Heller Bock Saphir
Brauerei Hofstetten-Krammer (Hofstettner) in St. Martin im Mühlkreis, Upper Austria, Austria 🇦🇹
Bock - Heller Bock Regular|
Score
6.78
|
|
Behind the dry-hopping and new name lurks the ever-beloved Hofstetten Christmas Bock.
Along with the heathy additions of Magnum, Aurora, and Select in the boil, this bock was also dry-hopped in our lager keller. This means we stuffed as many full-cone hops – fresh from the fields – as we could into a lager tank and filled the rest of the space with our bock beer. The beer was then left to mature for two months before it was once again enriched with hop oils.
To preserve all the wonderful flavors developed during the process, this beer goes directly into bottles without filtration.
Light-golden in color with a mild cloudiness, our Saphir-Bock shimmers tantalizingly in the glass. The floral hop aromas harmonize perfectly with the warm ester notes. When taken to the nose, you may make out hints of mandarin, lychee, and ripe pears. On the tongue, you'll immediately be struck by the full-bodiedness. As it moves back across the palate, the hop notes open up, revealing themselves in all their glory in the finish. The pleasant fruity-bitterness travels up the throat, across the palate, and into the nose, where it is greeted, once again, by the sweet ester notes of the yeast.
This constant play between full-bodied maltiness and floral hoppiness ensures an unforgettable drinking experience.
Along with the heathy additions of Magnum, Aurora, and Select in the boil, this bock was also dry-hopped in our lager keller. This means we stuffed as many full-cone hops – fresh from the fields – as we could into a lager tank and filled the rest of the space with our bock beer. The beer was then left to mature for two months before it was once again enriched with hop oils.
To preserve all the wonderful flavors developed during the process, this beer goes directly into bottles without filtration.
Light-golden in color with a mild cloudiness, our Saphir-Bock shimmers tantalizingly in the glass. The floral hop aromas harmonize perfectly with the warm ester notes. When taken to the nose, you may make out hints of mandarin, lychee, and ripe pears. On the tongue, you'll immediately be struck by the full-bodiedness. As it moves back across the palate, the hop notes open up, revealing themselves in all their glory in the finish. The pleasant fruity-bitterness travels up the throat, across the palate, and into the nose, where it is greeted, once again, by the sweet ester notes of the yeast.
This constant play between full-bodied maltiness and floral hoppiness ensures an unforgettable drinking experience.
Sign up to add a tick or review
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Guess this is the one they had on tap at Főzdefeszt. Courtey of some friends of mattphilips’ and lord_totenkopf’s who shared it with me (thanks!). Poured a hazy brown body with a slow off white head. Mosty grainy nose, not bad, not really hoppy. Seweet malty taste, (illegible), grainy, fruity, no alcohol presence but no real bitterness too. For something that boasts with its’ hoppiness, it’s a WTF. It is, however, a nice beer by all means.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Oct 2011
at 19:07
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle at Maltzilla’s tasting. Pours clear golden color with white head. Bready and slightly fruity aroma with some grassy hops. Similar flavors. Medium body with average carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Aug 2011
at 14:57
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 2
Overall 7.5
Served on draft at Beer Run in Charlottesville, VA, on 3/24/11. Pours a clear golden color with a medium sized creamy head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of pale malts, leafy hops and caramel. The taste is sweet malts, some bready notes, bitter leafy hops, caramel and faint nutty notes. Medium bodied.
Tried
from Draft
on 06 Aug 2011
at 20:28
7.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
16.9 oz bottle $5.99 purchased @ Julio’s Liquors in Westborough, MA. Pored mostly clear, lively carbonation with ½ inch white head. Used a lager glass. Lightly skunky with some hidden malt for the aroma. This brew gets much better as it warms and has a layer of complexity. Has a distinct German malt and hop flavor that is amplified by the dry hopping. Flavor is lightly hoppy, nice grassy notes of the saphir hop, nice solid back bone of malt. I got to say I am pleasantly surprised by this brew. Very light, crisp and refreshing with plenty of flavor. Hops in the finish, but real light bitterness. I will be picking up a few more bottles of this. Delicious!
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Jul 2011
at 10:30
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
Poured on tap at the Brass Tap in Wesley Chapel, FL with hazy deep copper body and tall light tan head. The aroma is chewy sugary sweetness, brown sugar and apples. The taste has some spicy hops, floral hops, some apple like sweetness and sugary malts. It ends with lingering spicy hop bitterness. Interesting beer that doesn’t manage to come together too well.
Tried
from Draft
on 25 Jun 2011
at 17:05
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
500ml bottle. Hazy unfiltered golden-tan. Foamy white head. Nice noble hop and sweet pungent fruit laced aroma. Really clean mouthfeel despite the strength and complexity. This beer is quite phenomenal, the heavy hopping is quite refreshing. Sweet, sugary, golden malt backbone. Creamy, yeasty, smooth mouthfeel, well balanced by the hops. Full bodied, but very drinkable. Superb, world class example.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Jun 2011
at 23:10
6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Whole Foods Market, DC 500ml ($6): Pours a slightly hazy golden color with a white head; you can tell that it in unfiltered. Aroma of hops hops, fruit, sugar, and sniff of booze. The first thing I will talk about is whether or not the beer successfully covers the alcohol, which is a consistent failing of Heller Bocks: it does, so at least on those grounds this is a better beer than Holsten Maibock. There is a good amount of hops and as some other people have noted, this is an over-hopping iteration of this style. However, I don’t think that it is well balanced. There are some off flavors in there, and even a tiny bit of booze as it warms up. Not my favorite, although I knew that before I bought it, but I still did.
Tried
from Can
on 12 May 2011
at 06:42
6.3/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle. Pours clear gold. White head. Nose of lager malt and corn. Taste of light honey, lager malt and corn. Medium body. Crisp and smooth.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Mar 2011
at 21:49
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle from Oak Tree. Pours light amber with a creamy white head. Nice floral aroma above mild breadiness. Med body. Flavor is moderately bready, and the floral hoppiness is augmented by something just a little spicey. Drinks very nicely. Finishes bitter and somewhat astringent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Mar 2011
at 17:02
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Pour is a cloudy orange with a large white head. Aroma is dry grainy malts with a little lemon in there. Flavor is start out with a dry almost pils malt then some citrus hops show up after the swallow. Finish leaves a little honey on the tounge. Very flavorful and seems really fresh.
Tried
on 16 Feb 2011
at 16:37