Castles of Yesterday

Origin Story

Brewed as a traditional German Maibock, when asked as to why he felt compelled to pay homage to this historical style, Ryan Hale, Head Brewer in Bellaire, simply stated "Well, it's May and I wanted to brew a Maibock". Maibocks are strong, malty Bavarian lagers brewed during the cool short spring of the Bavarian Alps, primarily in May ("Mai" is German for "May"). Still brewed with the traditional strength and hefty body of a bock, the color is much lighter due to a large base of pilsner malt. Lightly caramalized malt varieties offer slightly different hues than the darker winter bocks, hence it's other name, Heller bock, meaning pale bock. Maibocks also tend to have slightly more hop bitterness and hop flavor from the noble Bavarian hop varieties used to brew them. Hats off to Ryan for keeping us on track by reminding us all that sometimes we can get just as much fun and enjoyment out of brewing traditional historic beer styles, that offered us all the initial variation in our beloved beer to begin with!