Bock

What is Bock?

Bock is a strong lager originating in the town of Einbeck, Germany.

Traditional bock is a sweet, fairly strong beer. Originally, bock was only a dark beer, but today, both light and dark versions are available.

The aroma is malty and slightly alcoholic. The taste is rich and warm and features notes of caramel.

Although bock is most often a lager, there are also styles of bock made using the top fermentation method, such as weizenbock. In fact, the earliest bock varieties in history were also ales because lager yeast hadn’t evolved as a separate species by the 15th century.

Origin Story

Bock originated in 14th-century Lower Saxony, in the town of Einbeck. The name "bock" came about later from the Bavarian dialect, where Einbeck was pronounced "ein bock".

The key to bock’s success was the unique quality control system established by the Einbeck city council. While many citizens of Einbeck had the right to malt their own grains (barley and wheat) and brew beer in their cellars, no one was allowed to own brewing kettles. These belonged to the city, where professional brewers worked. Brewers brought the kettle to citizens’ homes, checked the quality of the malt, monitored the brewing process, and later certified the finished product before it could be sold or exported. This ensured that all beer brewed in Einbeck followed the same recipe and met the same quality standards.

Einbeck beer was tested at the University of Salerno’s medical faculty, one of the leading laboratories of its time, where it was described as vinum bonum (good wine). The beer had such a good reputation and taste that Martin Luther described it in 1521 as “the best drink known to mankind”. 

Bock’s success and production volumes continued to grow, and it began to be replicated in other regions of Germany, where various bock substyles emerged.

Today, bock is significantly less popular than other lighter lagers such as pilsner.

Fun fact: bock means "goat" in German, which is why some bock labels feature a goat motif.