New Glarus Cabin Fever Honey Bock, a shade shorter than a Helles/Mai Bock

Dang. I went to take a photo of the first beer I’m drinking tonight and the batteries are dead on the camera. My wife’s camera…..same thing. So I had to resort to using my camera phone, so excuse the quality of the pic. But here is the new one from New Glarus, Cabin Fever Honey Bock. I am a bit confused on what this style is, since it really is not a traditional bock, and not really a traditional Helles Bock, it sort of lays where a beer would be right before the Helles Bock, if such a style formally existed. There is no claim to style, other than calling it a Wisconsin Pale Honey Bock. So, for this beer I am throwing out the score sheet (I will not be using category 23 for this beer, since I don’t think it really has a base style either, technically if you were entering it in competition you could claim Helles Bock as the base style, and list the changes but everything about this beer from the hop strength, ABV, malts used, addition of honey….still strip it from being a Helles base style in my eyes.) and judge this beer for what it is and very loosely base my judgement on the overall parameters of what a bock is.

1) It’s a  lager.
2)Tends to focus on malt, usually Vienna or Munich malts are used.
3) They tend to be higher in alcohol than most other lagers, but in this case even the strength is toned down.
4) Should have  a complex malty profile.

In the aroma of this beer there is a crisp biscuit malt flavor along with a soft touch of caramel, however it could be the play of  honey along with the malt. There is a bit of hop aroma, but not much. Overall, the aroma is fairly light with a focus on a bit of sweet malt.

It pours a crystal clear gold, a shade darker than a good Pilsner. It poured a nice head, but that disappeared quickly.

The flavor is nice, some great lighter malt flavors. There is a some faint toast, some good biscuity malt, and a hint of honey. The hop bitterness is just enough to balance the malt, but there is a touch too much sweetness for my taste. However the beer does finish fairly well. Flavors are clean and as I would expect from a beer that appears to be an attempt at a Bock, a step below a Helles.

Mouthfeel is medium with a good amount of carbonation to help crisp up that sweetness.

Overall, I think they hit what they were attempting to do, which is make a beer a shade shy of a Helles Bock, with some honey added. This beer is well made and a far cry from the Extreme beer craze that we are in the middle of now in the craft beer world. Is it an A+ in my book, no. But it is a nice beer fitting for springtime. I do feel that a touch more hops would have helped even out the beer a bit more in my opinion though.

In the end, I were to grade this, I would shoot it a B. It may not be my favorite beer from New Glarus, but I do think they hit the mark with what they were attempting to do. So even though in my opinion the beer is average, I do give it bonus points for achievement.