Chip Off the Old Bock — The American Adaptation of Bock Beer
American-style bock beers date back to the 1800s, when they emerged in every region of the U.S. with a large German population, including Texas, Wisconsin and other places in the Upper Midwest and Pennsylvania. German trained brewers incorporated local ingredients and adapted New World brewing techniques to make beers similar to the ones from their home countries, but that were also economically viable here in the states.
Freedom from the Reinheitsgebot (Germany’s Beer Purity Law), coupled with the relatively high protein content of US 6-row malts and fierce competition, likely drove most to use corn as an adjunct in their beers. For a time, this style flourished as a spring seasonal offering and most national and regional breweries offered a bock beer. As late as the 1970’s, American bocks were still relatively easy to find. As a kid, I remember seeing American bock beers on the shelves and hearing the bogus explanation that it was made from beer “at the bottom of the barrel” when breweries did their “yearly cleaning.” Gradually, however, consumers became less and less interested in this dark beer as American lagers gave way to light American lagers.
If some of this sounds familiar, it’s likely because some aspects of the history of American bocks mirror that of American Pilsners. American Pilsners are, of course, adaptations of Euro-pean Pilsners and also use corn (or rice) as an adjunct. Research by homebrewers Jeff Renner, George Fix and others reveals that American Pilsner beers used to be brewed to higher gravities and hopping rates, especially in the period leading up to and immediately following Prohibition. The homebrew beer style called classic American Pilsner (or CAP) attempts to recreate the American Pilsners of that era. As time went on, breweries lowered the gravity and the bitterness of their flagship brews to suit popular tastes, leaving us with the fizzy, yellow “Pilsners” of today.
It’s tempting to argue that the formulation of American bocks changed over time. Breweries change their formulations all the time to suit popular tastes or to lower production costs. I’d say that the odds are better than good that this happened to American bocks, although I could find no specific information to confirm or deny this.
As a rendition of bock beer, I doubt American bocks were ever highly hopped. However, they may have been substantially bigger in the past. Rather than deal in speculation, however, in this article I’ll deal with “recent” American bocks — the kind available through the sixties and into the seventies and for which at least one surviving example is available.
We can’t taste the diversity among American bocks at the height of their popularity, but most shared a few common features. American bocks were smaller versions of their German counterparts, brewed from a lower starting gravity. Because they used corn as an adjunct, they also finished drier than German bockbiers. Sometimes, these beers were bigger than their brewery’s standard Pilsner, sometimes not. American bocks were darker than standard “American beers,” with some getting their color from a small amount of dark grains in the grist and others by using malt coloring agents.
Although the vast majority of these beers are now extinct, there is one American bock that has survived — Shiner Bock, brewed by the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas. In the 1970s, Shiner Bock was offered as a seasonal. Prior to this it had an on-again, off-again status in the brewery’s lineup of brands. Beer drinkers in Austin, Texas’ unique subculture — a mix of hippies and University of Texas students — adopted Shiner Bock as their own and it began to take off. Since then, Shiner Bock has been upgraded to a year- round offering and is now, by far, the brewery’s leading brand. Production has gone from a few thousand barrels a year to over 300,000. Likewise, Shiner’s distribution has gone from a little slice of Texas back in the 70s to 29, mostly Southern, states today. This example of the once widespread American bock style has not only survived, but is thriving.
A few other breweries have recently reintroduced bock beers into their lineup. The August Schell brewery of New Ulm, Minnesota brewed their first bock in 1860 and offered it as a seasonal for many years. Recently, they have reintroduced a bock — Schell’s Caramel Bock — as a year-round offering. The brewery also hosts a yearly Bockfest. Schell’s bock is, at 5.8% ABV, closer to a German bock in strength, although it is brewed with a bit of corn (6% brewers corn syrup).
The Huber Brewery (of Monroe, Wisconsin) reintroduced Huber Bock in 1988. I don’t know if it contains corn or not, but it starts at an original gravity of 10.75 °Plato (SG 1.043), in line with most American bocks. Likewise, Stevens Point Brewery (of Stevens Point, Wisconsin) reintroduced their Point Spring Bock, which they first brewed in 1938, as a seasonal beer.
