Trader Joe's Hofbrau Bock

"Hofbrau" in German means "the brew of royalty." Trader Joe’s Hof Brau Bock is a fine example of the regal brewing traditions still found in Germany today. This outstanding bock is golden in coclor, very rich and moderately hopped. 22 IBUS. Brewed with three types of imported malts, Hallertau aroma hops and lager yeasts.

2.8

281 reviews

Monrovia, United States

Community reviews

2.5 Golden clear, looks like a standard light lager. Grassy hop smell, overall sweet not balanced enough, Not very bock like.

2.4 (12oz bottle) Pours a clear golden body with a small white head. Aroma of grain, earth, dough, light herbs, and honey. Flavor of grain, citrus, light herbs, and grass.

2.8 Bottle purchased at Trader Joe’s. Clear amber pour with a medium off-white head. Malty and grainy nose with light fruit notes. Malty and grainy flavor with light apricot accents and a sweet finish.

2.5 (12oz bottle) clear light gold, ring of white bubbles. Nose of saccharin, yeasty unleavened bread, unnatural, light caramel. Taste of saccharin, pretty sweet, light caramel, light body, way too unnaturally sweet.

3.1 Pours dark golden with a thin fully receding white head. Notes of sweet pale malt, biscuit, toffee, caramelized wort, herbs. Medium to full bodied, lightly sweet with lively carbonation.

1.9 Pours a deep gold .. mild foam .. . honey and caramel shoe inserts .. . gracious in its abv level, done alright .. . ok stuff but waaay to stretched out .. . . why do they kick me?

3.4 Clear golden pour with a white head. Sweet sugar, bread, and toast. Yeast, mild floral hops, grass, and a touch of spice. Pretty straightforward flavor, too. Mostly sweet sugar and bready malt with a light toasted quality. Some spicy, floral, and grassy hops. No perceivable bitterness and a bit of yeast.

3.5 Pours gold into a shaker. Bright white head with little retention recedes to skim surface leaving spot lacing. Caramel and hay aromas. Soft with sweet caramel and clove upfront turning to earthy dough in the lasting finish.

3.3 Bottled, nice golden color with some white foam, aroma and flavor of sticky fruit nectar, slight bitter , nice finish

2.6 Bottle. Clear ligth amber with the thinnest of heads. Corn and alcohol aroma. Taste is honey, corn and alcohol. I do not like this heller bock much.

2.4 Location/Date:Bottle on December 19th, 2012. Appearance: Pours a cloudy orange. Aroma: Aroma of bread, some apple. Taste: Faint bitterness, some apple flavor, some orange, faint yeastyness. Palate:Medium body, lingering aftrtaste. Summary: First off, thanks to the Milsky’s for providing this beer! Maybe this particular sample was too old, I don’t know.

3.2 Bottle from Ron via Pittsford store. Clear amber, no head or lacing. Baked bread aroma, malty palate. Very basic, but decent. Well balanced, sweet, clean a bit of sour.

2.6 Bottle->SA glass. Orange coppercolorwith white head. Aroma of corn and malt. Tastes of sweet corn with some hops. Metallic aftertaste. Not very good.

2.7 Under the JospehsBrau label rather than Trader Joe’s: Gold pour with a medium tight head. aroma is sweet corn/grainy malt, tinged with some toasted malt and a hint of booze. Light grassy hop. Smells like most lighter bocks I’ve had. Flavour is grassy, slightly metallic/minerally, with some honey and grain sweetness to the flavour.

2.5 Dark blond in colour. This beer has a sweet cornmalt flavour. Really lacks depth.

2.0 Bottle (JosephsBrau label). Buttery malt and light alcohol aroma. Golden yellow with large head. Slightly sweet buttery barley malt and bitter herbal hops and alcohol flavor. Diacetyl overload.

2.9 Bottle. Pours an average cheddar yellow with a nose of hay and light honey. Flavor is straw, biscuit, and honey. Average mouithfeel. Meh.

