Bock

bock(bier).

    1. A very strong beer originally brewed by top fermentation in the Hanseatic League town of Einbeck in Lower Saxony where it is still brewed and known as Ur-Bock, the original bock. It was once a heavy dark beer brewed in winter for consumption in spring. German bock beers are now brewed by bottom fermentation and are usually dark brown, but pale bocks are increasing in popularity and a distinction is sometimes made between light bock beer and dark bock beer. Modern bockbiers, according to German law, must be fermented from an original wort gravity of at least 16 °P (1.064), resulting in an alcoholic content of 6 percent by weight or higher (7.5 percent alcohol by volume). They are full-bodied, malty, and well hopped. Etym: From the town of Einbeck (circa 1250) in northern Germany. This beer was later exported to Munich and was one of the first beers to be brewed by the Hofbraü, the brewery of the dukes of Bavaria. In the eighteenth century, the name became Oanbock and was later shortened to bock. According to one legend, bock was once made from the dregs of barrels and vats at spring cleaning. This is obviously untrue, for such a beer would have been weak, to say the least. Because the word bock also means male goat or billy goat in German, such an animal is often represented on the labels of bottles containing bockbier. 2. In the United States, bock beers made their first appearance around 1840 and were seasonal beers available at springtime. After Prohibition was repealed (December 1933), bars proclaimed the good news with a sign saying "Bock is back," but in fact the sales of bock beers dwindled and production was discontinued until the 1970s when a few bock beers were revived. American bock beers are usually light-bodied and mildly hopped. The name of these so-called bock beers comes not from their strength but rather from their dark color and artificial flavoring (caramel). 3. In France, bock refers to a medium strength beer of medium density ranging from 3.3-3.9 °R. 4. In France, a beer glass with a capacity of either 33 centiliters or 1/4 of a liter (25 centiliters).