Somewhere between hefty doppelbock and pale heller bock, the traditional dunkles bock is like the family’s middle child—it doesn’t get as much attention, but you’ll want it in your fridge year-round.

The dopplebock is a bit trickier to get just right, but when you do, you’ll have a delicious, higher-ABV dark lager to enjoy.

Full of malt depth yet dry, leaner than a doppelbock yet sneaky in strength... Once you brew a dunkles bock, you’ll wonder why you don’t have one on tap year-round.

Eisbock uses a fractional freezing process to concentrate the beer’s strength, and it does so without requiring your yeast to work overtime. The result is a smooth, rich, and intense lager—perfectly suited to sipping on a cold winter night.

Brewed once per year at Urban Chestnut’s brewery in Wolnzach, in the heart of Bavaria’s hop-growing Hallertau region, here is a homebrew-scale recipe for the strong, malty, mahogany-colored beer named for the town’s 8th-century founder.

The best doppelbocks eschew excessive sweetness and embrace balance—despite offering deep malt complexity and festive, brain-tickling strength. Here are five we love.

Brew this doppelbock with care and don’t cheat: The Invigilator is watching!

If you want to have a keg of extra-strength bock ready to go come the spring thaw, now is the time to plan your Doppelbock.

Monkish hospitality and devotion gave way to modern commercialism over a few centuries, but this Bavarian product that evolved along the way still has the power to nourish and amaze.

For advice on brewing a great doppelbock, we turned to an experienced Bavarian brewer: Florian Kuplent, cofounder and brewmaster of Urban Chestnut in St. Louis and the Hallertau.

This doppelbock is big and malty, with a warming alcohol character.

These recipes accompany the Eurisko Beer Co. video on 'Fundamentals of German-Style Beers.'

Aroma: “Strong, rich malt aroma with caramel, toast, and underlying chocolate. Dried fruits. Toasted malt aroma with hints of molasses, caramel, sweet dried fruits (prunes, dates), and sweet chocolate. Virtually no hops aroma.” Flavor: “Rich caramel and chocolate in the flavor. Almost like a Tootsie Roll. Moderate strong sweetness up front that slowly fades into a moderately dry finish. Slight moderate bitterness and a bit of alcohol warmth help balance as well. The toasty malt flavors dry out the finish.” Overall: “Very rich but clean and not overwhelming. Easy-drinking, roasted-malt, complex lager. Pleasant dark fruit notes. Gives the perception of a big strength beer. Nice balance and flow of flavors.”

Recipes for the most intensely malty beer styles—think English barleywine or German doppelbock—may call for kettle caramelization to provide a rich celebration of malt character. Here’s how and when to try it.

When peaches are in season, pick a favorite malt-forward beer to take this summertime treat to the next level. (And don’t forget the ice cream.)

Lagers can be every bit as intense as ales. Let's explore the world of intense lagers and discusses both style and production characteristics that will have you dazzling your friends’ palates in no time.

In this 48-minute video, Eurisko Beer Co. Founder and German-trained brewer Zac Harris covers the fundamentals of German-style brewing, how it differs from brewing in the U.S., and offers specific style examples to help you make better beer.

Aroma: “Prominent malt of dates, toast, and cocoa. Light brown sugar. No hops. Rich, almost velvety, malt with chocolate, plum, and toffee. Chocolate comes through the most, and the bock-malt character seems a bit low.” Flavor: “Prominent creamy cocoa. Tastes like a Tootsie Roll—mild chocolate, toffee, with an underlying toffee sweetness. Finish isn’t overwhelmingly sweet because there’s enough hops bitterness to balance and keep it from being cloying. Some nice warmth to the finish as well. Will make you think of a chocolate milk shake.” Overall: “Cocoa Puffs in liquid form. Well-fermented. If Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney made a beer together, this would be it. Ebony and Ivory. Chocolate and Vanilla.”

With a variety of peppers, all meat (no beans), and a hefty dopplebock, our version of this red chili may not hail from Texas, but it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Aroma: “Rich and malt-forward with bread crust and toast. Moderately low caramel. Some perfumy and spicy hops aromas with a hint of mushroom. Simple but very clean.” Flavor: “Rich and malt-forward in the flavor as well. Sweet. Clean lager fermentation characteristics. Noticeable alcoholic warmth that accentuates some dryness in the finish.” Overall: “Rich, malt-focused, and very clean. Very drinkable. Very well brewed.”