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 thirty different local bock beers this year at our four Bockfest Halls and participating venues.
Bockfest Beer Competition
Official bock beers were professionally judged on Saturday March 2, 2024 at the Moerlein Lager House using the Brewers Association 2023 style guidelines. The 2024 Winners were:
The Bockfest Homebrewers Competition will be judged on Saturday March 1, 2025 at the Liberty Home Association. You can learn more about the event HERE. The Bockfest Homebrew Champion will have their beer brewed for the 2026 Bockfest by the Moerlein Lager House. Last year's Champion was "The Staggering Goat", a Dunkles Bock brewed by Chuck Beardslee.
Congratulations to all the winners and best of luck to this year's competitors!
Special thanks to our friends at the Bloatarian Brewing League for running the competition.
- Gold: Christian Moerlein, Fretboard, Wandering Monsters, and High Grain
- Silver: Third Eye, Listermann, Dead Low, Alexandria, and Rhinegeist
- Bronze: Narrow Path, Brink, Northern Row, 13 Below, Braxton, Nine Giant, and 50 West
- Best of Show: Christian Moerlein
The Bockfest Homebrewers Competition will be judged on Saturday March 1, 2025 at the Liberty Home Association. You can learn more about the event HERE. The Bockfest Homebrew Champion will have their beer brewed for the 2026 Bockfest by the Moerlein Lager House. Last year's Champion was "The Staggering Goat", a Dunkles Bock brewed by Chuck Beardslee.
Congratulations to all the winners and best of luck to this year's competitors!
Special thanks to our friends at the Bloatarian Brewing League for running the competition.
Participating breweries and beers include:
13 Below Fluss Bock Traditional Bock Alexandria Brewing Co Slayerator Dopplebock BC's Brewing Company My Neck Maibock Braxton Einbeck Doppelbock Brink Brinkinator Doppelbock Cincinnati Beverage Company Maibock Dead Low Lux Aeterna Doppelbock DVD Brew Justin's Conjured Up a Bock Dunkles Bock DVD Brew Mr. Bee is Helles on Wheels Heller Bock Esoteric Brewing Magnolia Maibock Fifty West Roadbock Maibock High Grain Ibex Weizen Bock Karrikin Spirits/Hearth -Stop, Bock and Roll! March First Brewery Heller Bock Mellotone The Radiant Goat Moerlein Lager House Bockfest Home Brewers 2024 Champion Beer - Tim McKee's Dunkle Bock MPH Brewing Bock to Spring Narrow Path Pathinator Doppelbock Nine Giant Hairpin Turns Maibock Northern Row Cooper Hellerbock Northern Row Conspirator Doppelbock Northern Row Barrel Aged Conspirator Rhinegeist Cincinnator Doppelbock Son's of Toil Brewing Dunkel Bock Stiegl Steigl Bock Taft's Brewing Company Taft Bathtub Bock Third Eye Total Debockery Doppelbock Wandering Monsters Rasselbock West Side Brewing West Side Bock |
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Try them all
Moerlein Lager House hosts the Bock Beer Experience with special sampling package to try 24 of the Bock Beers available at Bockfest. Learn more and purchase tickets HERE.
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Rhinegeist has 26 bock beers available at the Bock Bier Bar.
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Northern Row has 15 bock beers available.
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Rosedale has 12 bock beers available. |
Check the FREE app for who is carrying your favorite bock beer, available for iOS and Android. Plus check in during Bockfest events and win prizes!
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.
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.
tHANKS TO THE LOCAL COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS
THAT MAKE BOCKFEST POSSIBLE
PRESENTED BY
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OFFICIAL BOCKFEST HALLS
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WITH SUPPORT FROM
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WITH COMMUNITY SUPPORT FROM
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