Frankenmuth Winter Bock

Brewed By: Frankenmuth Brewery in Frankenmuth, Michigan 

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Frankenmuth Brewery in Michigan; 2012

Style/ABV: Dunkler Bock, 7.0%

My lovely girlfriend was kind enough to pick up tonight's beer while she was vacationing in Michigan. 

The Frankenmuth brewery is touted as one of the "oldest breweries in Michigan." John Matthias Falliers founded Frankenmuth's first brewery in 1857, while cousins William Knaust and Martin Heubisch opened the Cass River Brewery just north of the Falliers' brewery in 1862, where the current Frankenmuth Brewery stands today. The Cass River Brewery was purchased by Johann Geyer in 1874, and renamed to Geyer's Brothers Brewing Co. for the next 112 years. Ferdinand "Fred" Schumacher purchased the brewery in 1987, before a fire destroyed most of the brewery. In 1990, Randall E. Heine took over the brewery. By 1996, the brewery was producing more than 30,000 barrels annually, and distributed across 25 states. At this point, an F3 tornado hit the facility causing millions of dollars of damage. The Frankenmuth Brewing Company continues to operate to this day. For more information, check out their website.

Tonight's beer, the Winter Bock, is a Dark/Dunkler Bock. From the German beer institute:

"There are several traditional types of Bockbier, each with its typical color and strength, which seems to vary almost in rhythm with the season. With the arrival of frost and the shortening of days in early December, the soul needs something more nourishing then a blond lager, especially after a frigid day of shopping for Christmas presents. Weihnachtsstarkbier (Christmas Bockbier), which is popular in the south of Germany, is often a darker version of the regular Bock. Sometimes it is also called a Dunkles or Dunkler Bock. In addition to the rich malty finish, these rewarding Yuletide brews have a slightly chocolatey taste from the addition of some roasted malts." 

The Winter Bock is described as being "rich in character," with malty sweet, full bodied notes of chocolate and caramel. Clocking in at 7.0% and 24 IBUs, this is a beer that can certainly stand up to winter weather. It's not quite winter, but it is certainly fall. So let's glass this, and see how it holds up.

Frankenmuth Winter Bock

The beer pours a mahogany/copper/caramel color, with 3-fingers of copper-tinted head. This is a transparent beer, as you would expect, with some carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles rising upwards. The beer looks about the same in bright light, and head retention is pretty solid with a lingering centimeter coating.

The aroma is malty and clean, with lots of big bready aromas, big caramel, slight grain, slight nuttiness, and a hint of clean hops/pine. I'm sort of reminded of Goose Island's Christmas Ale, as I'm smelling some pinenuts. There are some hints of toffee in the aroma, as well as some toasted notes. Overall, a sweet, clean, malty aroma.

The taste is surprisingly crisp and clean for 7.0%, with that Lager crispness. Up front are sweet caramel malts and bready notes. You get some light hop crispness and pine in the mid palate, along with some more sweet malts. The back end is nutty, malty, and toasted. There's slight hints towards a fruity note or some Twizzlers, but it never quite hits that. Maybe apple and pear? Mostly sweet malts.

This has great palate depth, low complexity, and has a medium-full body. It still has a lightness about it that is characteristic to the style, and at 7.0%, you can definitely drink this fairly easily. It's a good beer for a cold day, and maybe even better for an Autumn evening. This has malts up front, a crisp middle, and a nice malty finish. It's not dry so much as crisp and malty, with a slight density/heaviness on the finish. And it is slightly warming.

Rating: Average 

 

I'm feeling a strong Average on this. This is pretty standard stuff, but it's solid standard stuff. There's a slight astringency on the finish, but that might just be something inherent to the style. Overall though, this is a good beer from Frankenmuth, and something I would pick up to support my local brewery if I lived in Frankenmuth. Definitely a late Autumn, early Winter beer. Check it out.