Creature Comforts & Burial Beer Co. Culture Keepers Maibock Photo: Let Us Drink Beer Blog

Are you a season drinker? Many beer enthusiasts who enjoy a variety of styles tend to make their selections based on particular times of year or events. Summer is great for lighter, refreshing styles like Koslch, Pilsner or Saison. Fall is time for Oktoberfest beers. The Holiday Season begs for spiced Christmas beers. Winter calls for hearty Stouts or Baltic Porter. What about Spring? I dare say most beer drinkers do not associate a particular beer with Spring, but I submit to you Maibock. It’s not apparent why, maybe pale Mexican lager overshadows it because of Cinco de Mayo, but Maibock is overlooked by most breweries and beer enthusiasts as the essential Spring seasonal beer.

Before getting into what Maibock is, we should touch on a little background. Bock style beers are strong (Starkbier) beers that originated in Germany. In his seminal guide to the world of beers The Beer Bible, Jeff Alworth describes Bocks as “Germany’s sipping beers”. They encompass Helles/Dunkles Bock, Dopplebock and Eisbock (a distilled beer). Many beer drinkers are familiar with world class Doppelbock offerings like Ayinger Celebrator and Paulaner Salvator. These rich, full bodied lagers were originally brewed by Franciscan monks for sustenance during fasting. If you are really lucky, you may have a local brewery that will make a Doppelbock from time to time. Then there is standard Bock. When looking for standard Bock, you’ll find them in either a lighter colored Helles Bock or darker Dunkles Bock. Where does Maibock fit into all this? Maibock (Mai is German for May, Bock means buck or goat – that’s another blog post!) is a Helles Bock brewed to be drunk – you guessed it – in the Spring.

Maibock is lager (bottom fermented) beer brewed using mostly Pilsner and Vienna malts with caramel or Munich malt added for color. Hops are Noble varieties, typically Saazer. The results are a malty beer with a grainy, light toast backbone supporting a spicy or, sometimes floral, hop aroma and flavor. It will be medium bodied with a distinctly clean lager finish. ABV’s land between 6% and 7.5%. Think of it as a fuller bodied, more rich and stronger version of Helles or Amber lager.

Creature Comforts & Burial Beer Co. Culture Keepers Maibock Photo: Let Us Drink Beer Blog

In the United States, Maibock can be a bit of a challenge to find. Not many breweries pay attention to it with the popularity of pale lagers and IPA. If you are interested in trying this style out, and I highly recommend you do, start looking for them in late March into April. Hofbrau Maibock is one that is fairly readily available if you have a bottle shop that is well stocked with imports. Even better, if you have a lager focused brewery near you, that’s a great place to try on fresh on tap. Some excellent examples can be found at Dovetail Brewing (IL), KC Bier Co. (MO), Rosenstadt Brewery (OR), and East Brothers(CA). My personal favorite is a wonderful collaboration between Creature Comforts Brewing (GA) and Burial Beer Co. (NC) named Culture Keepers. You’ll find my review of it here.

It’s pretty hard to compete with Cinco de Mayo, especially in North America, but I’d love to see Maibock make a bit of a comeback as a more available seasonal beer in Spring. If you have a favorite or you local brewery makes one annual, be sure to give them a shout out in the comments.

Thanks for reading and until next time…

Let Us Drink Beer!

Remember, always drink responsibly!

Let Us Drink Beer

Thanks for reading, until next time…Let Us Drink Beer!

Remember, always drink responsibly!

