'It's something to look forward to': Local brewers mark Bock Beer Day

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It may feel like every day is a celebration of beer here in Milwaukee, but March 20th National Bock Beer Day.

Local brewers say it's a type of beer that has deep heritage here in Milwaukee and in Germany.

Milwaukee is a big beer town, from your plain old lagers, your filling stouts, and of course the trendy IPA.

Bocks aren't always the first beer your beer nerd friend is going to try to get you to drink at a party.

"Darker malts, malts include like Vienna malt and Munich malt which are kilned at higher temperatures and longer and that really gives it that really bready and malty character," said Lakefront Brewery Head Brewer Luther Paul describing the beer, "a Bock beer is a traditional German style"

Paul says there's more that differentiates a bock beer from your typical German lager and Helles type beers than its darker colors.

At Eagle Park Brewing, Head Brewer Jackson Borgardt says Bocks came to Milwaukee by way of German and Polish immigrants.

"That tradition of drinking ambers and bocks and pilsners really kind of was brought home with the millers of the world being here, and Schlitz and Blatz," said Borgardt.

He says the history of Bock beers goes back much farther than US breweries.

"It's typically a stronger malty lager originated from northern Germany as far back as I believe the 1400s," said Borgardt.

Paul has visited Germany to see the tapping of Bock beers in mid-Winter, and festivals surrounding the stronger Doppelbock and easy-drinking Maibock in early Spring.

"In Germany that time is known as Starkbierfest, which is strong beer, […] in very small towns it's usually the whole community comes and celebrates this," said Paul, "and people drink a lot of bock beer, which is usually a little bit higher alcohol so everyone's having a really good time."

In Lakefront's European style beer hall, they serve two Bock beers, Maibock, and their 35th anniversary Doppelbock.

"Ones is a Helles type, which means it's a lighter in color, and the traditional Doppelbock here for our anniversary is a darker color," said Paul.

The packaging on the Dopplebock features the outline of a goat, as the pronunciation of 'Bock' In German is close to the German word for 'goat'.

At Eagle Park, Borgardt says he made his own spin on traditional bocks.

"Mine is a little bit more of a hybrid. It has a little bit more maltiness than I would say a traditional Maibock which I like because we typically release our Maibock every year a little bit closer to into February, early March," said Borgardt.

For these brewers, both from a German background, it's really about tradition.

"German lagers are definitely some of the beers that got me into craft brewing," Borgardt

They're continuing the ways of European immigrants to the Milwaukee area in modern times.

"Not only just making the beer but also the way that it's served in the time that it served in the celebrations that come along with it," said Paul, "and all those people have come from, you know, places that drink a lot of these type of beers, and so, I think that's carried on throughout the years."

They say the release of the Maibock and Doppelbock also helps remind everyone that Spring is just around the corner.

"Basically they're designed for that hearty winter drinking kind of transitioning into like Maibock which is when we make and that is built for the spring kind of that transition from winter to spring," said Borgardt.

"It's something to look forward to because it only happens certain parts of the year," said Paul.

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