A few weeks ago I was at Soul Barrel Brewing in the Cape Winelands for this blog post. While I was there, because I’m nosy, I started reading the info etched on various tanks and asking what was in them and when it would be coming out. One of them contained a German style lager of the bock variety. And it is being released as a springtime beer. Its name, of course, is Spring Bock and its launch date – one day before the Springboks’ opening game in the 2023 Rugby World Cup – is perfect.

I was floored by this beer. Not the flavour of it – alas I haven’t yet tasted it. But the name. “It seems kinda obvious,” said Nick Smith, Soul Barrel’s owner, and while he’s right, the reason I was standing there with my jaw on the floor was that it was such a perfect name and to my recollection, nobody in SA had ever done a beer called Springbock before. How was this possible?

A week later, on one of my thrice-hourly Facebook scrolling sessions, I spotted a new post from The Kennel Brewery. It was one of owner Paul Freysen’s trademark silly videos, advertising the launch of their upcoming beer…Spring Bock Lager! I suppose this year it just made perfect sense: the South African spring has apparently started (still not on board with this whole ‘Spring Day on 1 September’ thing, but for the purpose of this post, it works) and the rugby is about to kick off.

I wanted to do a whole battle of the bocks face off thing ahead of the first Boks game on Sunday, but Kennel’s beer launches on Sunday and isn’t being packaged (draught only) and Soul Barrel’s launches tomorrow at the tap room. So instead, this is an informative post telling you what’s available, where to get it and allowing you to come to your own conclusions about the beers.

The bock is a fairly strong, malt-forward lager that undergoes a long lagering period to mellow out the big flavours and booziness. There are several different styles of bock, varying in colour, flavor and strength.

Soul Barrel’s Spring Bock is a Maibock – a beer that was traditionally brewed and lagered in the cold winter months then drunk in spring (Mai meaning May in German and May of course falling in the northern hemisphere spring ). Also known as a Helles Bock, the Maibock might be lighter in colour than other beers in the bock family, but it still carries a fair amount of alcohol (usually in the 6-9% ABV range). Soul Barrel’s is slightly lower at 5.4% – a fine strength for a rugby beer I’d say. Less rich and more hop-forward than other styles of bock, the Maibock is a great afternoon sipper.

Kennel’s Spring Bock – a collaboration with the Biggest Little Beer Shop in Bellville – is darker and stronger at 6.3% and falls somewhere between the Maibock and the Dunkelbock. Paul describes it as “malt-forward with undertones of roasted nuts and some subtle caramel flavour”, which sounds pretty damn good to me.

Try and seek them both out this weekend and let me know which one you reckon pairs best with the rugby.