Darryl Richman - Bock

DARRYL RICHMAN

A Brewers Publications Book

Bock

Darryl Richman

Classic Beer Style Series

Edited by Anne Higman

Technical Edit by Charlie Papazian

Copyright 1994 by Darryl Richman

ISBN 978-0-937381-39-7

ISBN 978-1-938469-56-5 (e-book)

Published by Brewers Publications, Inc.

a division of the Brewers Association

PO Box 1679, Boulder, Colorado 803061679 USA

Tel. (303) 447-0816; BrewersAssociation.org

Direct all inquiries/orders to the above address.

All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.

Neither the author, editor, nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for the use or misuse of information contained in this book.

Cover design by Robert L. Schram

Cover photography foreground by Michael Lichter, Michael Lichter Photography

Cover photography background by Galen Nathanson

Cover art direction by Marilyn Cohen

Thanks to Rastal GmbH for donating the cover-photo glass

I dedicate this book to the fond memory of my grandparents, Joseph and Sarah Tauber, whose love and support are deeply missed.

No man is an island; no book has a single author. I can point to seminal events and associations that have brought me along the steps of this hobby, and which allowed me to lead the authorship of this book. My friend Jeff Clark, a liquor department stock clerk while we were at college, pointed the way. Mike and Nadine Malcolm gave me my first taste of homebrew and allowed me to watch them at work. Kevin Haley and I together brewed my first batch. Ron and Pat Guentzler urged me to take the next steps to mashing and yeast culture. The Maltose Falcons and the Brews Brothers have kept this hobby exciting, fulfilling, and fun for more than seven years.

Bock could not have come about without the help and encouragement of the professionals who make the brewing industry a community. I have boundless depths of gratitude for the information and inspiration provided by Dr. George Fix. Professor Dr. Anton Piendl, of the Technical University of Munich in Weihenstephan, set me on the right track in many ways; this book is significantly dependent on his research results. I am indebted to Bill Siebel for extensive use of his library at the Siebel Institute in Chicago. Herr Inselkammer of Brauerei Aying graciously opened the doors to his brewery and allowed me to pester his brewmaster; Charles Finkel provided the connection and allowed me access to his library. Marty Velas, brewmaster at Southern California Brewing Company of Torrance, California, offered his insight to bock beer.

Randy Mosher, Dr. Bob Technical, has cast a wide net over the brewing literature and was happy to share his catch. I thank Martin Lodahl for long discussions of homebrewing over the Internet. He would not let me get away with less than my best writing effort. Scribe Bro Rob Nelson helped by reviewing the text and keeping my spirits up. Fritz and Christine Gerneth graciously facilitated my research in Munich.

Elizabeth Gold at Brewers Publications got me into this, and then helped me to get out again. Her patience is immeasurable.

My wife Heather helped translate the German texts that I needed to understand.

All of the recipes were composed on The Brewers Planner, a recipe formulation and brew logging tool.

Darryl Richman was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley suburbs of Los Angeles, California. He is 36 years old and lives with his wife Heather and their miniature zoo in Bellevue, Washington. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from California State University at Northridge, and is employed as a computer programmer.

Long a fan of exotic beers from all over the world, his interest in brewing began with an extract-and-grain adjunct batch of beer he helped to brew with his brother- and sister-in-law in 1985. After joining the Maltose Falcons and brewing with extracts, he progressed to yeast cultures and then on to all-grain.

His second batch took a first-place award at a local competition, and he has gone on to win ribbons in many competitions in the West. He has won first-place awards at both the AHA and the HWBTA national competitions and at the Dixie Cup super regional.

Since passing the BJCP exam in 1988, he has attained the National Judge level. Active in helping others learn to judge, he proctors exams and gives preparatory classes.

He wrote for, and eventually became editor of, Brews & News, the Maltose Falcons monthly newsletter. His articles have also been published in the pages of zymurgy , Beer and Brewing series books, Brewing Techniques, and The Celebrator.

He has developed a number of computer-based brewing aids, and is currently president of The Crafty Fox, which develops and sells The Brewers Planner, a recipe formulation and batch logging tool.

Besides beer and companionship, Darryl enjoys riding his motorcycle, playing racquetball, hiking, and computer hacking.

I didnt enjoy my first taste of Bock beer...

I distinctly remember how my friend Jeff asked me and our circle of friends to help him develop his beer bottle collection. Having recently come of age, we happily complied, taking an interest in all of the strange, imported beers that we were newly allowed to purchase. Most of them were variants on the familiar Pilsener theme, some more sweet and some more bitter. One of the bottles that happened to come my way was EKU 28, certainly one of the most potent beers available. Being young and foolish, I poured this beer out and took a healthy slug. The results were as predictable as they were unpleasant. I looked over the label, reading it carefully, so that I could avoid this kind of beer in the future.

I soon discovered, however, that this wasnt the only kind of Bock beer available. One sunny spring day, my roommates came home from the supermarket with their newest findPabst Bock.

We had already discarded the oxymoron, good American beer. The concepts American industrial brew and a strong, thick beer, did not intersect in my mind. I was fairly perplexed, and somewhat intrigued, to see that one of the giants was putting out something like that strange stuff I had first tried.

It turned out that Pabst Bock was not like the EKU, except perhaps in color. It seemed to be just another marketing gimmickit was much like their standard product, colored dark and a bit sweeter. Still, one had to admit that the caramel color and flavor lent more interest to the regular Pabst, and now it seemed evident that Bock beer must have a range, from sweet and watery to huge and cloying. I figured there must be some middle ground in there that I could appreciate. No longer afraid of the appellation, I cautiously set out on the road to trying various beers.

Bock beer has had a long, and generally unexplored history. It has traveled about a bit, and has changed considerably since its origins in the 13th century. It has had moments of celebration and centuries of fame.

The Germans have codified Bock and Doppelbock into their law, as subtypes of starkbier (strong beer). Until recently, any beer intended for sale in the German market had to be brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot (the famous Beer Purity law). In 1989 though, a Common Market Court declared that Germany could not use the law to keep out non-conforming beers from other Common Market countries. As a result, countries belonging to the Common Market can sell beers in Germany without complying with the purity law. German brewers and countries not belonging to the Common Market, however, must continue to comply. The Reinheitsgebot states that beer must be made from the classic four ingredients: malted barley or wheat, hops, water, and yeast. (Exceptions are made for processing agents like water salts.)