When does the bokbier season start?

Bock beer appears in the autumn, and in the Netherlands the PINT Bockbierfestival has traditionally been regarded as the starting signal for that season.

The festival has existed since 1978 and takes place every year at the beginning of October. In 2026 that was Friday 2 and Saturday 3 October, so the season is now in full swing.

When a particular bock reaches the market is up to the brewery itself, and that differs per brand. What the law requires of the name you can read on our page on what bock beer is in law: Article 7g of the Warenwetbesluit Gereserveerde aanduidingen requires an original extract above 15 percent, whereas pilsner sits at 11 to 13.5 percent.

The PINT Bockbierfestival took place in 2026 on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 October, at De Hallen Studio’s in Amsterdam.

On Friday the hall was open from 17.00 to 22.00 and on Saturday from 13.00 to 22.00. It was the 44th edition, with more than 40 different bock beers.

For 2027 the organisation has not yet announced a date. If you want to visit the next edition, keep an eye on the announcements from PINT.

At the 2026 festival there were more than 40 bock beers, and that is only part of what Dutch breweries release in one autumn.

According to Nederlandse Brouwers, the Netherlands has more than 900 breweries. A large share of them brew an autumn beer, and many of those beers bear the name bok or bock.

Besides the regular autumn bock there are variants such as doppelbock, weizenbock and eisbock. What is in the bottle you can read on the label; the lower limit of 15 percent original extract applies to all variants.

Bock beer is a seasonal beer without a fixed end date; how long it stays on the shelves depends on the volume the brewery made that year.

There is no legal end date and no agreement in the industry. Some breweries brew once and have already run out of stock by November, others keep supplying into the new year.

If you want to be sure of getting a particular bock, ask about it in good time. If a bottling is sold out at the brewery, it will not return that year.

The label of every bottle of beer carries a best-before date; that statement is mandatory under Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

That date is an indication from the brewery, not a legal moment after which the beer is no longer good.

Store the bottles in the dark, cool and upright. Light damages beer in the bottle, so put the outer carton in a dark cupboard and not on the windowsill.