Jack’s Abby Maibock Hurts Like Helles

Brewed by Jack’s Abby Brewing
Style: Heller Bock
Framingham, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Stein

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Light floral green grape aroma. Hazed yellow color. Earthy fruit and caramel flavors, pleasant and not overwhelming. Body is lighter like a helles, but fills like bock . Another good product. I have to check this place out in person.

Rating #3,000. You hit these big milestones and you just can’t believe it. Hitting 3,000 beers is less about the number of beers ticked and is more about the number of people met, place seen and experiences had since #2,000. First and foremost, thanks to Ratebeer, which continues to be the most informed, most community oriented beer site anywhere. It has continually put me in contact with the best people and sent me to the best places everywhere I go, whether that be my home state of DC, Europe, Canada, Africa or plenty of other spots in the US. My life is continually enriched by the people I have met through this site and through beer. I am incredibly lucky to live in the District of Columbia, one of the best beer cities on the planet. Thanks to all the great beer purveyors who keep interesting, quality product in stock all the time. Thanks to my wife who repeatedly puts up with my desire to seek out new and obscure brewers and brewpubs. I would have never gotten to 3k without her support. And now... on to the rating! I love Jack’s Abby, I love almost everything they are doing. When a friend dropped some Jack’s Abby, I decided that this would be my 3,000th rate. 50cl bottle pours a totally clear gold with some lacing, slightly creamy white head. Nose has a lot of fruit, plenty of pear, some cooked corn, some apple cider, a little bit of hay, some candy sugar, a little papaya. Flavor is sweet, more tropical fruit, candy sugar, a little citrus kicks in, some very light grapefruit, some candied kumquat, slightly metallic, plenty of malt, a nice grassy-ness, hay. Medium bodied, sweet finish. Very true to style. Not my favorite Jack’s Abby, but another great example of the style they were aiming for.

500ml bottle, thanks to Mike L. Bottled April 2013. Shared with the local group. Clear golden color. Thin white head. Some little splotchy lace. Medium body. Smooth, lighter carbonation. Kind of soft, more dry finish. Some bready taste, light pepper. Light sweet. Solid maibock.

16.9 oz bottle to snifter (thanks DrSilverworm). Looks solid; a transparent gold with white lacing and lively carbonation. Smells and tastes solid; sweet, malty, and a bit hoppy with notes of caramel. Solid on the palate. Good beer.

Pours a clear orange with a thick off white lacing. Somewhat fruity with notes of bread and cereal. Sweet, but not overly so.

Bottle. Dark rustic breads. Touch of dark fruit. Toast. Nuts. Seems like I’m doing a giant jacks Abby tasting every night.

From the tap. Pours light gold with a thin creamy head. Light toasty malt aroma. Tastes like sweet bready malts mixed with mild herbal flavors. Good body, light alcohol taste and spot-on carbonation. Nice.

500 mL bottle purchased from Leary’s for $3.80. To undersized snifter, it pours a clear Citrine/golden yellow; light orange when held up to the eye. It sustains a trim whitish head barely a fingernail in length. Smells and tastes of breadcrumbs/sourdough, white grapes, sawdust, tin, rolled oats, and lager yeast. Crisp, refreshing, just not all that complex. Would have again.

clear dark golden pour with a filmy white head. Aroma is bready, with light honey, cereals, subtle grass. Flavor is sweet, but not cloying, and grainy. Light nuttiness comes out as it warms, with sweet bread, and more grassiness tickles the tongue on the finish. Moderately drying with a bit of sweetness on the end. A decent beer, and a pretty tasty Helles Bock.

Bottle in NYC. Pours clear, muted gold with a small, white cream head. Pale, doughy malts on the nose. Medium sweet flavor with further doughy, bredy malts, light grains and hay, faint herbal notes. Medium bodied with fine to average carbonation. Sweet but not cloying finish with rich bread, hints of alcohol, mild cereal, touhes of bitter straw. Nicely balanced heller bock - which is an accomplishment.