The origin of Bockbier

I've come to be very dubious of nice, pat stories about the origin of a beer style. Most don't bear up to close examination.

Even before I'd plunged into the murky depths of beer history, I had my doubts about the story about Bockbier. The tale usually told is that strong Einbeck beer became popular in Bavaria and gradually "Einbeck Bier" became "Ein Bock Bier". There's something about it that doesn't ring true. Plus a billy goat is a pretty obvious symbol of strength. Couldn't the animal just as easily be the source of the name?

Then today I fell over an alternative story, which does indeed involve a real goat:

"The bock or the Bavarian bock beer (a double-lager very popular in Bavaria) has its jocular name to thank to an old tale of the sick child of the Duke of Bavaria, according to which an old Mountaineer prepared for this child a thick, medicinal beer with aromatic, bitter mountain herbs which a page found to be quite flavourful and tasted too enthusiastically, so that it wobbled and then even fell over. When he uttered the babbling excuse while lying on the floor, that the little goat the Duke's child had brought along had done it, the old hunter jokingly rejected the guilt of the peaceful little goat, and pushed it onto on the buck (here pointing into the empty cup) who had jabbed it with a strong horn in the grass. The Duke's child laughed out loud again for the first time over this, and wanted to drink some of the wonderful juice himself, which was given to him drop by drop and the child became perfectly well again and gained strength every day.

When the hunter was asked by the Duke to request a reward for the cure, he asked nothing more than that every year the Duke should prepare for his people such a potion, in enough quantity so that all the people would grow strong, but the pages would not throw it into the grass.

Since that time bock was brewed every year only at the court and usually given away in the spring in the merry month of May, and the preparing and serving of this drink was originally a monopoly of the Bavarian Crown.

Besides this Bock or double-lager, a distinction is generally still made in Bavaria between Winterbier and Sommerbier (in the former one more Eimer is brewed from a Bavarian bushel of malt than the latter, whence this is also stronger than that) and then wheat beer from barley and wheat."
"Ertrags-Berechnung einer Braunbierbrauerei in Bayern : mit einer Vorrede über geschichtliche Erfindung des Bieres" by J. F. Herzog, 1846,  pages 4 - 5. (My translation.)

My apologies for the crap translation. The original was written in that particularly annoying 19th-century German style with lots of dependent clauses all strung together. It's impossible to turn into readable English without complete restructuring.

Now I will say that I don't find this new tale any more believable. But it does involve a goat, a sick child and drunken servant. Who could fail to be charmed by a story like that? What surprised me most was that I'd never come across it before.

Quickly searching the web to see if I could find another mention of the sick child story, I came across this quote about the connections between goats and beer:

"By the Germans Heidrun, the goat, donated a particularly palatable juice; two goats beautified the feast of Odin at Ögir and dragged from Hymir, the giant, a brew kettle there. In short, the links betweenf beer and Bock are very numerous."
"Pustekuchen! Lauter kulinarische Wortgeschichten" by Christoph Gutknecht, 2005, page 42. (My translation.)

That seems to fit with my theory about the name really coming from the animal. Though just a couple of paragraphs later the Einbeck story is repeated.

Not sure I've learned anything from this. Other than to be even more sceptical of nice stories.



Here are the German originals in case you don't trust my translations.

Der Bock oder das bayerische Bockbier (ein in Bayern sehr beliebtes Doppel-Lagerbier) hat seinen scherzhaften Namen einer alten Sage von dem kranken bayerischen Herzogskinde zu verdanken, nach welcher der von einem alten Gebirgsjäger diesem Kinde bereitete, mit aromatischen, bitteren Gebirgskräutern versetzte und dickeingesottene, arzneiliche Gerstensaft von einem Pagen als gar wohlschmeckend befunden und zu stark verkostet wurde, so daß derselbe davon zum Taumeln gebracht und dann gar umgeworfen wurde. Bei seiner im Liegen auf dem Boden lallend hervorgebrachten Entschuldigung, das dem Herzogskinde beigefellte Gebirgsgeislein habe es gethan, wies der alte Jäger die Schuld von dem friedlichen Geislein scherzend ab, und schob sie auf den Bock, (dabei in den leeren Becher hineinzeigend) der habe ihn mit starkem Horn gestochen in das Gras. Das Herzogskind habe hierüber zum ersten Male wieder laut gelacht, und von dem wundbaren Safte selbft zu trinken begehrt, welcher ihm auch Tropfenweise gereicht und davon das Kind wieder ganz gesund worden und täglich mehr erstarkt sey.

Der Jägersmann von dem Herzoge zum Begehren eines Dankes und Lohnes für die so glückliche Kur aufgefordert, habe nichts verlangt als das, der Herzog möge alle Jahr für sein Volk einen solchen Trank bereiten, ihn jedoch im weisen Maaße reichen, damit das ganze Volk erstarke, aber nicht dem Pagen gleich ins Gras geworfen werde.

Seit jener Zeit wurde der Bock alljährlich nur am Hofe gebraut und im Frühlinge gewöhnlich im Wonnemonat Mai verschenkt, und ist das Bereiten und Ausschenken dieses Getränks ursprünglich also ein Monopol der Krone Bayerns.

Außer diesem Bock- oder Doppel-Lagerbier unterscheidet man in Bayern allgemein noch das Winter- und Sommerbier, (bei ersterem wird von 1 bayer. Schffl. Malz 1 Eimer mehr gebraut, als vom letzteren, woher auch diefes stärker ist als jenes,) und dann noch Weißbier aus Gerste und Waizen.

 

Hans Reiman: "Bei den Germanen spendete Heidrun, die Ziege, einen ganz besonders süffigen Saft; zwei Böcke verschönten das Mahl Odins bei ögir und schleppten von Hymir, dem Riesen, einen Braukessel hierbei. Kurzum, der Beziehungen vom Bier zum Bock sind sehr etliche."
"Pustekuchen! Lauter kulinarische Wortgeschichten" by Christoph Gutknecht, 2005, page 42.