Other Let Us Drink Beer Reviews:

• Beer Review: Galactic Space Circus (Creature Comforts Brewing Co.)
• Beer Review: Fast Fjord Norwegian IPA (Gate City Brewing)
• Variant Brewing Company – Roswell, GA
• Beer Review: ETA IPA (Wild Leap Brew Co.)
• Beer Review: Koko Buni (Creature Comforts)
• Beer Review: Heady Topper (The Alchemist)
• Seasonal Drinking – Maibock

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Arches Brewing Co. – Hapeville (near Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport) 

Arches Brewing opened its doors in 2016. They focus almost exclusively on lagers and make some of the best beers in Atlanta, if not the Southeast. The tap room is not huge; but roomy enough, and they will have around a dozen fresh beers on tap.  A flight of six tasters is between $10 and $12.  A 16 oz. pour will run about $5 – $6.  You’ll find several beers highly rated by Beer Connoisseur Magazine:  Mexican Empire Vienna Lager (97), Southside Lager (96), Bohemian Riot Czech Pilsner (91), Low Viz Hazy IPA (91), Queen’s Weiss Hefeweizen (91), Winter’s Night Munich Dunkel (90), and Southern Bel’ Belgian Ale (89) are all crowd pleasers. 

Year Around/Core Beers: Southside Lager, Mexican Empire Vienna Lager, Queen’s Weiss, Southern Bel’ (Belgian Ale)
Recommended Beers: Mexican Empire Vienna Lager, Black Gold Schwarzbier (Fall/Winter seasonal)
Personal Favorite: Mexican Empire Vienna Lager

Vital Stats
Flights: Yes, choice of six tasters for $10 – $12
16 oz. pour: $5 – $6
Beer Available To Go: Yes
Hours: Mon – Fri: 3-9pm, Sat: 1-9pm, and Sun: 1-6pm.
Location: 3361 Dogwood Dr., Hapeville, GA 30354

Creature Comforts Brewing Co. – Athens, GA

If you are in Atlanta and want to visit the hottest brewery in Georgia, you’ll want to make the 70-mile trek East of downtown over to Athens.  Home to the University of Georgia, this town is also where you will find Creature Comforts Brewing Company residing in what used to be the Snow Tire Company garage in the downtown area.  Creature has a spacious tasting room with two large bars sporting over fifteen different beers on tap, as well as a recently opened outdoor beer garden.  The brewery maintains one of the more diverse selections of beers including German and Czech style beers, IPA’s, Stouts, Porters, sours and barrel aged beers.  If you can’t find something there you like, you’re just too picky!  

One sidebar, the movie Avengers Endgame was filmed in Georgia.  The cast and crew discovered Creature Comforts’ Tropicalia IPA while on location and went crazy for it.  After the film’s directors tried and loved it, they decided to place it and Athena Berliner Weisse in a couple of scenes with Chris Hemsworth in the movie.  Read more about it in Craftbeer.com’s piece “Thor and Craft Beer:  How an IPA caught Mavel’s Attention”. 

Year Around/Core Beers: Athena Berliner Weisse, Classic City Lager, Bibo Pilsner (Czech), Tropicalia IPA, Reclaimed Rye (Amber Ale)
Recommended Beers: Tropicalia IPA and Reclaimed Rye
Personal Favorite: Reclaimed Rye

Vital Stats
Flights: Yes, choice of 4 oz. tasters for $2 – $3 each
16 oz. pour: Starts at $6
Beer Available To Go: Yes
Hours: Mon – Closed, Tues – Thur: 5 – 10pm, Fri: 3 – 10pm, Sat: 1 – 10pm, Sun: 1 – 6pm
Location: 271 W. Hancock Ave., Athens, GA 30601

New Realm Brewing Company – Atlanta, GA 

One of Atlanta’s more recognizable breweries is New Realm Brewing Company.  Established in 2016 by co-founders, Carey Falcone, Bob Powers and Mitch Steele, New Realm is a craft brewery with a restaurant on site.  Brewmaster Mitch Steele is one of the most respected brewers in the industry, having established his reputation during his stint at Stone Brewing in California.   

Situated on the Beltline Inside the Perimeter (ITP), New Realm has a beautiful indoor bar, outdoor beer garden and rooftop bar with gorgeous view of the Atlanta skyline.  All that is just icing on the cake, because they have one of the best varieties of craft beer in Atlanta.  You’ll find American Lager, New England IPA, Dunkel, Stouts, Porters and more throughout the year.  The remarkable thing is they do all of these styles very well. 

