Maibock and Mosaic - two words you don't usually hear together

Yeah, a Maibock brewed with mosaic hops sounds pretty blasphemous, and I don’t mean to suggest that’s what Chuckanut Brewery did. They just announced the annual release of their award-winning Maibock and also introduced a new pilsner brewed using Mosaic hops, or at least a Mosaic-based product.

My Bock or May Bock

I’ve most often heard it pronounced, “Keep your hands off MY bock.” Though I’ve heard Germanophiles, and even native German-speakers, pronounce it both ways: “my bock” and something closer to “may bock.” Accents, dialects, and native tongues aside, I’m going to continue calling maibock my bock.

Without going into details about things like the Christian tradition of observing lent, fasting monks, springtime fertility festivals, and billygoats, know that maibock is typically brewed for release during the spring months.

Chuckanut describes its award-winning Maibock like this:

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“Maibock is a deep golden Bock with moderate bitterness balancing out a slightly sweet malty palate packed with rich, ripe fruit aromas of golden raisins and dried fruits.”

“The lengthy lagering period can sometimes take over 3 months! Plenty of malt and high alcohol strength with a clean finish makes this lager dangerously smooth. Winner of a Gold Medal at GABF (Great American Beer Festival) 2020. Maibock is a great match with any rich foods or desserts. It’s great as an evening sipper too!”

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Mosaic Leaf Pilsner

A lot of breweries are messing around creatively with pilsner these days. It’s a tricky business. I imagine that you, like me, have enjoyed your share of variations on this traditional style of beer.

For my money, few breweries stack up against Chuckanut Brewery when it comes to coloring creatively inside the fine lines of this style of beer. Whether it be the regular Pilsner Lager or the Bohemian-Style Pilsner, the Citra Leaf Pilsner or the Italian-Style Pilsner, Chuckanut Brewery always manages to impress and delight me while also keeping the ball in bounds.

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The brewery just introduced the newest player in its pilsner game: Mosaic Leaf Pilsner. When Chuckanut Brewery introduced Citra Leaf Pilsner, I did a rather lengthy post about the innovation behind the hop products used in the beer. Read about it here. This beer is similar but different.

“For those who have experienced Chuckanut’s Citra Leaf Pilsner you are now in luck,” said the release announcement from Chuckanut Brewery. “The Mosaic Leaf Pilsner is a new spin on Chuckanut’s Pilsner recipe, replacing some of the classic European noble hops with a considerable amount of WA State’s American Noble Mosaic Leaf hops.”

Okay, there’s another new term: American noble hop. I also discussed that in the aforementioned article, if you want a deeper understanding.

“The American Noble Mosaic Leaf Hop is only the bract (or leafy part) of the hop cone, not the lupulin glands, giving less bitterness than using the full hop flower.”

The description of Mosiac Leaf Pilsner includes words like blueberry, tropical fruits, and spicy bitterness. As for food pairing, Chuckanut suggests that it is great with any Southeast Asian, Mexican, or Indian cuisine, adding that “This beer will easily put the fire out and allow you to continue to enjoy any spicy foods! Or enjoy it by itself on a hot spring day to cool you down.”

For more news about recent beer releases, visit the Washington Beer Blog’s New Beer Releases page.

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