Which is why it’s surprising that it’s taken me so long to harvest any of this lovely data. A decade or two. What was I thinking of? With my scanner and OCR software, I had everything safely in a spreadsheet in a jiffy. Once there, I could start playing with it. As you do.
Now I’ve got the formula for converting Plato to SG coded, I can do all sorts of clever things. Well, not really, but I can flip around between the two systems. The main manipulation I’ve done is to calculate the FG and degree of attenuation. The sort of crap I’m usually – or perhaps unusually would be more appropriate – interested in.
I’ve decided to split them into two groups: top- and bottom-fermenting. When I decided on that I thought it would be a neat way of dividing the old from the new. Expecting all the examples from older breweries to be Lagers, and those from the new boys not. I was caught out by many beers falling into an unexpected group.
I’m still not sure whether I believe that Brand Dubbelbock is really top-fermented. It’s also odd that some breweries with multiple Boks – Oldskool and Pelgrim, for instance – have examples that are both top- and bottom-fermented. So I’m not totally sure what my split has achieved.
I’ve excluded beers explicitly called Dubbelbok, though have left in ones whose gravity is in the right range (>18º Plato) but are just called Bok.
Though it’s nice to have a number for bitterness, the table demonstrates how careful you have to be with such figures. Of the traditional Boks, Grolsch looks on paper the most bitter. Yet I know from experience the opposite is true. Grolsch Bok in undrinkably sweet, coming over more like an Imperial Oud Bruin, full of artificial sweetener.
Overall, the average is very much like the classic Bok spec: 16 to 16.5º Plato, 6.5% ABV. Quite a few beers are on the pale side. I’d consider anything under 40 to be struggling to fit the style. I thought there were actually rules about the colour and OG in Holland for autumn Bok.
That’s me done, so here’s the table:
2015 Bottom-fermenting Dutch Bok | ||||||||
Year | Brewer | Beer | OG Plato | FG Plato | ABV | App. Atten-uation | Colour (EBC) | bitterness (EBU) |
2015 | Alfa | Alfa Bokbier | 16.5 | 4.50 | 6.50 | 73.98% | 47.5 | 26 |
2015 | Amstel | Amstel Bock | 16.5 | 3.58 | 7.00 | 79.39% | 70 | 28 |
2015 | Bavaria | Bok | 16.5 | 4.50 | 6.50 | 73.98% | 75 | 26 |
2015 | Bekeerde Suster | Gewaeghde Bock | 16.5 | 4.50 | 6.50 | 73.98% | 60 | 26 |
2015 | Budels | Herfstbock | 16.0 | 3.96 | 6.50 | 76.41% | ||
2015 | Christoffel (H) | Christoffel Bok | 20.3 | 6.21 | 7.80 | 71.02% | 70 | 30 |
2015 | De Leckere | Rode toren | 16.1 | 4.07 | 6.50 | 75.88% | 53 | 30 |
2015 | De Noordt | Nooriit Bok | 16 | 3.04 | 7.00 | 81.93% | 45 | 25 |
2015 | Emelisse | Emelisse Herfslbock | 16.5 | 4.50 | 6.50 | 73.98% | 45 | 17 |
2015 | Grolsch | Grolsch Herfstbok | 16.5 | 4.50 | 6.50 | 73.98% | 70 | 30 |
2015 | Groningse Bierbrouwerij (H) | Grunn Bock | 17.0 | 4.11 | 7.00 | 77.02% | 100 | 40 |
2015 | Huttenkloas (H) | Winterbock | 17.0 | 3.20 | 7.50 | 82.19% | 46 | 30 |
2015 | Kaf en koren (H) | De rook van Rotterdam | 16.6 | 4.61 | 6.50 | 73.49% | 43 | 35 |
2015 | Koperen Kat | Delltse Donderslag | 15.4 | 2.41 | 7.00 | 85.17% | 45 | 43 |
2015 | Maallust | Landloperbock | 16.5 | 4.13 | 6.70 | 76.13% | 62 | 32 |
2015 | Mommeriete | Mommeriete Rookbock | 16.5 | 4.13 | 6.70 | 76.13% | 60 | 32 |
2015 | Muifelbrouwerij (H) | D'n Ossebock | 16 | 3.04 | 7.00 | 81.93% | 35 | 25 |
2015 | Oedipus | Speciale Bock | 19 | 6.26 | 7.00 | 68.63% | 35 | 25 |
2015 | Oersoep | Sexy motherbocker | 16 | 3.04 | 7.00 | 81.93% | 35 | |
2015 | Oldskool (H) | Reinheitsgebok | 19.5 | 4.98 | 8.00 | 75.88% | 44 | 50 |
2015 | Pelgrim | Pelgrim Bockbier | 16.6 | 5.53 | 6.00 | 68.11% | 70 | 30 |
2015 | Sallandse landbrouwerij | Bokkige Theodorus | 17 | 3.20 | 7.50 | 82.19% | 46 | 30 |
2015 | Scheveningen | Scheveninger Herfstbock | 16.5 | 4.50 | 6.50 | 73.98% | 65 | 30 |
2015 | Sint Jutternis | Tilburgs bock 2015 | 16.7 | 3.98 | 6.90 | 77.32% | ||
2015 | Spierbier | Gespierde bock | 16 | 4.16 | 6.40 | 75.19% | 24 | 25 |
2015 | Wispe brouwerij | Wispe bock | 17 | 4.11 | 7.00 | 77.02% | 57 | 30 |
2015 | Zeven Deugden | Bock en Sprong | 18 | 4.27 | 7.50 | 77.50% | 34 | 30 |
2015 | Gulpener | Gulpener Herfslbock | 16.5 | 4.50 | 6.50 | 73.98% | ||
Average | 16.83 | 4.20 | 6.86 | 76.37% | 54.23 | 30.40 | ||
Source: | ||||||||
Bokbierfetival programme 2015, pages 24 - 28. |
(H) means contract brewed.
I wish I could be arsed to go through th 20-odd Bokbierfestival programmes I have to pull out the full historic data. But I've other more urgent bollocks, let alone the arsing.
Top-fermenters next time.
1 comment:
Despite that, I'm not the biggest amateur of that style (which Nederlanders perceiving as their one & own, Proud to be Dutch style). My alter ego, when is looking at such numbers, wants to brew!!! :) Great work Ron, as usual :) Thankee.
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