Sunday Night Suds - Leienkugel 1888 Bock

This week's Sunday Night Suds drowns Jets fans' sorrows in Leinenkugel's 1888 Bock.

After watching the Jets play bridesmaid for the third time in my life, I went down to my dining room to drink the green bottle of Leienkugel 1888 Bock that I had put in my fridge to chill. When I pulled it out, I also saw Thursday night's szechuan wontons and said to myself - how about trying this as a combination? Well, it was more than just a good pairing, it was practically perfect. (Even Mrs Kosher Beers agreed, and its tough to impress that palate).

Since its been almost two years since I last reviewed a bock, I thought it prudent to reprint the Beer Advocate explanation of the beer style:

The origins of Bock beer are quite uncharted. Back in medieval days German monasteries would brew a strong beer for sustenance during their Lenten fasts. Some believe the name Bock came from the shortening of Einbeck thus "beck" to "bock." Others believe it is more of a pagan or old world influence that the beer was only to be brewed during the sign of the Capricorn goat, hence the goat being associated with Bock beers. Basically, this beer was a symbol of better times to come and moving away from winter.

As for the beer itself in modern day, it is a bottom fermenting lager that generally takes extra months of lagering (cold storage) to smooth out such a strong brew. Bock beer in general is stronger than your typical lager, more of a robust malt character with a dark amber to brown hue. Hop bitterness can be assertive enough to balance though must not get in the way of the malt flavor, most are only lightly hopped.

The Leinenkugel 1888 bock had a stronger flavor than a typical lager and the dark color as per the definition above. The alcohol level was not on the high end (slightly more than 5.0% abv) but the alcohol taste was a little more pronounced then I expected.

As I mentioned above, the 1888 bock blended very well with Wing Wan's (our local kosher Chinese restaurant) spicy szechuan wontons. Try it with your spicy dishes and let me know what you think...

Leinenkugel 1888 Bock is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, although the product currently in the marketplace does not yet have an OU on the label. If you would like a copy of the LOC please contact me via email.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Leinenkugel 1888 Bock, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/710/46550.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!