Year Around/Core Beers: United Craft Lager, Hazy Like A Fox IPA, Hoptropolis IPA, Hoplanta IPA, Euphonia Pilsner, Perun Pale Ale, Kikimora Imperial IPA
Recommended Beers: Hoptropolis IPA, United Craft Lager, New Realm Dunkel (seasonal)
Personal Favorite: New Realm Dunkel

Vital Stats
Flights: Yes, choice of 4 oz. tasters for $2 – $3 each
16 oz. pour: Starts at $6
Beer Available To Go: Yes
Hours: Mon – Wed: 4 – 10pm; Thur: 11am – 11pm, Fri & Sat: 11am – 12am; Sun: 11am – 10pm
Location: 550 Somerset Terrace NE, Unit 101, Atlanta, GA 30306

Reformation Brewing – Woodstock & Canton, GA 

Reformation Brewing is another fast-growing craft brewery to burst on the scene.  Originally opened in Woodstock in 2013, they have already opened a new tap room in downtown Woodstock and second larger taproom and beer garden in Canton.  Originally focused on Belgian and other ale styles; they have quickly branched out into lager, barrel aged and sour beers.  Sure, Woodstock and Canton are located a good 30 – 45 minutes northwest of downtown Atlanta; however, if you find yourself in any of the surrounding suburbs of Acworth, Kennesaw, Marietta, Alpharetta, and Roswell, it’s worth the drive over. 

Year Around/Core Beers: Cadence Belgian Ale, Jude Belgian Triple, Oren Pale Ale, Nolan IPA (rotating seasonal), Jogger Lager, Stark Porter, Declaration Imperial Stout, Haddy Belgian Wheat
Recommended Beers: Haddy Belgian Wheat, Declaration Imperial Stout
Personal Favorite: Declaration Imperial Stout

Vital Stats
Flights: Yes, choice of six 4 oz. pours $12 – $14
16 oz. pour: Starts at $6 (4 oz $2.50; 8 oz $4; 12 oz $5)
Beer Available To Go: Yes
Hours: 
Woodstock – 105 Elm Street, 30188
Mon: Closed, Tues – Wed: 8:30am-10pm, Thur: 8:30am-11pm, Fri: 8:30am-12am, Sat: 8:30am-12am; Sun: 8:30am-9pm
Canton – 141 Railroad St., Ste 500 30114
Mon: Closed, Tue: 6 – 10pm, Wed – Thur: 5 – 9pm, Fri: 4 – 11pm, Sat: 12 – 11pm, Sun: 12 – 8pm

Tucker Brewing Company – Tucker, GA 

I’ll admit, this brewery is another personal favorite of mine for three reasons – a nice spacious taproom, large outdoor beer garden and great lagers.  Founded in 2017, Tucker Brewing Company focuses on German style beers.  When you first arrive and go straight to the bar and inquire about the beer, you’ll immediately get “we don’t make IPA’s here”.  It’s not that they hate IPA, it’s just that you can get a multitude of IPA’s at almost every brewery; but it’s hard to find breweries doing a variety of German style beers well.   

You’ll find a friendly, knowledgeable staff, plenty of beer on tap and entertainment set up frequently in the outdoor beer garden dubbed “Georgia’s Largest Outdoor Beer Garden”. 

Year Around/Core Beers: Tucker Lager (Helles), Tucker Pilsner (German), Southern Heaven (Hefeweizen), Georgia Red Lager, Tucker Maibock
Recommended Beers: Tucker Pilsner, Tucktoberfest Marzen (Fall seasonal)
Personal Favorite: Tucker Pilsner

Vital Stats
Flights: Yes, choice of four 5 oz pours $10
16 oz. pour: Starts at $6
Beer Available To Go: Yes
Hours: Mon – Tues: Closed; Weds-Th: 4-9pm; Fri: 4-10pm, Sat: 12-10pm,
Sun: 12:30-7pm
Location: 2003 South Bibb Dr., Tucker, GA 30084

Now you’re up to speed on some of Atlanta’s best breweries. Come visit us soon!

Thanks for reading, until next time…Let Us Drink Beer!