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Styles · Dunkles Bock

Beer style · BJCP 2021 6C

Dunkles Bock

Amber Malty European Lager

Published ranges These are the ranges the BJCP 2021 guidelines publish for this style.

Original gravity
1.064–1.072
Final gravity
1.013–1.019
Bitterness
20–27 IBU
Color
14–22 SRM (28–43 EBC)
Alcohol
6.3–7.2 % ABV

What it is

The traditional dark bock: deep amber to brown, rich in Munich malt toast and light caramel, warmed by alcohol and bittered only enough to stop it cloying. Roast and hop flavor both stay out of the picture. Months of cold lagering are what make the strength drinkable.

Flavor

What a Dunkles Bock should taste like, on the three wheels the studio scores every recipe against. The shaded ring is the style’s range on each axis, from 0 at the center to 5 at the edge.

Hops

Hops stay in the background: none of their character belongs.

Malt

Bready/biscuit, toasty and sweet/honey, with room for grainy, caramel, dark fruit or chocolate.

Fermentation

Clean, with room for sulfur.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Dunkles Bock has classically been brewed with.

Nothing else on character: the hops here are there for bitterness and balance, and any variety whose aroma you would notice is out of place.

Yeasts that suit it

Strains the lab made for beers like this one, whose fermentation character sits inside the style’s wheel. A strain sold by several labs is listed once; its page names the others.

And 29 more yeasts whose character fits. These are the 24 that fit best.

Style numbers, names and vital statistics are from the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, where you will find the official descriptions. The descriptions and flavor wheels here are Beerwright’s own. Beerwright is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BJCP.