Steve Koenemann

Beers of Spring

All around you can begin to see signs of the impending end of the long Vermont winter. While this has been a comparatively mild winter, by Vermont standards, the cold, the cloudiness and the shorter days wear on you after a few months. Lately we have been experiencing warmer weather (it always amazes me how warm 45 feels at this time of year), the snow is beginning to give way to bare ground on the south-facing slopes and the annual maple sugar run has begun in earnest. March, historically, is still a month of mighty snowstorms for us, but I believe that we are beginning to see the light at the end of the long winter tunnel. There, I feel better already.

As spring arrives, so do the beers more appropriate to the season; a return of beers more suited to the warmer weather and a transition between the heavy/alcoholic beers of winter and the much lighter beers of summer. Traditionally these spring beers have included some of the broad category German bockbiers, but also include a number of other beers (depending upon which “expert” you choose to believe); Belgian wits and other wheat beers of various types, fruit beers, Saisons and stouts seem to round out everyone’s list.

Bavarian brewers are famous for their “beer for every season” approach to beer making and there is, in truth, a bockbier for every season except summer. Most bocks are lagers (top-fermented weizenbocks are ales), tend to be darker in color, quite malty and can run anywhere from around 6% ABV to more than 24% ABV; as evidenced by the Utopias Dopplebock by the Boston Beer Company. Typically produced in the fall, when barley and hops are plentiful, these beers are then stored or “lagered” for longer periods of time to produce the mellow drinkability that they are famous for. The types of bock most commonly associated with the spring season are the dopplebocks and the maibocks.

• As the story goes, the hearty dopplebock beers were originally produced by the Paulaner monks around Munich to sustain them during their Lenten fast leading up to Easter. These monk-produced brews first became available commercially about 1780 and were readily embraced by the German beer-loving public. As with this original dopplebock, which these monks called “Salvator”, many names of dopplebocks end in “-ator”. Dopplebocks, literally “double bocks”, tend to be higher in alcohol than their regular cousins, but retain their intense, malt-focused flavors; without much hop bitterness or hop flavor. Examples of dopplebocks would be Ayinger Celebrator, Thomas Hooker Liberator and Brooklyn Brooklynator.
• Maibocks, literally “May bock” and also known as Frühlingsbock (Springtime bock) or Helles/Heller bock, tend to be much lighter in color (almost blonde) and more highly hopped than the traditional bocks. Maibocks are truly a transitional beer which fit nicely in between the winter Starkbier (“strong beer”) season and the summer season when the Helles and Weissbier style beers return to the liter steins of the beer gardens. Examples of maibocks would be Smuttynose Maibock, Rogue Dead Guy Ale and the new Sierra Nevada Glissade Golden Bock.

There are other beers that are considered to be “spring beers”, either because they follow the German tradition of changing seasons or simply because that is when the brewer releases them annually.

• Stouts, Irish stouts in particular, are included in springtime beers mostly due to their association with the March St. Patrick’s Day celebration. These Irish or “dry” stouts typically are very dark in color and lower in both hopping level and gravity than most of their American cousins. Traditional examples would be Guinness Draught and Murphy’s Irish Stout.
• Spiced beers, such as Belgian Wits and ginger beers, are associated with spring due to their lighter character and the wake-up call for the senses that they provide. This is not dissimilar to the higher hopping level of the German maibocks, which is intended to break one out of the winter doldrums. Examples of these might include Avery White Rascal or Long Trail Brewmaster Series Winter White.
• From my experience, most of the fruit beers that appear to be associated with springtime seem to be simply a matter of release timing from the breweries. I sure that the same reasoning as for the spiced beers could be applied, but I found no such references. A good (and delicious) example of this would be Dogfish Head Aprihop which comes available in March and April every year.

Whatever your excuse, use the harbinger of spring to break away from the traditional winter brews you have been drinking and find something new, fresh and different to brighten up your world. After all, spring only comes once a year and if you are like me, you see that as the perfect opportunity to find great beer rather than simply a return to warmer weather.

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