In my opinion, you cannot go wrong with any beer from Germany’s Ayinger, no matter what time of the year you drink it. I happen to think Celebrator Doppelbock is one of the world’s best beers, and the rest of the Ayinger lineup is a world class selection of German beer styles.

This spring, Merchant du Vin sent me a couple of the brewery’s seasonal bocks, Maibock and Weizenbock, both of which I’ve had over the years but I don’t believe I had ever reviewed them here, until now.

Maibock

For some reason this doesn’t appear on the brewery’s own website so I’m not sure if it’s a special export generally unavailable in Germany, or a rebranded version of one of Ayinger’s other beers. Regardless, here’s the description of Maibock from the Merchant du Vin website:

A Bavarian Spring Celebration beer brewed in the fall and lagered over the winter, Maibock will remind you that big beers can be elegant, that barley is the heart of great beer, and that some of the best beers anywhere on earth are brewed at a Bavarian village in the foothills of the Alps.

It is 7% ABV with 30 IBUs.

Appearance: Golden yellow, slight unfiltered haziness, crisp white head.

Smell: Rich and bready malt with a touch of oatmeal cookie, and a light herbal hop note. Very clean.

Taste: Toasted wheat and a hint of cookie dough, light hop bitterness for a bit of balance, with a touch of peppery spiciness. Bread crust that’s got a bit of brioche richness. A bit of floral alcohol esters.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body with some nice chewiness to it, and a clean finish.

Overall: Lovely malt profile and a suitably “hefty” beer for spring.

Weizenbock

Ayinger calls Weizenbock its winter specialty but as I said above, any time of the year is a good time to drink it. Weizenbock is not a style you see terribly often but is usually interesting when you find it. The brewery’s website says:

Our winter specialty is brewed with four different malts and wort separation method. The result is an alcohol degree of 7.1% by vol. and the Original gravity is 16.5°plato. Ayinger Weizenbock is a top fermented and unfiltered wheat bock beer. Colour is golden with copper tones. Aroma is typically and unique for Ayinger wheat beers. You will find low bitterness and dry taste.

It’s 7.1% ABV with 10 IBUs.

Appearance: Hazy-translucent golden orange; white head.

Smell: The spicy notes of German wheat with some banana, perhaps a bit of cloves. Some bread dough, honey notes, otherwise quite mellow and fairly clean.

Taste: Sweet and bready, gentle phenolic spiciness reminding me of rye, white pepper, banana chips. No real hop character here that I can detect, it’s all-in on the sweet maltiness but it’s not cloying; the wheat/yeast/phenolics balance it out, and it’s quite tasty.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body with a rich finish.

Overall: One of the (if not the) best examples of this style. Delicious!