Back down south, Anheuser-Busch released Ziegenbock — which the label says is brewed and available only in Texas — to compete directly with Shiner. And of course, numerous brewpubs and microbreweries make bocks, although these are mostly German-style bockbiers. On the other hand, some bock beers — such as Genesee Bock (first brewed in 1878) and Rolling Rock Bock — were recently discontinued by their breweries.
One oddity in the American bock beer landscape is Celis Pale Bock. Originally produced by the Celis Brewery in Austin, Texas and now made by the Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville, Michigan, Celis Pale Bock is a Belgian-style pale ale that is labeled Celis Pale Ale in every state except Texas. This is sometimes attributed to Texas’ crazy beer laws although it is more likely to be a marketing decision. Celis Pale Bock is only 3.9% ABV and much bigger beers are available in Texas and are still labeled as pale ales.
Shiner Bock is, arguably, the standard-bearer of this style. Inarguably, the Spoetzl brewery is much closer to me than the breweries in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, so I went to the Spoetzl to see how they brewed their American bock.
Shiner Bock is an average strength beer, not a big beer like a German bock. Its original gravity (1.044) is about the same as a standard American Pilsner. It’s made with 30% corn grits and you definitely taste the corn mixed in with the malt. There is a definite dark, malty character to the beer, although — once again — it isn’t as malty as its German counterparts. In this article, I’ll show you how to brew a beer like Shiner, or perhaps like the American bock your father or grandfather might have drank.
While at the brewery, I spoke with Peter Koestler — the brewery engineer for Gambrinus, the company that owns the Spoetzl Brewery. Peter received his brewing education in Germany and had a four-month internship at the Paulaner Brewery, cleaning out the Salvator tanks. At the National Homebrew Conference in Dallas in 2002, he spoke on the topic of Texas bocks. Although contractually obligated not to completely spill the beans with regards to Shiner’s brewing ingredients and methods, he was able to answer most of my questions.
Six-Row Malt and Corn
Shiner is brewed with U.S. 6-row malt. They get theirs from Wisconsin, but any American 6-row malt should yield acceptable results.
The Spoetzl Brewery uses around 30% corn grits in Shiner Bock and the grits are mashed using a separate cereal mash. All-grain homebrewers wishing to simplify the process can substitute flaked maize for the corn grits and skip the cereal mash.
Any homebrewer can substitute brewers corn syrup in the kettle for the corn grits, although the corn flavor in the final beer will not be as pronounced. Alternately, extract brewers can use a malt extract produced with both malted barley and corn, as many designed to make homebrewed American Pilsners or Canadian ales are. An original gravity anywhere in low 40’s is what you are shooting for. (Shiner’s original gravity is 11.0 °Plato, SG 1.044.)
Vienna Malt or Munich Malt
Peter couldn’t tell me what other malts Shiner used, although he could say that Munich wasn’t one of them. In their hospitality room, however, a jar of Vienna malt was sitting in their “what our beer is made from” display. For a homebrewer, either Munich or Vienna would work well for this style. Both of these malts lend a malty character to beer although the specific flavors they yield differ slightly. Munich malts — at 10–20 °L — are more highly kilned than Vienna, which is typically rated around 6 °L. About 33% Vienna malt or 25% Munich malt should get you the right level of flavor.
Crystal and Color Malts
Shiner Bock has a light sweetness and a color around 17 SRM. A little crystal malt (60 °L) would help out in the sweetness department and add some color. However, too much will leave too many residual sugars and the resulting beer will not be representative of these fairly dry American lagers. Keep the crystal malt under 0.75 lbs. (0.34 kg) for a 5-gallon (19-L) batch.
For color, Shiner uses a dark specialty malt from Germany and a small amount of black malt powder. Peter Koestler couldn’t say the exact malt, although he could tell me my guess of Weyermann Carafa was wrong. In reality, almost any dark malt — including roasted barley, roasted malt, black patent or maybe even chocolate malt — would work as you only need to add enough for color and a faint hint of dark malt color. Less than an ounce (28 g) of black patent or roasted, or perhaps up to 1.5 ounces (43 g) of chocolate malt, should do the trick for a 5-gallon (19-L) batch.
