Clarkson Integrator

Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Ben Brown-Steiner This week we observe the interesting, yet wonderful taste of the Black and Tan. The key to making a great tasting beer combo is to make sure they don't blend completely.

We will leave the German wheat beers behind this week. Our last wheat beer style is named after its affinity to another beer style. The German weizenbock still retains its wheat roots, but has a darker color, more malty taste, and higher alcohol content. This likens it to the German Pilsner style known as Bock.

Bock means goat in German, but the name likely came as a derivation of the town in which the style originated, Einbeck, Germany. During times of fasting, some German monks brewed and consumed a heavier and more nutrient-rich beer to sustain themselves. This led to a higher malt content, higher alcohol content, and all around darker appearance. Bocks are bottom-fermented, which requires colder temperatures and more time than top-fermented beers.

However, Weizenbocks are top-fermented, as are all wheat beers. They are known for their intense malt, fruit, and sweet flavors, as well as their high alcohol content. The alcohol content generally ranges from 7 - 10%. I had a 500 mL bottle of Aventinus weizenbock, brewed by G. Schneider & Sohn from Germany. It is labeled as "Germany's Original Wheat-Doppelbock," which further hybridizes the two distinct styles.

Similar to how Double or Imperial IPAs are more intense versions of the IPA style, the bock equation has been intensified in the dobblebock ("double bock") style. A wheat-doppelbock is a wheat style beer that tastes more like a very intense bock.

I was going to lament as to how I'd never tried a doppelbock, but lo! it appears that I plan ahead better than I had thought. I stockpiled Victory Brewing beers before I came up this semester, and had hidden away, silent and proud, their St. Victorious dopplebock.

The St. Victorious doppelbock is incredibly malty, with some hop and alcohol flavors. I wasn't particularly impressed with this beer, but I was not disappointed with the next one. Aventinus poured with a two inch head, and smelled distinctly of yeast and malts. It also had overtones of fruit and cloves.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools