Orange-gold and a bit tipsy
After eight consecutive beers that won’t see the light of day for quite awhile, I finally have another one to try. The Maibock is a very simple beer with only a handful of ingredients. A combination of Pilsner (8.75#) and Munich (4.5#) malt is offset by half an ounce of Magnum hops. The single 60 minute hop addition isn’t meant to add much in the way of flavor or aroma. All that Pilsner required a 90 minute boil and resulted in a 1.079 OG which is a bit above style. We fermented using German bock yeast (WLP833) but it spent a couple weeks at ale temps before there was enough space to get it into the lagering freezer.
Fermentation finished at 1.009 which is a tad dry for style. Over and under shooting the respective gravities translates into a good bit of booze: Beersmith estimates ABV at 9.3%. Alcohol is definitely prominent in the taste although it’s not overly harsh or solventy. There’s just not much for it to hide behind with minimal hop character and not a whole lot of sweetness. Fortunately the unconventional fermentation schedule didn’t result in any sulfide flavors or odors. With a normal spring I think I’d prefer the simple, clean malt flavor to be more prominent but with cool weather stubbornly sticking around that alcohol note elbowing its way to the front is less objectionable. The proper flavor is there it’s just playing second fiddle.