Lightly Hopped
Walking through the Spoetzl Brewery, Peter and I came to a cold room with boxes of Brewer’s Gold hops stacked to the ceiling. “Guess which hop we use?” he asked. For a Shiner clone, use Brewer’s Gold, but any decent bittering hop would work in a generic American bock as you are shooting for a bitterness level below 20 IBUs. (Shiner is rated at 17 IBUs.) Cluster hops is a good choice as they were long a favorite of American breweries. It’s also the hop that most CAPs are brewed with. Any German noble hop would also be a good choice.
Lager Yeast
Shiner uses a proprietary yeast strain that gives off a moderate amount of sulfur. However, for a “generic” American bock, you have several good choices. Realistically, just about any lager strain could be used, but an Octoberfest strain or White Labs Mexican Lager yeast (WLP940), should work best. There is no historical beer style that is an “ale equivalent” to American bocks. If you cannot maintain proper lager fermentation temperatures, use a lager yeast and accept some extra esters in the beer’s profile.
Step and Cereal Mash
The Spoetzl brewery uses a cereal mash to handle their grits and step mashes Shiner Bock. All-grain homebrewers can choose to follow this procedure (see the first recipe) or they can use flaked maize as their adjunct and skip the cereal mash. Likewise, a single infusion mash around 148–151 °F (64–66 °C) can be used. For an Old-World touch, you could replace the 6-row malt with undermodified Pilsner malt and perform a decoction mash.
Using flaked maize in place of cereal-mashed corn grits will yield a somewhat different, less intense corn flavor in the final beer, but — unless you are specifically trying to clone Shiner — I don’t feel this is such a big deal. Likewise, a single infusion mash will likely yield a less fermentable wort, resulting in a higher final gravity than a beer made with a step mash. However, the difference shouldn’t be that great. Many homebrewers may pick the more convenient options, but — if only to try something that is likely new to you — I would encourage anyone to try the full-on cereal mash.
Fermentation
Most Shiner Bock is fermented in either “3-brew” or “5-brew” fermenters — i.e. the fermenters hold wort from either 3 or 5 wort boils. A small amount is fermented in smaller fermenters in the old part of the brewery. Unless you want to make tons of this beer, there’s no reason to follow this production detail.
Spoetzl ferments Shiner Bock for 10–12 days at 62 °F (17 °C). Once diacetyl has dropped below a certain threshold, the beer is cooled to 33 °F (0.5 °C) for lagering, which lasts for 21 days. For homebrewers, ferment in your yeast strain’s recommended range for about 11 days, then let the beer warm up to around 60 °F (16 °C) for a diacetyl rest. As a beer that starts around a specific gravity of 1.040–1.045, you won’t need to lager this long before it is servable; around 28–35 days should do the trick.
Packaging
Shiner is filtered and blended for consistency, although there’s no reason to do this as a homebrewer. Unlike many regional beers, Shiner is brewed and packaged at working strength, not brewed as a higher gravity base beer and diluted upon kegging or bottling. You could however, easily make 5 gallons (19 L) of wort at around 1.052 and dilute it to six gallons (23 L) at around 1.044 when you package the beer. In the past, many American bocks were assuredly made this way.
If you keg your beer, shoot for 2.5–2.6 volumes of CO2 in the final beer, enough to yield the normal, “American beer” level of carbonation. Homebrewers who bottle-condition should use about 7/8 cup of corn sugar for priming a 5-gallon (19-L) batch.
Is Bock Back?
American bock has a long history and pre-history. The original German bocks were brewed as seasonal offerings for cold-weather sipping. These days — after a century of moderate popularity followed by near-extinction — the most popular brand of American bock is a very quaffable beer that is most popular in warm-weather U.S. states. And only time will tell what changes lie ahead for this beer style.
Flatonia Bock
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.043 FG 1.010
IBU = 17 SRM = 16 ABV = 4.3%
The aptly-named town of Flatonia, Texas is about 20 miles north of Shiner. Like Flatonia, this recipe is “pretty close” to Shiner. This recipe is easily modifiable to make a bigger beer. Another pound (0.45 kg) of 6-row pale malt will yield an OG of 1.048. Two extra pounds (0.90 kg) of 6-row will get you to SG 1.052, about midway between Shiner and a traditional German bock. (If you add extra malt, you will need to add proportionally more water to the mash.)
