Max Lager's Gimme Chocolate Bock

Chocolate is one of those different ingredients that can work as harmoniously with the flavors in beer as any hop. Did I say that?!! Any hop??!! Well yes…and Gimme Chocolate Bock is a perfect example. I brewed GCB specifically for the Chocolate! for Cystic Fibrosis Festival, which we participate in every year. Normally I manipulate certain malts in the grain bill to emulate the rich tones of chocolate. This time I decided to “try something different” (so sue me) and meld the complexities of dark roasted and toasted malts with the rich and slightly bitter flavors of pure cocoa nibs. I worked with Olive and Sinclair Chocolates in Nashville to find the correct varietal of cocoa and decided on the beautiful dark flavors of cocoa from Ghana. I wanted the illusion of milk chocolate so I sweetened the deal with some nutty caramel malt and added a creaminess with flaked oats. All brought together with a clean lager fermentation to allow the chocolate flavors to shine. The result is a beer I am now infatuated with…addicted too…GIMME CHOCOLATE BOCK!!!!