Smuttynose Maibock
Maibocks are a traditional Teutonic seasonal specialty. We brew ours to be hugely malty and subtly finished with a variety of continental hops, with an eye-pleasing russet brown color.
3.6
346 reviews
Hampton, United States
Community reviews
Bottle from 2008. Aged really well, with some beautiful rich malt notes coming through: cherry, caramel, toffee, and a touch of citrus and spice. Very drinkable.
This is not a maibock, should be changed to strong lager/imperial pils. Tastes like sugar, and not much else. A decent malt liquor.
Aroma: Low malt, no noticeable spicyness. No hops. Low fruity esters which may have contributed to the lack of malt aroma. No diacetyl.
Appearance: Large fizzy white head at first, but finished creamy. Light, hazy amber.
Flavor: Malt and hop were well balanced. Moderate hop, but well hidden due to the balanced nature of the beer. Alcohol was more noticeable on the finish. No noble spice from hops, slight DMS. Slight fruity esters.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, medium carbonation, alcohol noticeable on the finish.
Overall: Needs more malt aroma on aroma to match style.
Drank as a consolation beer after Ernesto987 broke the top of a bottle of FFF Gorch Fock which dropped glass shards into the beer. This was a malty tripelesque lager with a very earthy hay like malt body and a light hopping. Decent I suppose.
Soft citrus and yeast aroma. Thick two finger head. Creamy yellow haze. Sour tangy taste with some bitterness in the middle. Can sense a hint of alcohol warm down the throat.Clean finish and refreshing.
Big malty hopless lager. It’s pretty rich in flavors. I think it’s alright. Not bad.
The aroma is grains, pale malt and slightly perfumed. The flavor is similar to the aroma with a bit of alcohol in there. Not my favorite style, this was good but similar to others in the style, I just don’t care for bocks that use pale malt only.
Belle couleur dorée tirant doucement vers le orange brûlé. Au nez c’est très semblable à un barleywine anglais avec des notes de sucre d’orge. Ya vraiment quelque chose de typiquement Smuttynose dans son corps, robuste presque sirupeux mais extrêmement délicat sur la langue dû également à une effervescence parfaitement calibré. Même à 7.7%, je la déguste tranquillement comme une bière beaucoup plus grosse. Le profil malté est bien complété par une très légère morsure houblonnée.
Bottle. Light to moderate malt note of grain, light hebs and flowers for the hops, faint soap for the yeast, with apple, white wine, honey and a hint of medicine in the background. Head is large, frothy, white with fair lacing and is mostly lasting. Color is slightly hazy, light amber. Flavor starts lightly to moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic and moderately bitter. Palate is on the lighter side of medium, and little slick with a lively carbonation and a lightly alcoholic finish. Although very light in aroma, the flavor is quite bold. A perfect to style Heller Bock.
I am developing a taste for this style. The aroma was citrus and heavy malt. Appearance as advertised; a hazy gold with white head that lasts and laces well. The taste was excellent, almost that of an English pale but far heavier - loved that it is not extra hopped or overly tampered. The palate leaves a distinct citrus flalvor but manages to mingle well with the malts. The carbonation is perfect. Not too bitter. Overall it is a style I am new to but due to the recent trials with this type it is one I will continue to delve into. This and the Rogue are keepers for sure..... but I nod to the Rogue
GABF 2011. Hazy bright gold with a dense lasting white head. Nice toffee forward aroma with biscuit and pale malt, a bit of sugary esters as well. Biscuity pale malt flavor. Full body, mild sweetness, but nothing much going on to me.
This poured a lighter orange color with a beige head. Aroma was sweet candy sugar, grassy hops, and some fruity notes too. Flavor was fruity, sweet, grainy and grassy, very refreshing but a tiny bit cloying, quite surprised by this one.
Refrigerated bottle poured into a shaker. Pours hazy deep honey with big three or four inch white head. Highly carbonated, some fluffy lacing, and medium/thick body. Taste is acidic floral malt, some citrus, and earthy/peppery hop finish. Best maibock I have had, but the alcohol still peeks out. Not that easy to drink, but lots of flavor.
(bottle) Dark gold with white head. Aroma of sweet malt. Flavor is sweet biscuit/honey malt with some alcohol and a spicy hops finish.
Cloudy yellow, thin white ring. Spicy aroma. fruity, sugary, spicy taste. Thick body. Sharp bite & finish. Not so easy on your "self".
22 oz. from Shaws. Wasn’t sure what to expect since i’ve never had a maibock. Smells pretty awful (like bubblegum). Luckily it tastes fantastic. Big malt flavoe which tastes nothing like any lager I’ve ever had. Definitely interesting.
Bottle. Pours clear dark gold with a large, frothy white head, long retention with good lacing. Aroma is heavy biscuit and honey malt with light hop notes and spicy, peppery alcohol at the end. There are some light vanilla and fruity notes as well, though these are faint. Flavor is moderate sweet malt with a balanced alcohol and hop bitterness. The beer is very clean, with no off-flavors or aromas. Palate is sweet and it dries out near the end. Full body, medium warmth and carbonation.
