Soured green grape tartness and lemony orange rind bittering softly linger above toasted white bread spine. Astringent hops affect dry citric finish. Wispy strawberry, banana and cider undertones stay submerged.

Favorable springtime amber lager soaks raw-honeyed orange, red and yellow fruiting in perfumed citric hop resin to its wheat cracker spine. Lemon-rotted navel orange, yellow grape, tangerine, crab apple and pink grapefruit illusions as well as boozy vodka-tinged astringency desiccate pleasant sugar-spiced malting.

Lustrous citric fruiting brightens dry-hopped 2014 maibock. Grapefruit-peeled navel orange, clementine, tangerine and lemon juicing absorbs subtle pilsner malting.

Summery bock lager (bottled for Illinois’ Local Option Bierwerker) brings beautiful floral bouquet to up-front sugary citric spicing and bittersweet raw-honeyed herbage. Clean-watered minerality and doughy pale malted breading provide base for lemony grapefruit-yellowed tartness and brisk navel orange tang. Peppery oregano-basil niche picks up teensy black tea snip. 

On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, springtime heller bock brings German pilsner yeast to zesty lemon dusting and floral honey mead wining. Delicate clay-hopped spicing tingles effervescent citric-soured finish. Grassy reminder nudges light white wheat spine.

Mildly interesting amber-rubied maibock utilizes subtle beet sugaring to affect maca-rooted chestnut roast, sarsaparilla-rooted sassafras and molasses hazelnut biscotti snip. Soft pink grapefruit, peach, melon and cherry undertones pass thru light hop astringency.

Genial pale-toned moderate-bodied spring bock retains crisp, clean, dry-bodied nature and delicate water flow. Subtle honeyed malt creaminess enhances polite spice-hopped fruiting and leafy floral nuances. Mellow peach, grape and quince illusions prickle biscuit-y cornbread spine and placid nuttiness. A nearly perfect post-prohibition-styled macrobrew reintroduced to the market around 2010.

Decent pearl-headed copper-toned helles-like spring bock spreads capacious lemon-seeded sourness across floral citric niceties, grassy Noble hops and doughy white breading. Setback honeyed grain sweetness enlivens wavered pink grapefruit, navel orange, tangerine, mango and melon fruiting.

On tap, dewy leafy-hopped gourd-like autumnal crispness spreads across abundant red-fruited apple-spiced sweetness and honeyed caramel malts countering peppery rye-dried lip-smack of sensational springtime suds. Tertiary twig, grape stem, zucchini, and squash illusions hide beneath earthen moisture. Less malt-sweetened than a typical Octoberfest and never coarsely harsh, retaining soft, buttery mouthfeel. Superb maibock is best of class.

Pleasant Vienna-styled caramel-malted grain-roasted sweetness heightens red apple, cherry, peach, and melon fruiting that fades too quickly into phenol recess. Wood-dried floral-spiced hops and teasing grapefruit rind tartness subtly embitter fruited front end. Mildewed fig-prune souring and puckering white grape tartness fill the back end. But better maibock lagers have sweeter malt residue, brighter nectar juiciness, and bitterer hop counteraction for truer springtime ambience.