Maibock (literally: May Bock) is the Bavarians’ strong, golden lager favored during the brief transation between the severe winters and the hot summers.
In much of Bavaria, including Munich, breweries produce different beers for the different seasons…and no beer style follows the changing seasons more closely than the Bockbier, Munich’s strong, malty lager. There is a Bockbier for almost every time of year. While most Bockbiers are dark-amber to hazelnut brown in color and exceedingly malt-accented, the Maibock is brewed entirely wih pale malts for a warm golden hue. It is also more agressively hopped than others bocks for a refreshing finish.
Thus Maibock, like the lusty month of May, is a transitional a brew. It still has some 6 to 7% alcohol as do its wintry cousins, but its brightness and bitterness already foretell the perpetually blues skies of summerm when the straw-blond Helles and the pale and spritzy Weissbier predominate.
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