3.0 Pours clear gold with a thin white head. Very malty and a bit creamy. Not bad but forgettable.

3.2 Poured a golden tellow with a minimal head. Nice nose. Very smooth across the palate. Really not bad for a contract brew.

2.7 12 oz. bottle poured into a pilsner glass. A: Pours a crystal clear golden amber color with strong looking carbonation trails. The head is a two finger white color with low retention, but a great texture. A nice amount of spiderweb lacing is left on the glass. S: Light grassiness, with some supplementary darker fruits, such as raisin and plum. OK, just a little weak. T: Initially, it’s fairly bready to start, before becoming intrusively malty on the midtaste, before the flavor kind of vanishes on the finish, excluding a slight aftertaste. The lingering fruit aftertaste isn’t particularly likable, either - it’s a bit like apple juice, in a way. It smooths out after several sips, but it’s just kind of...weird. Quite imbalanced, too. M: Moderately heavy with a neutral finish, yet there’s an undercutting surge of dryness on the aftertaste that clashes with the rest of the texture. Carbonation is about where it needs to be in terms of strength. O: It’s cheap ($1), drinkable, and features 7% alcohol, but the beer itself doesn’t impress. Too intrusively offbeat to be a good beer, but I don’t hate it.

2.7 Pours a clear gold with a thick, white, frothy head that stays. Decent lacing. Subtle, malty aroma. Creamy but nonetheless thin mouthfeel. Overly sweet flavor, even for the style. Not impressive.

2.6 i do like a strong beer.. a little bitter & too light for me but this beer is always a good standby.

2.1 Shared by turdferguson. Pours a sharp and clean peach gold with one finger of white head. Nose mellow, vegetal and herbal with a slightly spicy character and bready malt. Gross flavor, creamed corn and sweet malt. Medium body with a warming finish.

2.3 Bottle. Fairly cloudy golden with small spotty white lace. Toasted grain nose, at least its not sweet or buttery. Flavor is more on par with this brewery--a bit of stewed veggies to go along with the overcooked malt. Ugh. I'm gonna need something good after tasting all this stuff.

1.9 Pours a clear copper with a frothy head. Aroma is off. Standard caramel and toffee but with an odd fruity off flavor. Taste follows suit. Somewhat sticky palate. Astringent finish.

3.0 Pours a light orange into the glass, with a wispy head that diminishes to trace lacing. The nose is caramel. Caramel malts, some lightly bready flavors and burnt toffee to the tongue. The finish is lightly burnt. There are some lightly yeasty sours intermingling throughout the mid-palate, but nothing dominates. Decently substantive, but nothing special on the palate. It’s a little slick, but almost whisky-like in the mouth. Thus, a thinner mouthfeel with a higher ABV makes for a weird body on the brew. Ok, I guess.

2.9 many bottles from TJ’s. Good value for $6 per 6-pack. Excessively malty beer and quite a chewy mouthfeel. Doesn’t feel like 7% and if it had a touch more sweetness it would be more enjoyable

2.3 This beer has a sickeningly bitter aftertaste. It’s hard to get past what’s in your mouth after you have a couple sips. It’s definitely a bock, but not one of the better ones I’ve had.

3.0 From notes. First reviewed 9/17/2011. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. Faded golden color with a little bit of haze and a small off-white head. After a moment, I am left with just a ring around the glass and a few spots of lace. Light bready malt and some pungent herbal hops (Hallertau for sure) create the nose. The start of each sip has a mild sweetness, reminiscent of biscuits and honey. This sweetness slowly fades into a floral and herbal bitterness. The yeast keeps each flavor quite discreet, which is not my preference. I won’t go so far as to say this is crisp, but the carbonation tends that way. The body wanders toward medium from light, leaving the feel in an in-between world that is just alright. This is drinkable and I thought it was fine.

3.1 The aroma is not that great with sweet malt, yeast, light fruit, and grassy hops. The appearance is golden with an amber hue. The taste is like the aroma. The palate is average. Overall a very drinkable beer.