Beerwright
Open the studio

Styles · Eisbock

Beer style · BJCP 2021 9B

Eisbock

Strong European Beer

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

Original gravity
1.078–1.120
Final gravity
1.020–1.035
Bitterness
25–35 IBU
Color
18–30 SRM (35–59 EBC)
Alcohol
9.0–14.0 % ABV

What it is

A doppelbock concentrated by freezing the beer and removing the ice, which pushes malt, dark fruit and alcohol to an extreme. It should be intense and warming yet still smooth, never hot or solvent-like. Holding balance at that strength is the whole challenge.

Flavor

What a Eisbock 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, dark fruit and sweet/honey, with room for grainy, caramel or chocolate.

Fermentation

Clean, with room for fruity esters.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Eisbock 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.