Ingredients
3.0 lbs. (1.36 kg) 6-row pale malt
3.0 lbs. (1.36 kg) Vienna malt (6 °L)
2.66 lbs. (1.21 kg) corn grits
0.66 lbs. (0.29 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
0.75 oz. (21 g) roasted barley (500 °L)
4.62 AAU Brewer’s Gold hops (0.6 oz./16 g of 8% alpha acids)
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 min)
1/8 tsp yeast nutrient (15 min)
White Labs WLP940 (Mexican Lager) or Wyeast 2247 (European Lager II) yeast (4 qt./4L starter)
7/8 cup corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step
In a large kitchen pot, mix corn grits, 5 oz. (141 g) of the 6-row malt and 3.3 qts. (3.1 L) of 159 °F (71 °C) water to make a cereal mash. Hold cereal mash at 148 °F (64 °C) for 15 minutes. While cereal mash is resting, pour the rest of the grains into your brew kettle and mash in to 140 °F (60 °C). Use about 1.66 gallons (6.3 L) of water for an initially thick mash. Heat the cereal mash to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 30 minutes. After boiling the cereal mash, add it to the main mash and adjust temperature with water to 152 °F (67 °C). This should bring your mash thickness into the normal range. Mash for 45 minutes, then heat mash to 165 °F (74 °C). Stir frequently, and expect the temperature to keep climbing a bit after you shut off the heat. After 5 minutes, transfer to lauter tun. Recirculate until wort is clear, then collect about 5 gallons (19 L) of wort, sparging with water sufficiently hot to keep the grain bed between 165–170 °F (74–77 °C). Add 1.5 gallons of water and boil wort for 90 minutes, adding bittering hops for final 60 minutes. Add yeast nutrient and Irish moss with 15 minutes left in the boil. Cool wort quickly to 54–65 °F (12–18 °C), aerate well and pitch yeast sediment from yeast starter. Ferment at 54 °F (12 °C) for 10–12 days, then let temperature raise to 60 °F (16 °C ) for a diacetyl rest. This should take about 2 days, but taste beer before cooling. Rack beer to secondary fermenter and cool beer to 32–40 °F (0–4.4 °C). Lager for 30–45 days.
Flatonia Bock
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.039–1.043 FG 1.010
IBU = 17 SRM = 16 ABV = 4.3%
Follow the steeping instructions carefully to avoid extracting excess tannins or starch from the grains. (Technically, this is a partial mash, but the procedure is similar to any extract-with-grains beer.)
Ingredients
2.8 lbs. (1.3 kg) Briess light liquid malt extract
1.9 lbs. ( 0.9 kg) brewers corn syrup
0.25 lbs. (0.11 kg) 6-row pale malt
1.0 lbs. (0.45 kg) Munich malt (10 °L)
0.66 lbs. (0.29 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
0.75 oz. (21 g) roasted barley (500 °L)
4.62 AAU Brewer’s Gold hops (0.6 oz./16 g of 8% alpha acids)
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 min)
1/8 tsp yeast nutrient (15 min)
White Labs WLP940 Mexican Lager or Wyeast 2247 European Lager II yeast (at least 2 qt./2L starter)
7/8 cup corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step
Begin by heating 1.75 gallons (6.6 L) of water in your brewpot and 3 quarts (2.8 L) of steeping water in a separate 6–8 qt. (~6–8 L) pot. Place crushed grains in a nylon or muslin steeping bag. When steeping water reaches 169 °F (76 °C), turn off heat and submerge the steeping bag. The temperature of the “steep” should drop to around 158 °F (70 °C). After 30 minutes, or when the temperature of the steeping water falls to 148 °F (64 °C), remove the grain bag. Do not rinse grains with water or squeeze bag. Add “grain tea” from the steeping pot to your brewpot and heat to a boil. Once boiling, shut off heat and stir in malt extract. Heat to a boil again and boil for 60 minutes, adding hops once initial foaming subsides. Add corn syrup for the last 15 minutes of boil, stirring well to avoid scorching. See the all-grain recipe for cooling and fermenting instructions.
