A good starting place is 50°F (10°C), with a slow rise of a degree or two per day starting on the third day. Give it plenty of time to finish—we want to lighten the body while getting a lot of good (not hot) ethanol into the beer. For lagering, you don’t want to touch this one for at least six weeks.
In Closing
Maibock should be dangerously drinkable despite its ABV. While it’s not a by-the-liter quaffer like festbier, you should still want another when you empty the glass. The flavors, meanwhile, lend themselves beautifully to food pairing—and this style is a great companion at Thanksgiving or other holiday meals. Maibock: It’s not just for May anymore.
