Celebrating Spring, breweries Chainline, Georgetown, and Lowercase; collaborate to release Maibock.

image courtesy Chainline Brewing Company

In the ongoing spirit of innovation in the face of a pandemic, breweries in Washington’s Kirkland and Seattle have joined forces to celebrate Spring. 

Known as a Heller Maibock or Maibock (for short), the style derived its name from brewers in Germany’s Einbeck, in the central region. Starting in the 13th century, this beer would eventually become a hit in Bavaria, where the natives would pronounce it Ein Bock, meaning Billy Goat. Eventually the name stuck and Bock paired with the appearance of goats. 

Brewed for special occasions, Bocks were often stronger than the German pilsners and wheat beers you might have associated with Germany. Besides special occasions, history tells us Bavarian monks, during the Christian fasting season of Lent, sustaining themselves on Bock. However, by the mid-18th century, Germans turned their attention toward lighter styles like Pilsners, Helles, resulting in the birth of (you guessed it) Heller Bock. 

Inspired by the classic Heller Bock, Chainline Brewing had this to say about the three-way release with Lowercase Brewing Company and Georgetown Brewing Company. 

This strong lager was single-decocted on Chainline’s new brewhouse and lagered extensively. … This easy-to-drink 7.1% ABV beer is straw-yellow with a great bready character, touch of toast and noble hop refreshment. It’s the perfect beer for slowing down and relaxing on a nice, sunny spring day.

So far, Chainline Brewing has confirmed the release of Maibock, available Friday, May 1st, at their Kirkland taproom.

• Chainline Brewing Company is located at 503 6th St South in Kirkland, WA 98033. For additional information about the brewery, visit https://www.chainlinebrew.com/. 

• Lowercase Brewing Company is located at 6235 Airport Way South in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. For more information, visit http://www.lowercasebrewing.com/. 

• Georgetown Brewing Company is located at 5200 Denver Ave S, Seattle, WA 98108 in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. For more information, visit https://georgetownbeer.com/. 

About Chainline Brewing Company

Inspired by the active outdoor lifestyle of the Pacific Northwest and situated alongside Kirkland's brand new bicycle corridor, our goal is to provide the Seattle area with the finest locally-made Northwest style Ales and Lagers. Look for us in local restaurants and craft beer establishments around Seattle, or check us out in person.

About Georgetown Brewing Company

Manny asked me to write up a history of the brewery for the website. 

In general, I find history pieces really boring. It’s always the same kind of thing about how the founders loved beer so much, they decided to quit their boring insurance jobs where they couldn’t drink beer for a living, and dedicate their lives to brewing well crafted beers. 

First of all, everyone loves beer. Even if you don’t, you know someone that does. Second, everyone hates their boring jobs and wishes they could drink beer for work. Third, no one sets out to intentionally make bad beer, even at Strangebrew in Port Townsend. 

Instead, I wrote a really impassioned think piece about growlers, how the growth of our growler program mirrored the history of the company. It was really clever. Or brave. Or meta. I thought it was good. And I’m pretty sure I didn’t mention cats once. 

But Manny wanted something more along the lines about how he and Roger met over their love of ultimate frisbee (aka, beer drinking) and wanted to start a business together because they hated working for The Man and they actually wanted to open up a cat food company. Just kidding, they wanted to start a brewery. Literally: they loved beer, quit an insurance job (that was Roger, Manny may or may not have been employed at the time) and wanted to make really good beer. You know, boring.

About Lowercase Brewing

Our brewery's not an academy. It's not a science lab. It's a place to make beer. And have a beer.

A good one. Hopefully, a great one.

We got our start making beer in our basement and seeing what our friends thought of it.

After a little trial and error, the beer started tasting pretty good. 

Come On Down.