Thus sings the sassy Lady Guinevere in Lerner’s and Loewe’s famous ditty from the musical Camelot, the 1960 Broadway hit. Indeed, May can be a wicked month in the Continental climate of Bavaria, where Maibock (literally May-bock) was invented. Bavaria is Germany’s southern-most state, with the Alps as a backdrop.

The month of May in this region is the brief season of spring, between the last thaw and the first bloom. In Bavaria, winters are long and severe, and summers are long and hot. Springtime passes by in just a flash, with the frozen dreariness of winter — a time for heavy sipping brews — not quite a fading memory, but the tantalizing promise of summer already in the air.

The Bavarians call the time for bockbiers Starkbierzeit (strong beer season), which lasts for about six months. The first bockbiers after the new grain and hops harvest come out towards the end of November, when the weather often takes a quick turn for the worse. Bockbiers start at around 6% alcohol. By comparison, “normal” blond lagers in Bavaria — and just about anywhere else — tend to have an alcohol by volume level of about 4.5–5.2%. Bockbiers get progressively stronger during the season, escalating to a wine-like peak of 9% ABV or more (in Doppelbock and Eisbock) during Lent. Bocks then begin declining again to 6% towards the end of Starkbierzeit in May, with Maibock being the last of the bock styles.

Bockbiers also change their color during “Starkbier” season. As a general rule, they start out deep amber in the fall, turn progressively darker as the weather gets colder and then become lighter again. Maibock is the palest of the Bavarian bockbiers. Therefore, it is also often called Helles or Heller Bock (light bock).

What beer could be more fitting for that transitional time of year than a Maibock? It is still too chilly to just laze about outside in a beer garden, but it is already too bright to continue to hide indoors.

For that restless time of year, when ev’ryone goes blissfully astray, the Bavarians have created their Maibock, a beer hall brew that is still belly-warming but already gives the drinker a libelous display of an easier time to come. Maibock is as schizophrenic a brew as spring is a schizophrenic season in southern Germany. It combines — in a unique blend — the strength of a powerful winter brew with the bright color and refreshing hoppiness of a summer session beer. Also known as Frühlingsbock (spring time bock), Maibock is a happy marriage, in both grain bill composition and flavor, between a bockbier and a Helles. Thus it is just right for that gorgeous holiday that is May.

Maibock profile

Though Maibock is a transitional beer, brew-technically it is still a true bock. This means the brew needs plenty of aging. If you want to drink your Maibock during the lusty month of May, therefore, as you are supposed to, you must brew it no later than March.

The minimum OG for a Maibock is 1.060 (15 ºP), but most Maibocks are around 1.064 (16 ºP) and tend to finish at approximately 1.014 (3.5 ºP) for approximately 6.8% ABV. Because the Maibock is already a precursor to the paler and hoppier brews of summer, its hop bitterness and hop flavor are slightly more pronounced than those of the bockbiers served during the depth of winter. Noble Bavarian hop varieties, such as Hallertauer or Hersbrucker, are obligatory for this brew.

Maibock, like all bocks, has a substantial body. Malty sweetness predominates from start to finish, in both flavor and aroma. Unlike the darker bockbier versions, however, there must be no toasted chocolate malt character. The base for a Maibock is standard Bavarian Pils malt. For mouthfeel, you can use pale caramel malt as well as Vienna or Munich malts. The last two also give the Maibock its color.

In the recipe on page 19, I have selected a grain bill of roughly 55% Pils malt (~ 1.5 ºL) roughly 30% light caramel malt (~ 1.5 ºL) and roughly 15% light Munich malt of (~ 8 ºL). This grain bill produces a Maibock with a beer color of about of 5.6 SRM.

Though most commercial Maibocks are within a narrow range of this color value, some breweries prefer to keep their Maibocks almost as dark as their fall or winter bocks. For a slightly darker Maibock, therefore, you can compose a grain bill of about 80% Vienna malt and about 10% each Carafoam® and Carared®. This grain bill produces a beer color in the 9-SRM range.

For yeast, any Bavarian lager yeast will do. Because a Maibock is at the bottom edge of the high-gravity category, be sure to pitch only viable yeast. It is best to make a starter. Alternatively, if you want to play it safe, you can pitch two packs rather than one.

Decoction vs. infusion

In Bavaria, all bockbiers, including the Maibock, are still brewed by the time-honored, laborious and energy-intensive decoction method, even though modern grains no longer make decoction a necessity. Supporters of the decoction method argue that the beer’s maltiness increases if it is decoction instead of infusion-mashed.

