Victory St. Boisterous

Origonally Published July 2010

This week I chose a beer called St. Boisterous Hellerbock from a local brewery named Victory Brewing Company. I was looking for an alternative to the crisp pale ales and golden lagers common for this time of year, so I chose this beer hoping it would have more of a malt focus, while still providing refreshing relief from the heat.

The Maibock or Helles Bock style represents a bit of a break from the other bock styles. These styles originated in Germany, and generally are very malt focused. Overall, bocks tend to have a fairly sweet malt character that is thick and filling without the harsh or burnt taste frequent encountered in stouts. Bocks have little to no detectible hops, with the various styles representing different levels of alcohol content ranging from Traditional Bocks around 6% ABV to the freeze distilled Eisbocks at up to 14% ABV. Bocks were traditionally consumed during the winter months, especially by monks during fasts, since the high level of retained sugars and alcohol content provided a large number of calories. The Maibock/Helles Bock, however, is a lighter, drier style with a slightly higher level of hopping. This style is traditionally served in the month of May, source of the Maibock name, but is also similar to stronger version of the Munich Helles style, which is the source of the second name.

This style should have a moderately strong, slightly toasty malt aroma with a little to no aroma from noble hops. The beer should pour golden in color with a large, persistent, creamy white head, and should remain quite clear from the lagering process. The beer should have a rich, slightly malt flavor from European Pilsner malts, with very little caramelization. The hop character is moderately bitter, but without very much flavor; overall, this style is more balanced than the other bock styles, since they have very little bitterness at all. This should come off as a moderately pale, strong and malty lager beer. The glassware suggested for serving this style is actually quite flexible, with some preferring pilsner or flute glasses, but a pint glass is quite suitable due to the already low level of very simple aromas.

Victory Brewing Company was started by Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski in 1996. The brewery itself is located in an old Pepperidge Farm factory, and the brew house has recently been upgraded to an automated fifty barrel system made by Rolec. The brewery has grown immensely in popularity since it opened, and now distributes three of its flagships (Hop Devil, Prima Pils and Storm King) in 23 states. Victory has been recognized for brewing their beers true to style, while still providing their own touches. I highly recommend a trip to their brewpub where they have up to 24 beers on tap (all produced on site), many of which are not available in bottles.

St. Boisterous pours a yellow gold color, without the reddish tint I expected from other bock styles. The head was white in color, but did not have the expected creamy texture and dissipated very quickly after pouring. There was very little aroma with this beer, but some amount of hops were detectable. The first thing that I notice when I tasted this beer is the full body; the beer just tastes thick, reminding me a little bit of honey, but not nearly that extreme. The carbonation is pretty moderate, but was enough to sparkle a little bit along my tongue. There was little or no hop flavor, although there was a very noticeable bitterness present, as with many german beers. The overall impression of this beer is that of a malty, full bodied lager that is edging towards blandness, but is saved by a hit of hops to provide some balance.

Overall, this beer provided a pleasant experience. It’s a bit more filling than I expected, but retains the clean taste of a lager while providing a sweeter alternative to the ubiquitous pale ales and golden lagers. I also highly recommend Victory Brewing Company because of their wide selection of excellent beers, especially those available at their brewpub.