Bock Beers on Draft

Bock bier is the ​rich, complex, malty, low-hop style of lager that we celebrate every year at Bockfest. We are excited to offer over a dozen and a half different bock beers this year at Bockfest Hall.

Offered all weekend long are (some quantities are limited and may not be available all weekend):
  • Christian Moerlein  Emancipator Dopplebock
  • Hudepohl Festival Bock
  • Schoenling Bock (winner of the 2019 Bloatarian Brewing League homebrew competition)​
  • Sonder William Goat Bock Bier
  • Sonder Bruder Dunkelweizen (Sunday Only)
  • Taft's Big Billy Goat Bock

Bock Beer Experience

Saturday February 29, 12P-6P
In addition to our featured bock beers, 24 bock beers from over 20 local breweries will be available as part of the Bock Beer Experience on Saturday. Tickets for the Saturday event are $30 and include 4oz samples of every bock beer on draft at Bockfest plus a Bockfest pint glass. Tickets are available HERE. (Limited amounts of these bocks will also be poured on Friday night)
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Participating breweries include:
  • 13 Below Fluss Bock
  • 16 Lots Bayern Kurve
  • Alexandria Slayerator
  • Bircus Incinerator Doppelbock
  • Braxton Ignitor Maibock
  • Brink Brinkinator Doppelbock
  • Christian Moerlein  Emancipator Dopplebock
  • Dogberry Freiheit Bock​
  • Fibonacci Fiddlehead Maibock
  • Fifty West Roadbock Maibock
  • Grainworks Cincinnati Liars Lager (Weizenbock)
  • HighGrain Outram Weizenbock
  • Hudepohl Festival Bock
  • Listermann Friar Bacon Smoked Bock
  • Narrow Path Pathinator Doppelbock
  • Off Track Dunlap Bock
  • Paradise Billy Baroo Doppelbock
  • Platform Saxony Solo Bock​
  • Rhinegeist Bock Bock Goat
  • Samuel Adams Doppelbock
  • Schoenling Bock (winner of the 2019 Bloatarian Brewing League homebrew competition)​
  • Sonder William Goat Bock Bier
  • Taft's Big Billy Goat Bock
  • Wiedemann Flying Deutschmann Bock
  • Woodburn Bock

Other beverage options

Cocktails​
A full bar including New Riff Bourbon and Gin is available in select locations at Bockfest Hall and the Festival Tent.
Wine
White and Red wine from Biltmore Wines are available in select locations at Bockfest Hall and the Festival Tent.
Wine
A full bar including Tito's Vodka is available in select locations at Bockfest Hall and the Festival Tent.
Hard Seltzer
Hard Seltzer by Truly is available in select locations at Bockfest Hall and the Festival Tent.
Bloody Mary Bar
On Sunday, the Bock Bloody Mary bar will be open to rejuvenate your spirts. Homemade Bloody Mary Mix from Gramma Debbie's Kitchen and build your own ingredients make this a winner.
Soda & Water
Water and Pepsi products are available throughout Bockfest Hall and the Festival Tent.

What is Bock Beer?

Bock beer is a rich, complex, malty, low-hop style of lager. There are many varieties of bock that can be very different. Understanding the basic styles is a start to understanding what you may like best. Maibock (pronounced my-bock) or Helles (pronounced hell-ess) are paler, and a little more hoppy. Maibocks are traditionally brewed later in spring, but there is typically a good representation or two of this style at some of the Bockfest venues. Doppelbock is maltier, stronger, and typically darker in color. Eisbock is stronger than Doppelbocks and can have a pronounced alcohol taste. Although there are degrees of strength and color, no bock is light. Different Maibocks and Doppelbocks can range in alcohol content from roughly 6.3% to about 12%. By comparison, mass-brewed light beer is typically 3.5% to 4.5%, so even the lightest bocks should be handled with care. Some Eisbocks can have an alcohol content as high as 43%. We want you to remember Bockfest, and the higher alcohol content is often unapparent in a well-brewed Doppelbock. It can be helpful to ask the bartender about the strength of what you're drinking if you want to avoid falling off your stool after two beers.
 
Bock typically has a higher nutritional content and alcohol content than other beers. It is traditionally brewed for celebrations and holidays. Because of the higher nutritional content, bock was used by German monks during Lenten fast - a liquid substitute for food. We celebrate Bockfest on the first weekend of March because of this historic association with Lent.
 
Although it is now almost always a lager, bock was originally an ale that was brewed by German monks in the Fourteenth Century. The word "bock" means goat in German. The beer most likely gets its name from Einbeck, Germany. Einbeck is believed to be the origin of the beer and the name comes from a Bavarian dialectic pronunciation of the town that made it sound like "ein bock," meaning "a billy goat."
 
Although this is the scholarly, accepted origin of the name of the beer, we prefer to believe a more colorful story about the beer's name. According to ancient tale, the name came from a legendary Renaissance-era drinking contest between two beer-brewing monks. The bock beer's high alcohol content is said to have caused the loser of this competition to fall over, which he blamed on an errant goat that had entered the tavern. The winner laughed at his fallen friend and told him that the only goat that knocked him down was in the beer. Regardless of whether this story is true, countless Bockfest attendees can testify to encountering that goat.