I subjectively believe that the quality of the grain is more important for maltiness than the mashing method. You cannot coax maltiness out of cheap, poorly malted grain even if you boil the hell out of it. Conversely, superior malt will always make a malty brew even if the wort derives only from infusion mashing. In my experience, decoction has one advantage: I usually get greater extract efficiency from a decoction mash than from an infusion mash, especially when the grain bill is as heavy as it is for a bock.

Apart from such practical considerations, however, perhaps the best argument for decoction is the intangible factor of tradition, that is, the ritual of doing things the way they have always been done, before modernity. I know that tradition is the principal reason why many commercial brew masters in Bavaria still decoct all their bocks.

For all-grain homebrewers, therefore, I have included two sets of mashing instructions, a standard one for infusion and one for decoction. If you’ve got the time and inclination, by all means try your hand at decoction.

Extract Maibock tips

Theoretically, you need approximately 8.9 pounds (~4 kilograms) of liquid malt extract (LME) as a substitute for the 11 pounds (~ 5 kilograms) of total grist in the all-grain recipe. The best choice by far for all-extract brewers is a liquid malt extract (LME) specially formulated to make a Maibock version that is at the darkish end of the color spectrum: Some Bavarian Maibock LMEs make a brew of approximately 9 SRM.

Luckily some products come in a 4-kilogram (~ 8.8-pound) jerry can, which, in practice, is close enough to our theoretical LME requirements. If this Maibock LME is not available where you shop, you can replace it with a combination of 7.4 pounds (~ 3.4 kg) of Pils LME (such as a Bavarian Pils) and 1.4 pounds (~ 0.6 kg) of amber lager LME (such as a Munich amber).

Extract-plus-grain brewers, too, can conveniently use one entire jerry can of Bavarian Pils LME when substituting the Pils grist for the all-grain recipe. Note that the amount of LME specified in the extract-plus-grain recipe is calculated on the assumption that there is no contribution to gravity from the steeped grain. Check the gravity at the end of the boil, therefore, and liquor the wort down with cold water if necessary. On the other hand, if your OG is slightly higher than specified, don’t worry. A Maibock may go as high as 7% in the alcohol-by-volume department without violating its stylistic guidelines.


Horst Dornbusch writes Style Profile in each issue of BYO.


Maibock by the numbers

OG    . 1.060–1.070
FG    usually about 1.014 )
SRM    usually 4.5–6
IBU   20–35
ABV   6–7%


The Lusty Bock of May
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.064  FG = 1.016   
IBU = 25  SRM = 8  ABV = 6.2%

Ingredients

6 lbs. (3.4 kg) Pils malt (~ 1.5 ºL)
3.25 lbs. (1.47 kg) light caramel malt (~ 1.5 ºL)
1.75 lbs. (0.9 kg) light Munich malt (~ 8 ºL)
6.75 AA Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops
    (1.7 oz./48 g at 4% alpha acid)
1 oz. (28 g) Hersbrucker (flavor/aroma)
1 package Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager),
    Wyeast 2308 (Munich Lager),
    White Labs WLP838 (Southern German Lager),
    or White Labs WLP920 (Old Bavarian Lager) yeast
1 cup corn sugar or dried malt extract (for priming)

Step by Step (infusion mash)

Dough in at about 135 ºF (57 ºC) and let the mash rest for 30 minutes. Then infuse the mash with near-boiling water, while stirring to avoid hot spots, to reach a mash temperature of about 145 ºF (63 ºC) for a 20-minute rest. Repeat the infusion to raise the mash temperature to about 160 ºF (71 ºC) for another 20-minute rest. Start sparging with near-boiling water until the mash temperature is at 172 ºF (78 ºC). Then reduce the sparge temperature to the mash-out temperature. Stop the sparge when the kettle gravity is at about 1.050 (12 ºP). Boil for 90 minutes. Evaporation losses should raise the density of the wort to the target original gravity of 1.064 (16 ºP). Add the bittering hops about 20 minutes and the aroma hops about 70 minutes into the boil.

After shut-down let the wort rest about 15 to 20 minutes so the trub can settle. Then heat-exchange the wort to a fermentation temperature of roughly 50 ºF (10 ºC). Next, aerate the cool wort and pitch yeast. Allow about two weeks for primary fermentation. Rack the brew when the gravity has dropped to about 1.028 (7 ºP).

