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Your guide to seasonal spring beers

A SPRING MENTALITY
Spring is the beginning of life after a long period of cold and hibernation. The first moment your senses revel in the fresh scents of the spring air, you are startled. It is an intense experience for me every year. Spring is a time of excitement, of paroxysm, and I think spring beers reflect that enthusiasm … the perfect complement. Winter beers always strike me as spicy and heavy, like a thick blanket, but spring beers are a step further, so to speak. They are crisp, floral, like citrus fruits, as slightly alive as the scent of new leaves on trees or blooming flowers. Here’s a list of perfect beer styles for spring:

MAIBOCK
There are many styles of bock beer, but this beer, the Maibock, is made specifically for the transition between cold winter and warm summer. Mai means “May” in German. The German Beer Institute perfectly describes this beer:

“While most Bockbiers are dark amber to hazelnut brown and with an excessive malt accent, Maibock is made entirely from pale malts for a warm golden hue. It also has more aggressive hops than other bocks for a refreshing finish. Thus, Maibock, like the lustful month of May, is a transitional concoction. It is still 6-7% alcoholic just like its winter cousins, but its brightness and bitterness already portend the perpetually blue skies of the summer when the straw blond Helles and the pale and the spritzy Weissbier predominate “.

For this style, after a lot of consideration (because I can’t wait to find a good maibock to enjoy this year), I think I want to try the Hofbräu München Maibock. Beeradvocate.com rates this beer quite high relative to the number of people who rate it. It has everything we want: a little malt and fruity in advance with a roasted malt finish and a hint of hops. Sounds delicious.

MÄRZENBIER
Here we have a medium bodied beer, with a malt flavor and a slight hop profile. You can find a lighter Märzen (Helles) and a darker Märzen (Dunkles). It is served in a glass, jug or half-liter jug ​​and should be cold.

Märzenbier is just as the name suggests – March beer, but the story is quite interesting. Märzenbier used to be (1500) the beer used for Oktoberfest. During the summer in Bavaria, the temperature was too warm to brew successfully without air pollutants ruining a batch. To get around this dilemma, Bavarian brewers made additional batches of Märzenbier in the winter for March, before the summer. The extra beer is stored in cellars or ice caves to keep it cool during the summer. At the end of the summer, in October, when the new cereals and hops are harvested, the Bavarians had to consume all the leftover Märzenbier in order to put their new batches of beer in the barrels. Tada! Oktoberfest!

Since times do not require avoiding the summer heat, the Märzenbier made in March is not used in Oktoberfest celebrations. Most Oktoberfest beers are brewed for 6-8 weeks. However, this does not mean that we cannot enjoy the infusion! Take the opportunity to celebrate spring with this beer and its history.

Most labels will read Märzen-oktoberfest, but if that makes you uncomfortable, Gordon Biersch Märzen is a great choice. The Beer Advocate also has an excellent list of qualified Märzenbiers to try.

LAMBIC FRUIT BEER
What better way to celebrate the arrival of summer than with a spontaneously fermented fruit beer. Most of the beer we drink has strains of yeast specifically brewed and carefully transported for beer production. Lambic beer, however, is fermented by wild yeasts and airborne bacteria. The wort (the alcohol-free, grain / malt / barley liquid impregnated before the addition of yeast in brewing) is left exposed, inviting anything. This often creates a unique, funky, sour taste. Hops are used, but not for flavor. The hops help prevent the brew from going bad. Lambic brewers use stale hops that don’t have much flavor.

Lambic fruit beers are a derivative of the original Lambic style. The fruit is added during primary or secondary fermentation. This is exactly how fruit beers are defined here in the US When breweries add fruit as a predominant flavor to a non-Lambic base beer.

This is my favorite style of beer to enjoy when the air begins to warm, but the freshness of spring still lingers. Phew. The first fruit beer I tried was a Lindemans Lambic Framboise (raspberry). Cake. Candy. Love it. It turned out really good when half and half was made (half a beer on top with a different beer floating on top, like a black and tan). I liked floating Samuel Smith’s organic chocolate stout on top of Lindeman’s framboise. SPEAKING OF SAMUEL SMITH, they also have a delicious Strawberry Ale that could be a great ale to sample in late spring.

AMERICAN “IPA”
In fact, I want to label this “American Pale Ale” – IPA, or Indian Pale Ales were named because additional hops were added to the pale ale for preservation during the long journey from India to England. I’m digressing. I choose American IPAs specifically, because American IPAs are so much fun compared to English IPAs. Fresh hop scents are floral, citrus, intense, and personally intoxicating.

When we brew beer in our kitchen, we use Cascade hops, and I love to sit back and take in the aroma. These beers capture that invigorating aroma and despite my dislike for the bitter IPAs they leave me with, I still drink them. My favorite this year is Rude Parrot IPA from Seven Seas Brewery. It is an intense and versatile American IPA that is enjoyed from start to finish.

DOPPLEBOCK
We will start and end this list with bocks.

During the spring, Catholics celebrate Lent, a time of fasting. In the 17th century, the monks of Einbeck, Germany, decided to brew a beer to help them during the 40 days of Lent. A high calorie beer meant to help with your nutritional needs. Hence the creation of bock beers. The monks, however, wanted something stronger to get through those 40 days of Lent, so they crafted the dopplebock.

My personal favorite dopplebock is the Optimator from Spaten, or a Dobblebock from Ayinger Celebrator. They are dark, full-bodied, with a slightly roasted flavor, very fresh.

SEASONAL BEERS LOOK OLD, DON’T THEY?
Well yeah, but who cares? Of course, seasonal beers are no longer physically necessary. Early brewing was determined in part by the seasons (humidity, temperature). However, with current technologies in place, stations no longer play a dominant role in a brewer’s new batch of beer. Anyone could whip up a winter beer or an Oktoberfest all year long if they wanted.

However, not many want to brew traditional seasonal beers year-round. Breweries have an excellent opportunity to brew experimental and test batches each season, and beer drinkers like myself love the anticipation of their favorite seasonal beer hitting the shelves (which is done earlier and earlier each year, not?).

Cold weather triggers a craving for a complex Christmas beer (and knit scarves … and Bing Crosby … and eggnog). A hot summer afternoon near the water leaves me sighing for a crispy pilsner or witbier. The Drizly blog posed a well-deserved question: “Are these companies repeatedly forcing us into fall to swallow our necks, or are our shopping habits driving their marketing behavior?”

I think we can admit that both parties are the cause: our love for the seasons is rooted in deep nostalgia, and any good company that wants to serve and benefit from its target consumer will exploit this nostalgia. It is catalytic. I don’t care though. Breweries keep inventory and options fresh, keeping my attention and deepening my relationship with their product. Everybody wins.

With a fruit beer in hand, here is spring: experimentation, new flavors, fresh notes and the arrival of summer. May your adventures bring you delicious new spring beers: Cheers!

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