Bock Ale!

Ok, so I made a freak mistake that kinda worked out.

A while back I brewed a mini-mash Bock kit from AustinHomebrew. Seeing as I had never made one before I didn't realize the German Bock Yeast is NOT an ale yeast, but a lager yeast!

I fermented the stuff at room temperature!

OG was 1.042 against a target of 1.045 and the FG at 1.008 against a target of 1.012 (neither of which are temperature corrected).

Had a seemingly normal fermentation cycle, with about 2 weeks in the primary and 3 weeks in the secondary with some gelatin finings. It looked and acted like any other normal ale fermentation I've done.

Siphoned into a corny keg and let it sit in the fridge for a few weeks and KA-BLAM.... that stuff was GREAT. I had people visiting and trying it out and everyone loved it! It was nice and dark and I guess people expected it to be bitter because of that, but it wasn't. It was really well balanced, malty goodness with enough hoppiness to keep it from being "sweet". A very easy drinking, smooth dark "ale".

Questions:
Is there a proper name for what I made and could I expect similar results if I just repeat the same process? I really loved that beer, and we killed that keg in no time! I was ordering stuff yesterday and started to order another Bock kit when I noticed the error.

"Steam beer" is the name usually given to beer using a lager yeast and fermented at room temperature. So, I guess you made a bock-like steam beer?! I'm glad it turned out so good for you- that's awesome!

The most famous steam beer that I know if is Anchor Steam. That started in the 1800s, when brewers used lager yeast, but didn't have the cold temperatures to ferment and store the lager. It's actually become its own style now. That's the only steam beer I've tried making, but I've often used ale yeast (fermented at 60 degrees or so) to make a Mock-toberfest and that came out very good. I like to use a clean ale yeast for faux lagers, and ferment them at the cold range of the yeast's tolerance. I've never tried a true lager yeast at ale temperatures, because the California Lager yeast I use in the steam beer clone is kind of a hybrid yeast, I believe.

Buzz, I did the same thing you did with a Shiner Bock clone from Austin Homebrew. It was my first beer and I didn't (still don't) have lagering capability, so I just kept it at room temperature. There weren't any complaints with how it turned out.

This is all good to hear, because I love bocks, but haven't been able to tackle the lagering and cool temps necessary to properly ferment a lager yeast. I'll have to give it a try with neutral ale yeast to match yall's positive results!

Steam Bock! Thanks for the info, very helpful stuff. I will most certainly make this one again. It's so fancy, maybe I'll call it my "Beamer".

The most famous steam beer that I know if is Anchor Steam.

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The ONLY steam beer. Just ask their lawyers.