Allow another week or two for secondary fermentation, until the gravity is terminal (about 1.014 or 3.5 ºP). Raise fermented brew’s temperature to room temperature for a two-day diacetyl rest. Then pull the temperature down incrementally by about 2 ºF (1 ºC) per day until it is as cold as your equipment or circumstances allow (slightly below freezing is best) and lager the beer for about 4 weeks. After a final racking, add the conditioning agent and package. Store cool for at least another four weeks to let the brew fully mature.

Decoction instructions

If you wish to try a decoction Maibock, skip the first paragraph of the infusion mash instructions. Instead produce your wort as follows: Mix the milled grain with approximately 4 gallons (roughly 15 L) of water at 145 ºF (63 ºC). This should result in a mash-in temperature of 135 ºF (57 ºC).

Let the mash rest for 30 minutes. Ladle about 1.3 gallons (5 L) of the mash into a pot and heat it (while stirring occasionally to avoid scorching) to 160 ºF (71 ºC). Let the decoction rest at this temperature for 15 minutes. Then raise temperature to bring the mash to a boil. Cook the decoction for 15 minutes. Return the boiled portion of the mash to the main mash and mix thoroughly. This should raise the temperature of the main mash to about 145 ºF (63 ºC). Let the entire mash rest for another 20 minutes. Repeat the decoction, only this time with 2 gallons (7.5 L) of mash. This should raise the main mash temperature to about 160 ºF (71 ºC). Again, let the mash rest for 20 minutes. Repeat the decoction for a third time, with about 1.5 gallons (5.7 L) of the main mash. This should raise the main mash temperature ready for lautering at 172 ºF (78 ºC). Sparge with 172 ºF (78 ºC) water until the kettle gravity is about 1.050 (12 ºP) for a 90-minute boil. Evaporation losses should raise the density of the wort to the target original gravity of 1.064 (16 ºP). After shutdown, continue as outlined in the second paragraph of the instructions for infusion mashing above.

The Lusty Bock of May
(5 gallons/19 L, extract plus grain)
OG = 1.064   FG = 1.016   
IBU = 25  SRM = 9  ABV = 6.2%

Ingredients

6.45 lbs (2.9 kg) Pils liquid malt extract
    (such as Weyermann Bavarian Pils)
3.25 lbs. (1.5 kg) light caramel malt (~ 1.5 ºL)
1.75 lbs. (~ 0.8 kg) light Munich malt (~ 8 ºL)
6.75 AA Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops
    (1.7 oz/48 g at 4% alpha acid)
1 oz. (28 g) Hersbrucker (flavor/aroma)
1 package Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager),
    Wyeast 2308 (Munich Lager),
    White Labs WLP838 (Southern German Lager)
    or White Labs WLP920 (Old Bavarian Lager)
1 cup corn sugar or dry malt extract for priming

Step by Step

Mill the specialty malt coarsely and divide it equally into three muslin bags. Place these in at least two gallons of cold water and raise the temperature slowly, for about half an hour, until it reaches 170–190 ºF (77–88 ºC). At this point bubbles should start to pearl up in the liquid, but the pot must not boil! Lift the bags out of the steeping liquid and rinse them with several cups of cold water. Do not squeeze them. Discard the spent grain. Turn off the heat, and stir in the canned extract. Fill the kettle and bring the wort to a boil. Add the bittering hops and continue with the rest of the instructions for the all-grain recipe.  


The Lusty Bock of May
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.064  FG = 1.016   
IBU = 25  SRM = 9  ABV = 6.2%

Ingredients

9.66 lbs. (4.4 kg) Weyermann Bavarian
    Maibock liquid malt extract
6.75 AA Hallertauer Mittelfrüh (1.7 oz or ~50 g at 4% alpha acid)
1 oz. (28 g) Hersbrucker (flavor/aroma)
1 package Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager),
    Wyeast 2308 (Munich Lager),
    White Labs WLP838 (Southern German Lager),
    or White Labs WLP920 (Old Bavarian Lager)
1 cup corn sugar or dry malt extract for priming

Step by Step

Mix the malts with your hot brewing liquor in the kettle. Bring the wort to a boil and add the Hallertauer Mittelfrüh bittering hops. Continue with the hop schedule, adding the Hersbrucker flavor/aroma hops, then continue with the instructions for the all-grain recipe.