A European-style beer bar and restaurant is about to open on the parcel that previously housed famed South Park watering hole Hamilton’s Tavern. Going by the handle Bock, it’s named for a strong German-style lager, but given the three-plus years it took to get the venue constructed, it might have been more fitting to reference a barrel-aged imperial stout. After much work and waiting, the final steps have been completed ‒ obtaining sign-off from the health department, initial inventory load-in and a successful round of employee training ‒ allowing Bock to finally throw open its doors the afternoon of Thursday, March 13.
“It feels unreal to be at the finish line for the buildout, but really, it’s just the starting line for the business itself,” says Bock founder Brian Jensen, who is also the longtime owner of beverage-centric operations Bottlecraft and Vino Carta. “I can’t wait to finally have people in the space and enjoying the atmosphere, and our team working through the inevitable kinks to make Bock the best it can be.”
Fashioned to transport people from South Park to central Europe, Bock’s Old World interiors are replete with wood and a minimalist design punctuated by statement pieces like a goat’s head mounted above the bar. (Bock is the German word for goat.) Barstool, table and booth seating are available along with billiards, shuffleboard and sports-viewing on multiple television screens.
As for beer, Jensen and his team have brought in a multitude of German standards along with other popular styles from notable European and American producers. Bock’s full beer list can be viewed here and includes a pair of house beers, a 6.2% alcohol-by-volume (ABV) blonde helles-style bock and 6.4% amber-leaning Maibock. Both resulted from a special request from Jensen to a pair of San Diego brewers who are well known for their lager prowess, Douglas Hasker and Jacob Bauch from Mission Valley’s Puesto Cervecería.
“Doug is a legend in the San Diego beer scene, especially when it comes to German styles, so collaborating with him was an easy choice. Plus, Jacob and I go way back to his days working at The Homebrewer in North Park, so it felt like a natural fit to team up for this project,” says Jensen. “We knew they’d bring the right expertise and passion to create something special for Bock.”
“Our experience with bocks comes from the examples produced while Doug was with Gordon Biersch, including seasonal variations he brewed throughout his career. Since Gordon Biersch was committed to Rheinheitsgebot [German purity law] tradition, those beers were made following all the historic guidelines for a true-to-style representation,” says Bauch. “The most important component of the bock style is that, despite its higher ABV and overall elevated level of malt richess, it should remain highly ‘drinkable’. This requires a delicate touch. The alcohol can be perceptible but not too ‘hot’, and it should have a nice medium body but finish clean on the palate. This is achieved by keeping things simple and focusing on high-quality malts, good brewing processes, and a nice, long fermentation and maturation.”
On the food front, culinary partner Biersal is operating out of its first brick-and-mortar kitchen, producing the German-inspired, often beer-infused fare that’s made owner and chef Matt Schooner a popular member of San Diego’s food-truck community since 2017. Included in that line-up are pretzels with Bavarian beer-cheese sauce, cured landjäger sausages, currywurst, a chicken schnitzel sandwich and bratwurst with traditional accoutrements. Initially, Bock will serve an abbreviated version of its eventual full menu. The latter can be viewed online.
“We’re excited about Bock because it’s a marriage between modern craft-beer cool and traditional beer-hall warmth; a place you can go and drink Old-World styles like bockbier alongside the latest cutting-edge West Coast IPAs,” says Bauch. “Bottlecraft has always done this well and we’ve been some of their biggest fans, using them as a home base when researching or planning our next brew ideas. Bock promises to be a new staple as well. Bring on the steins!”
Bock is a 21-plus venue. Its initial hours of operation will be 3 to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday, noon to midnight, Fridays and Saturdays, and noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays. Jensen says the business’ hours will expand once the staff gets its footing. Also on the horizon are events, including International Bock Day on March 20, followed by an Underberg night on March 21 and Orval Day on March 22.
Bock is located at 1517 30th Street in South Park