Crawford Bock - Karbach Brewing Review
For us, there isn’t much better than a cold beer at a spring baseball game. Many beers fit the bill when it comes to drinking around the diamond, but few are made specifically for the occasion. Crawford Bock from Karbach Brewing is one of those beers. It’s a Houston proud lager with the Astros’ logo printed right on the side. Crawford Bock is made for baseball, but what makes it so?
A Bock is a German dark lager with an emphasis on toasty and dark malt, and it is a very popular style of beer in Texas. Karbach Brewing starts their Bock off with Two row, Medium Crystal, Munich, and Black malt, and they finish it off with Cascade and Chinook hops. The final result is a beer with 4.5% ABV and 19 IBU.
A good baseball beer needs to be crisp and light to compete with the summer heat. It also needs to be sessionable and able to cut through the fatty and rich foods we often enjoy at baseball games. Let’s see how Crawford Bock stands up in our first impressions.
First Impressions:
On the Eyes--Pours a dark amber, clear, and is topped with an off-white head. A good start for a dark lager.
On the Nose--Crisp and light, with notes of gentle caramel and a touch of malt toastiness. Enticing and ready to be quaffed, as a good baseball beer should be.
On the Palate--Just like the aroma, Crawford Bock is rich in malt flavor with sweet notes of caramel playing nicely with the roasted malt notes. It is medium-bodied but with enough effervescence to cut through a fatty meal. It has the crisp and clean flavor of a lager, and with its low ABV it’s begging to be followed by another. As expected, Crawford Bock is light in hoppiness, but floral notes are detectable from the Cascade hops, and some gentle earthy notes from the Chinook come through, making the finish balanced and smooth and not overly sweet—Great characteristics for a Bock to have.
Food Pairings: Karbach suggests pairing Crawford Bock with Stadium dogs, Cracker Jacks, Peanuts, Nachos, and a 7th inning stretch. We paired ours with Slovacek’s hickory smoked sausage made with Karbach’s Crawford bock, and the rich sausages paired excellently with the malty and sessionable beer. Peanuts are a homerun pairing as well.
Final Thoughts:
Crawford Bock is a Texas classic and a Houston staple. You can’t go watch a game at Minute Maid park without grabbing one (or two), and with good reason. The beer is lighter in ABV than many Bock beers, which makes it easy to drink even in the Houston heat and humidity. It retains some European qualities as an homage to the bock style, but with the American hops and the Texas touch it stands unique. It is light and crisp but still retains a lot of malty flavor and the right amount of Cascade and Chinook hoppiness to make it a clean finish, like wiping all the bases after sending a rope over the fence.
If you’re tired of hop heavy beers but need something to get you through spring and summer, give Crawford Bock a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Cheers!
Mr. Brew