Chicagoist's Beer Of The Week: Local Option's Voku Hila

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Aug 15, 2014 8:30PM

While we weren't too enthusiastic about the drop in temperatures this week, we were able to find something suitable to drink that made us forget the weather for a while.

Voku Hila is a maibock from the guys at Local Option. It pours a delightful, pale-gold color in the glass, with notes of sweet pastries and spicy hops on the nose. On the palate, the malt profile is toasty up front, but turns wonderfully juicy right away and gives us a hefty dose of toasted biscuits, toffee and honeysuckle. Those spicy hops kick in on the mid-palate, and shine through just enough to balance before they lend a pleasant, earthy bitterness to the finish. At 6.5 percent alcohol content, Voku Hila is pretty true to style for a maibock, and dangerously easy to drink for being pretty full-bodied. We're big fans of this style, and we're really glad that Local Option is making this beer.

Bocks are lager beers that originated in Bavaria. They're typically stronger than other lagers, and can be blonde, amber or dark in color. Maibocks are bock beers that are usually deep gold or light amber in color, and they're brewed to have a more notable hop presence that would have made them better fit to send off to other parts of Europe.

Traditionally, maibocks are served in the Springtime since they're quite refreshing and thirst quenching despite the higher alcohol content, but we appreciate them whenever we can find one since you don't see very many in the states, let alone American brewed representations that are as delicious as Voku Hila.

Voku Hila is available on draft and in 500ml bottles. Check beermenus.com to see where you can grab some today.