Show #3: The Big Damn Bock Show
Prebeer Preamble: Move over you chocolate bunnies and sugary peeps, bock beer is in town to show you what being a spring-related consumable is all about! And while were at it, let’s upgrade to doppelbocks!
Beer 1: Paulaner Salvator. Eric joins me yet again, and our first bock is the orignator of the dopplebock style. Is its reputation hooey, or is it a world renowned beer for a reason?
Interbeer Interlude: Burpin’ Legends: “Bottom of the Barrel” Some say bock beers are made from the dregs scraped out of the fermenters when brewers do their spring cleaning. Getting to the bottom of this legend leads to some very disgusting places indeed.
Beer 2: Urbock 23, from Eggenberg Germany’s Castle Brewery. The birds are twirping, we’ve caught a happy little buzz, and then Eric and I reach for a big gothic freaky beer. Will our afternoon recover?
Beer Geek Moment: “Specific Gravity”. Everything you ever wanted to know about this technical bit of brewspeak, with only a little math.
Postbeer Postscript: Will our ratings favor the old stand-by, or will the beefy Austrian bust in, Ah-noldlike, and win the day?
April 23rd, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Charlie, you deserve a medal. Having known brewers before, I know what that muck smelled like. But I never had the cajones to actually try and taste it!
I liked the specific gravity bit and it seems funny that something so simple can also be so complex
Enjoyed the show, and keep ‘em coming.
Karen
April 23rd, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Thanks, Karen. I gotta say, Mudder’s Milk is Dom Perignon compared to that stuff…
April 25th, 2006 at 10:24 am
Charlie, loved this show. I’d never tried a boch before and I’m not sure why. I also used to drink everything from a bottle. To make a long story short, I went to Palm Springs for the weekend and they had an Amber Boch on draught so I gave it a try. Very smooth drink. I loved it.
I had an idea for a show, being that summer is coming up. Also in Palm Springs it was damn hot. I drank the Boch at night when it was cooler. During the day I decided to also stretch my beer wings and tried a heffe-weizen with a squeeze of lime and was surprised how refreshing it was. Was wondering if you were going to do a show on Different ’summer’ beer.
The show is awesome. Love the relaxed style.
Pod on!
J.R.
April 25th, 2006 at 11:29 am
J.R., thanks for the good words. Glad you’ve discovered something new and good thanks to l’il ol’ me!
Fear not regarding summer beer shows. Being from the land of perpetual triple digits, refreshment will soon be high on my beer priority list. I’m thinking a series of summer beer shows, including Gereman beers (hefe- and krystal-weizens), Belgians (witbeirs), and English/American (blonde ales). Heck, after four months above 100 F, I can even see the logic in “international pilsners.” Don’t hold your breath for Bud, though.
April 25th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
Another good show. You and Eric have convinced me to track down a paullander salvator, and give a taste test for myself.
Sampling the dregs from your batch of homebrew reminded me of the QED test man. He would be asked questions and would use his body to find out how hard or fast something would have to be to take him out.
April 28th, 2006 at 9:45 am
Fred,
I think I might prefer the fate of the QED test guy to tasting the “muck” again!
June 6th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Charlie, the Urbock 23 was a tough find. I live in CA, and couldn’t get it at BevMo. I thought your replacement suggestions were a bit peculiar as well.
Both beers are pegged as DoppellBocks, big heavy bocks. Yet, you suggested Mai bocks and light bocks as a replacement to the Urbock 23, even though it was a SUPER high octane beer. At BevMo I was in a bit of a quandry. I had to get a beer, and wanted a bigger bock, but needed something a bit lighter per your suggestions. I passed on the Mai Bock, but picked up Shiner Bock. Which I realized was the beer for #6. OOPS. Were just ahead a bit. Why relate the BIG Urbock 23 to single bocks or mai bock ot the Gordon Biersch BLONDE bock?
Luckily I also picked up Weihenstephaner Korbinian as a safety net. I thought this bee was a GREAT replacement, much better than the other mai bocks suggested. This true doppell bock has an ABV of 7.4%, high, but not near the 9% of the Urbock 23.
Now I am a novice beer guy in comparison, but I was wondering what prompted the alternate beers. For those doing this, the Weihenstephaner Korbinian is a great replacement if you can find it. Big malty flavors, not quite as light in color as the Urbock 23, but it has the body and alcohol close to what is spoken about.
Thanks for your shows, we are going to do #4 tonights
June 6th, 2006 at 5:32 pm
The ‘alternative’ suggestions can be pretty tough for some beers. A brown ale? That’s easy. But a bizzaro genre-hopper like Ur-bock 23? That’s pretty tricky. My thought was a) a lager, b) a bock, c) a light colored bock, d) a strong bock, and e) a strong, light colored beer that wasn’t a lager. Not necessarily in that order. Keep in mind that for some beer drinkers, Gordon Biersch is plenty strong enough, and still throws out some of the flavors we were commenting on on the show. Plus, it’s much more widely available than Ur-bock 23. Still, thanks for the Weihenstephaner Korbinian suggestion. I’ll put it on the list.
June 21st, 2006 at 12:40 pm
You are a brave person for drinking the yeast cake and trub!! I guess the Aussies are all about that…
“Vegemite is one of several yeast extract spreads sold in Australia. It is made from leftover brewers’ yeast extract (a by-product of beer manufacture) and various vegetable and spice additives. It is very dark reddish-brown, almost black, in color, and one of the richest sources known of Vitamin B. It’s thick like peanut butter, it’s very salty, and it tastes like - well let’s just say that it is an acquired taste!”
I’m enjoying catching up on your episodes!
June 21st, 2006 at 2:38 pm
I’ve suspected all along vegemite wasn’t for me…now I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt…
Thanks for the good word, Rick!
April 24th, 2007 at 8:31 am
ewww dude. ewww.