Rye Bock - Cameron's Brewing Company (Canada - Ontario - Oakville)

Rye Bock - Cameron's Brewing Company (Canada - Ontario - Oakville) 6.3%

It pours a slightly deep (slightly orange) gold in a glass with a finger of off-white foam. The aroma contains a touch of dry euro hops (fuggles?) that give it a fresh greenness and just a hint of the fruitiness rye malt brings as well as some biscuit tones.

The flavour is strongly characterised by rye malt: grain but with a red fruity berry touch, crusty bread, toast, and just a bit more smoky than barley. Cameron's Rye Bock has a tangy bitter finish and a very appetizing aftertaste of rye flavours, some lingering bitterness and umami. This Maibock variant has a bit more hops than you'd expect from a sweeter or darker winter Bock but the hop bitterness is really quite perfect for the style. Specifically the hops character stops short of being resiny: the flavour remains dry and earthy, as well as a mix of herbal and grassy. I think the flavour is perfect for a Maibock, or springtime Bock, and I like this beer quite a bit.

Oktobock (Wild Oats Series #24) - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Oktobock (Wild Oats Series #24) - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 7.0%

A deep gold in a glass, crystal clear with a head of white foam. The aroma is sweet, lightly malty with a distinctly lager yeast touch as well as that dry, lightly spicy hoppiness of Czech or German hops.

Drily bitter and spicy hops continue in the taste but are rounded out beautifully by a robust malty body and also have a slight herbal touch. Touches of caramel, a roast glaze and grain are highlights of a malt character that suits the style perfectly to my taste. Ocktobock's has a bitter finish (again, entirely appropriate) and a malty, roasty aftertaste.

Oktobock is just about exactly what I expect when I drink a Bock: that ineffable lager taste, drily bitter and barely spicy European hops, malty sweetness (an emphasis on roasty, sugary or caramel tasting malt as the brewmaster chooses), a refreshing feel even though the mouthfeel is thicker than a lager and marginally syrupy.

In a way my expectations are a little coloured by the travel time it takes for German bocks to arrive in Canada which can cause the hops to become a bit attenuated. With a beer brewed just outside of Ottawa the blush isn't off the rose, so to speak: the beer is fresh and the hops flavours have more depth and variety. Also since Oktobock is a Maibock interpretation, it is expected to be somewhat more bitter than a Bock or a Helles Bock.

Maibock - Les Trois Mousquetaires (Canada - Quebec - Brossard)

Maibock - Les Trois Mousquetaires (Canada - Quebec - Brossard) 6.8%

Gold and clear in a glass with a fairly quick fading white head. There is some fine sediment at the bottom of the bottle and as long as the beer has been resting for a while most of it will stay there. Although, as you pour out the last drops, the beer in your glass will get cloudy but the flavour does not change noticeably.

A distinctly lager-like aroma plus some dry, European hops tones, grain, a hint of apple-like fruit esters and just a little impression of creamed corn (DMS) and something like the yeast smell of leavening bread.

A surprisingly bitter (though not very bitter) taste. It's only surprising because I didn't pick that up at all in the aroma. Floral and herbal tastes, a little peppery on the tongue, as well as grain and the taste is also a little bit yeasty. There is some sign of the high alcohol content as drinking Maibock certainly warms your chest.

This Maibock by Les Trois Mousquetaires is an excellent example of the style (except for the lack of the mostly superficial resilient head of foam). Maibock, for the record, is brewed in the spring and is essentially a Helles Bock that is brewed to a higher alcohol level.