May 13, 2021

Welcome Spring with a Maibock

Turn Your Spent Grain into Savory, Heart-Healthy Pretzels

While Oktoberfest may reign as the popular occasion to drink German beer, the Bavarian region blesses us with another seasonal beer to enjoy in the other half of the year. Brewed in Fall for Spring, the Maibock style is a stronger version of the German Helles or “light-colored” beer (aka Heller Bock.) Truly nothing announces warm weather like craft beer’s golden lagers.

Our Maypole Maibock Lager Beer Recipe Kit is a nod to the delicious German beer style known for its clean, crisp, malty-sweet notes and a touch of deep toast. Typically brewed in Fall or Winter and left to ferment for a few months, this style once favored brewers with patience - but those days are over. If you’re looking to brew against the clock, skip the lager yeast we usually recommend with our kit and separately order one of the options below to enjoy the sweet, grainy pilsner malt with low bitterness in significantly less time than a traditional Maibock.

Buy our Maypole Maibock Lager Beer Recipe Kit.

What the Helles is a Faux Bock?

Rather than waiting the full 8 weeks, you can use a few lager workarounds to create a “faux bock” in a few different ways, using:

  • Omega Yeast OYL-071 LutraTM Kveik - shockingly clean Ale strain with unrivaled speed (when pitched at 90* F - perfect for brewing a refreshing pseudo-lager without the lead time of a lager
  • Clean Ale Yeast strains, such as American/Chico - making sure to keep the temperature low during fermentation to suppress esters for the cleanest possible beer
  • Kolsch Yeast

Check out our video "Behind the Brew: Maypole Maibock Lager". Our Head R&D Brewer, Brad Segall, dives into our recipe kit with his tips for success - even if you can’t do a true lager process.