My Rite of Spring

Ah Spring, a time of renewal and rebirth when, as Tennyson wrote, “… a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love.” And nothing facilitates reciprocation of those thoughts by a young woman like a little Maibock.

As the crocuses thrust through the recently frozen terra firma, all 33 of our breweries from Hawaii to Maryland mash a massive amount of malt to fill their tanks with this elegant elixir of love. Unlike its darker and stronger close cousin Winter Bock, with its roasted almost mocha character, the Maibock has a more delicate fulvous or tawny tangerine hue, and is eminently more quaffable. It is less of an “Extreme” beer, it is just extremely delicious.

Mai is the German word for the lusty month of May, as in “Thank you very much, may I please have another magnificent Maibock.” This luscious lager style originated way back in the 14th century in the Northern German city of Einbeck, which with the dialect sounded like “ein pock” and evolved into simply Bock.

We will go through over a thousand barrels or two thousand kegs of Maibock. That is nearly a quarter million special sleek and sexy glasses. We can’t wait for Mai, so we tap it in early April, which is German for April.

See you on the patio.

Beer…it’s what’s for dessert.

Yes, this was as delicious as it looks, and the Golden Export was the perfect pour to wash it down, although frankly the Hefeweizen worked just as well.

I’ve preached about beer with dessert, or even as dessert, until the color of my face could get me a staring role in a James Cameron film. But usually I’m proselytizing that whatever chocolate creation is best consumed with Schwarzbier or Stout rather than coffee and port.

So I had a bit of a dilemma in pairing the beer for the delectable dessert that our immensely talented Chef Russell Hiner and Sous Chef Steve Reeb concocted last night for our Chef/Brewer’s Dinner. It was a Strawberry Shortcake Terrine topped with sweet banana cream. Kind of sounds like a lyric from a psychedelic sixties song, and it was indeed Yummy…Yummy…Yummy.

It was far better than the strawberry shortcake I remember making at the Dairy Queen back in high school, oh yeah I made Hot Fudge Brownie Delights long before I brewed beer, and yes I did set aside all the whip cream canisters for when I would empty the trash and clean the parking lot at the end of the night.

But I digress; this Strawberry Shortcake was delicately subtle and sublime. The cake was light as a wispy cirrus cloud and the smooth banana cream soothed the sharpness of the berry. A beer with much hop or roasted malt bitterness would have obnoxiously overwhelmed such a dream on a plate. The Golden Export foot the bill best as it too is light and subtle, the carbonation lifted the cream off your tongue, while the slight maltiness supported its sweetness. Then again, the banana and clove esters of the Hefeweizen combined for a complex compliment of flavors also.

I guess if deciding which wonderful beer to pair with such a dessert is the biggest problem I face in a day, I am living a pretty charmed life.

Thanks Cooky, for such a demandingly delectable dilemma.