Technically this one was had last night after I came home from dancing 5 rhythms and still had to prepare a dish for Christmas lunch at work today. But I crashed pretty hard after dancing around the kitchen drinking beer and making roasted chickpea and feta salad, so I was too tired to blog.

It was fun to get a Swedish beer in my calendar, I have family there and spent a lot of time in Sweden growing up, so it’s aaalmost like home (plus my colleague who tipped me about the Beery Christmas calendar happens to be a Swede). Maybe there’ll be a Norwegian one in there somewhere too? I have both a Danish and Icelandic one waiting, so the Nordic countries are pretty well represented!

Anyway, on to the bockbier:

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Colour: Deep reddish brown, gorgeous colour on this one.

Smell: sweet brown sugar/caramelly malt smells and slightly grassy hops.

Taste: sweet malty flavours, round and rich but not too heavy. Quite pronounced bitterness, and something kind of… grass/hay-like in there.

Suggested pairings: I had this one by itself, and I think it works well as just a “drinking beer”, but would probably complement lighter nibbles/starters. Beery Christmas suggests paté.

Serving temp: 10 degrees Celsius.

Personal comments: A bit too much bitterness for my liking, though still a nice one. Didn’t really have enough character to stand out IMO.

About this beer type: Bock is a type of strong lager that is usually stored for a longer time than other lager beers. Generally they are smooth and sweet tasting and copper or brown in colour. It was originally brewed by Bavarian monks and often drunk during lent, as a token of lighter (literally) times ahead. Somehow the name “Einbeck” where the beer was originally brewed turned into “ein bock” (a billy goat) and the name has stuck.

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Up next for me is the beer I’m possibly most excited to try so far: the Spectaculoos stout. Not only do I love stouts, but the name suggests Christmassy/gingerbready flavours. I might save it for Friday as we have plans to go to a Christmas market during the day and this seems like the perfect way to round it off. 🙂