St. Bonifacius Bock

Review Date 3/31/2017  By John Staradumsky

           

For Christmas of 2015, my wife bought me a really cool present: BeerAdvent Calendar 2015 from Kalea. In truth, my wife got me a lot of nice presents (she’s the best wife ever), but the nice thing about the Beer Advent Calendar is you get it early. You have to, since it’s comprised of 24 different imported German beers in a box with little doors that you open, one per day from December 1st through December 24th. All of the beers are listed on the side of the carton, however, so be careful not to look and spoil the daily surprises!

I love German beer more than beer from any other country on Earth, so this was definitely right up my alley. Knowing this, my wife got me another for 2016. I told you I was lucky! Last year, my one criticism of the calendar was there were no bocks or doppelbocks (not fair!), but otherwise it was just an amazing way to sample 24 German beers I had never seen before. I got mine a Costco here in Georgia and paid $59.95 for the box, and it was running the same price for 2016. That might sound steep, but when you distribute that price over 24 different half liter cans, it only works out to $2.50 per can. Not a bad deal at all looked at that way.

I enjoyed several of these beers in December of 2015, but saved a lot of them for 2016, the “Year of German Beer” if you will. I call it that because 2016 marked the 500th Anniversary of the Reinheitsgebot, or Bavarian beer purity law. The 2016 calendar acknowledges this:

The Reinheitsgebot is the world’s oldest regulation for food. The Bavarian order of 1516 was introduced in part to prevent price competition with bakers for wheat and rye. The restriction of grains to barley was meant to ensure the availability of affordable bread, as wheat and rye were reserved for use by bakers. The text of the 1516 Bavarian law is as follows “…Furthermore, we wish to emphasize that in future in all cities, markets and in the country, the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be barley, hops, and water. Whosoever knowingly disregards or transgresses upon this ordinance, shall be punished by the court authorities confiscating such barrels of beer, without fail…”.

To this day, all beer produced in Germany is complying with these regulations!

It’s important to note too that the Reinheitsgebot was also very much intended to keep suspect ingredients from being used to brew beer.

For 2016, there are a few differences in the beer advent calendar. This year, it’s labeled as the “Brewer’s Advent Calendar” and has no year on it. Last year, it was called the “Beer Advent Calendar 2015”. Most of the beers are actually the same, although there are a few new ones. There are reports again as with last year that not all of the calendars have the same beers for the same days. So don’t panic if yours are in a different order.

Day 24! Christmas Eve at last, and it brings with it  brings with it a very special beer indeed, Kress St. Bonifacius Bock by Egerer. There is little to no information available on this beer on the Advent Calendar Facebook page or the Egerer website.

Egerer Kress St. Bonifacius Bock has an alcohol content of 6.5% by volume. My can is stamped as packaged on 01.07.2016 and expires on 01.10.2017. Don’t be fooled by the European date coding format, that means packaged July 1st 2016 and expires October 1st 2017. The can also says licensed for Braueri Kress, and this is the second Kress beer I've seen in the calendars.

I find it amusing it's in a can and says produced and bottled in Bavaria. Although the first cans were sometimes shaped like metal bottles....

Egerer Kress St. Bonifacius Bock pours to a deep amber color with a thick foamy head and a sticky sweet malty nose. Taking a sip, the beer is redolent with thick fresh nutty malt notes and a gentle sweetness, hints of cooked corn, and a slightly grassy hop finish that allows the beer to still finish on the malty sweet side. Indeed, it’s that fresh, chewy, gently biscuity and toasty maltiness that defines this beer, and I was surprised it was as light on the hops as it was. Still, I love malt and they got the pale bock malt notes right with a truly beautiful maltiness.

I’m greatly enjoying my Beer Advent Calendar 2016 with the day 24 beer. Here’s looking forward to another assortment of 24 in 2017. We’ll be on the lookout next year at Costco once again! Follow them on their Facebook page.

The beers of the 2016 Beer Advent Calendar:

Day 1 Alpkönig Weitnauer Märzen

Day 2 Wittmann Urhell

Day 3 Lowenbrauerei Passau Urtyp Hell

Day 4 Egerer Eaglebrau Weizenbier Dunkel

Day 5 Memminger Gold Marzen

Day 6 Edel Bayer Urtyp Hell

Day 7 Herrnbrau Jubilaums Sud

Day 8 Egerer 1516 Schloss Weisse

Day 9 Kloster Urstoff Marzen

Day 10 Rieder India Pale Ale

Day 11 Bierkutscher Edel Pils

Day 12 Spath Brau Osser Osser Gold

Day 13 Schlossbrauerei Herrngiersdorf Publiner

Day 14 Egerer Altbayrisch Dunkel

Day 15 Alpinebrauerei Burgerbrau Alpen Stoff

Day 16 Kress Bayrisch Zwickel

Day 17 Hofbrauhaus Friesing Huber Weisses

Day 18 Kartauser Doppelbock Dunkel

Day 19 Hosl Marzenbier

Day 20 Alpenkonig Gold

Day 21 Ankerbrau Nordlingen Grandl Helles Lagerbier

Day 22 Herrnbrau Tradition Bayerisches Festbier

Day 23 Egerer Winterfestbier

Day 24 Egerer Kress St. Bonifacius Bock

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??

 

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled, Canned

(D)=Draft





 

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