Rahr

By Barry Shlachter
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Holding aloft a mug of Rahr & Sons' newest beer, a seasonal product for spring called Bucking Bock, a patron of a downtown bar was overheard exclaiming: "This makes me proud to be from Fort Worth."

The Cowtown microbrewery's seasonal maibock is a winner.

But it's a deliciously sly one.

Brewer Fritz Rahr was aiming for 7.5 percent alcohol, but the Bucking Bock finished out at slightly above 8 percent, he said. The taste is so smooth, so clean, that one can all too easily forget that this innocent-looking, clear-reddish-brown brew packs more than twice the wallop of mainstream lagers.

I usually pour a beer just before dinner, take a sip or two and then enjoy the rest with my meal. The night I brought home a carton of "longhorns" -- Rahr's term for longnecks -- the beer was poured, a nice 2-inch head of frothy foam materialized and, before I realized it, the mug had been drained.

The Bucking Bock was delightful. Despite its rich color, it has a light to medium mouth feel. Then the alcohol hit. This is not a "session" beer, to be downed in multiples. It is one to savor -- if you can exercise restraint.

If you're put off by uber-hopped microbrews, this might be the beer for you. It's the malts you taste, not the hops. Fritz uses a base of two-row malted barley from his family's malt company, then adds Munich and Crystal malt.

Compared with Rahr's other beers, each batch of Bucking Bock requires an extra 600 pounds of grain and almost double the fermentation time -- 80 days instead of 42, Rahr said, explaining why it costs an extra $2 a six-pack.

If early sales are any indication, the Fort Worth microbrewery has a hit on its hands. The store manager who sold me my six-pack said half his 20-case order flew out the door on the first afternoon.

Rahr is planning to bring the Bucking Bock back every year as "our annual spring seasonal" but noted that "we've already had people ask us to keep it year-round."

For summer, he's planning a German-style rogenweizen, which is similar to a hefeweizen, a wheat yeast lager, but with rye malt thrown in. It's to be called Summer Time Wheat.