Pours a clear old gold with a 1 finger, sticky eggshell head. Huge grain, toast and white bread crust nose, a touch of caramel and hints of floral and spicy hops. Upon first sip it tastes like sweet grain, cereal, toast and caramel. Then the alcohol hits, you can tell it’s alcohol, but the "sweetness" of the alcohol seems to the most notable characteristic, light dark fruit notes (possibly fusel alcohol), along with some overripe banana. After the initial wave of alcohol it calms down a bit with a nice sweet grain, spicy hop finish. Palate is medium bodied, syrupy on entry, then immediately drying from the intense alcohol rush. Even though at first this beer was a bit like drinking a heavy lager with a shot of Irish Whiskey sitting at the bottom I wound up thoroughly enjoying it by the time I was done with my glass. Were I rating from a smaller sample size this would be getting a much lower rating. A bit hard to believe that this only has 7.7% alcohol though. I would think it was closer to 9-10%
(bottle) Aquired in Portsmouth during 2011 New England vacation.
Bottle pours cloudy orange-amber with medium white head. Aroma chiefly sweet malt and light fruit. Taste huge malts and sweet corn with slight spice, bread, caramel. Finish slight hops and sweetness. Palate thick, slightly syrupy and a little oily. Slight alcohol burn on the finish.
I like sweet beers but didn’t find the sweetness particularly pleasant on this one. Worth a try but wouldn’t seek out.
pours hazy orange with a thick, lasting white head and minimal lacing. aroma is sweet tropical fruit. body is medium-full. taste is dry with quite a bit of hop character as well crisp fruit notes. finish is tart, dry and has a bit of a burn. There is also considerably more residual yeast than I would have expected for a lager.
Bomber, bottled in 2011. Pours clear orange with yellow, topped with a 3-finger fluffy white head. Aromas of floral hops and flower petals, English malt, dough, berries, sugar, and candy. The flavor is sweet and malty, with caramel, berry, light bittering hops, and alcohol. Spicy, peppery aftertaste. Medium carbonation and medium to full body, with a warming mouthfeel. Really tasty. A nice crisp summer beer that would be equally as good in autumn or winter. [733]
Bottle; pour is slightly hazy gold with a modest white head that retains on the average side. A slight nutty note on the nose; caramel, noble hops, really. Its fairly robust for the style; perhaps a bt overly sweet. Its quite nice overall.
22 oz. bomber. It pours a bright golden orange with thick white head. The aroma is of baked bread, crackers, sweet malt. I also get notes of mild citrus and some light spice. The flavor is mildly sweet with notes of caramel, honey, bread. The focus shifts to a light spicy hop twang. It has a medium, creamy body and finishes crisp. This is enjoyable. This is a pretty good take on the style from Smuttynose.
Pretty, grows into a beautiful transparent gold-orange, forming a fearless, fluffy head. Smells, if not good, then interesting. Winelike tartness mixes with bubblegum and banana, but none gain needed depth. Very, very sweet. An immediate dumptruck load of honey-covered biscuits gets dumped upon your tongue, followed by an off-kilter, caramel-and-sweet-corn middle. The fade holds things together long enough to resemble Hawaiian sweet bread, but this finish isn’t worth the initial whirl of flavors. Smooth and silky, but too sweet for repeat consumption. (6/9/09)
Bottle @ home, courtesy of LeopoldStoch. Huge thanks! Slightly cloudy, lighter yellow-orange apperance with a fairly small, thick white head. Quite sweet pale to caramel malty bock nose that’s slightly bready but quickly appetizing. Thick, pale bock flavor that’s somewhat citrusy and creamy with a sweet lager finish. Somewhat bready flavor and mouth feel. Good one.
Bottle - hazy dark yellow/ amber color. Aromas of malt are strong including hints of doughy bread, weathered hay. Smooth and easily drinkable with flavors of malt, spice and slight sweetness. Haven’t had a lot of this type of beer, but if this is a good representation, I need to search out some more. Good brew.
Pours a hazy gold. Beautiful aroma, bread, spice, and caramel. Light to medium body, with a frothy mouthfeel. Nice carbonation. Subtle hop finish. This beer screams to be paired with a pork dish. Another knock out from smuttynose.
I feel that if the Teutonics were drinking this beer at the time, we would be missing an entire chapter of world history. This beer is so full of malt, and balanced so nicely with hops and with such an earthy aroma that if I were a Teutonic in the early times, I would sit out the Crusades under a German Poplar tree with a few of these 22 ouncers from Smuttynose in the company of a local milkmaid. The beer itself is a hazy amber with a nice head. The taste is a hair sweet but let’s not get into nerd details; this beer is a winner and to heck with the politics of the Crusades.
22oz. Bottle: Aroma of malt, slight spice, slight nuts, light noble hops, light bread, and grains. Poured amber/gold in color with a small to medium-sized, creamy, dense, off-white head that greatly diminished but lasted throughout. Cloudy. Sparkling. Full of tiny particles throughout. Very good lacing. Flavor is light to medium to medium sweet and slightly to lightly bitter. Tastes much like it smells, with notes of malt, slight spice, noble hops, slight honey, grains, slight bread, and some Pils-like flavors. Medium body. Tingly, then lightly dry texture is a tad thin. Average carbonation. Malt, grain, noble hop, slight honey, slight bread finish is lightly dry. 7.7%ABV is completely hidden throughout.