Bock Beer and Die Innenstadt: A History

From DI President Ryan Lammi

Cincinnati celebrates the coming of spring every year with an annual party known as Bockfest. In addition to the coming of spring we are also celebrating the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine and bock beer.

Bock beer was traditionally brewed by monks in the winter. It was generally the first lager-style beer available in the new year, and the timing of this beer often lines up perfectly with the Lenten season. Monks would fast during Lent, but there was one important thing that wasn’t forbidden during this time: beer. Bock beer is relatively high in essential nutrients, which was important for the fasting monks. However, the bock beer is also higher in alcohol content. Bock beers average around 8% alcohol compared to the typical 4-6% of most other lager beers.

Although the word “bock” means “goat” in German, the origin of bock beers actually has nothing to do with real goats. The beer is believed to originate from the German town of Einbeck (which sounds a lot like "a goat") before being exported across the country and around the world. Combining the fasting with a purely liquid diet of high-alcohol beer is a dangerous combination, and led to many stories about how bock beer “actually” got its name.

One such story involves two monks sitting around during Lent who engaged in a friendly drinking competition. After several beers a monastery goat walks by and startles one of the monks as he’s leaning back in his chair and he falls over. He blames it on the goat, but the other monk turns to him and says it wasn’t that goat that knocked him over, but the "goat" in the beer.