5A - Maibock and Helles Bock

Maibock and Helles Bock are beers which were brewed for the transition between the severe winters and long hot summers in Bavaria. Most beer in Bavaria is seasonal in nature and the differences between the seasons are usually drastic. The Maibock, which literally means May Bock, is brewed only with pale malts and may be aggressively hopped. It is usually a warm golden color with a refreshing finish. The Maibock still has 6 to 7% alcohol like the winter bocks, but is much brighter and the bitterness portends the coming of summer where the straw blond Helles takes over.

In German "Hell" is an adjective for light and Helles is a noun, usually used to indicate "a light one". But in Germany, light has a different connotation than in America. In Germany, light is used to describe the color only and not its alcohol content or the calories. So you'll find that the Helles Bock is a very light beer in color with the typical bock strength in alcohol and flavor. The term Helles Bock or Heller Bock is basically a synonym for Maibock.

The two beers Maibock and Helles Bock are combined in the BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines since they are essentially the same beer.

• Aroma: The malt aroma is moderate to strong with lots of toasty notes and some melanoidins. The hop aroma is low and may be absent altogether, but when present is spicy from the noble German hops used. It is clean with no diacetyl and very low to no fruity esters should be evident. You may notice a spiciness from the alcohol and it may have a light DMS aroma from the continental pils malt used in brewing these beers.
• Appearance: The Maibock and Helles Bocks range from a deep gold to light amber in color. The beers are very clear with a large persistent white head.
• Flavor: Flavors of malt with some toasty and/or melanoidin notes dominate. There should be little to no caramel flavors. It is possible to get some light DMS from the pils malt but it is still a clean beer with no diacetyl and no fruity esters. The hop flavor can range from none to moderate. The alcohol and/or hop flavors will be noticed as slightly spicy or peppery and the hop bitterness is moderate although there is more hop bitterness in these beers than in the other bocks. These beers are well attenuated which gives them a bright not often found in the other bocks, and th finish is dry. The hop flavor may linger into the finish which balances the maltiness. You will never find a cloying example of a Helles Bock or Maibock.
• Mouthfeel: Maibock and Helles Bocks are medium bodied beers which have a moderately high carbonation. They are lagers which means they are smooth and clean with no astringency or harshness. This can sometimes be difficult to accomplish with the higher hop bitterness. Since these beers have the alcohol strength of a standard bock, there may be some warming sensation noticed.

• Overall Impression: The Maibock and Helles Bock is a clean pale lager with higher alcohol than most other pale lagers. There is a rich bready or grainy malt character evident and may even be some toasted notes in some examples. There is sometimes some residual sweetness from the base malt which is rounded out by the higher hop bitterness.
• Comments: Some beer drinkers consider this a Munich Helles brewed to bock strength. This is a very close analogy since the Maibock and Helles Bock is just as malty as other bocks but usually lacks the darker malt notes. Since this beer is brewed to transition into the long hot days of summer, and the long cool nights of drinking in the biergardens, it may be drier and display more hop bitterness and flavor than traditional bocks which are brewed for the cold season. The BJCP guidelines notes that although most believe the beers are the same, that the Maibock is usually brewed to the upper limits of the style for a "fest" style of beer and that any fruitiness evident comes from the Munich malt and not from yeast.
• Ingredients: The base malt is usually Pils, Vienna, or a combination of both with some Munich malt for complexity. The hops are noble varieties. If you want to brew this beer, use a softer water profile to avoid the harshness associated with sulfates (permanent hardness). Use a clean German lager yeast. Traditionally, Maibocks and Helles Bocks were decocted but boiled to a lesser degree to minimize the color.
• Vital Statistics: OG: 1.064 - 1.072 FG: 1.011 - 1.018 IBUs: 23 - 25 SRM: 6 - 11 ABV: 6.3 - 7.4%
• Commercial Examples: Ayinger Maibock, Mahr’s Bock, Hacker-Pschorr Hubertus Bock, Capital Maibock, Einbecker Mai-Urbock, Hofbräu Maibock, Victory St. Boisterous, Gordon Biersch Blonde Bock, Smuttynose Maibock.

References: Information for this page was adapted from the 2008 BJCP Style Guidelines, the pages on Maibock and Bockbier from The German Beer Institute, The German Beer Portal for North America, and Brewing Classic Styles, 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew, by Jamil Zainasheff and John J. Palmer.

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