NEW YORK (MainStreet) – Spring is the beer industry's most faceless time of year.

Without summer's pilsners and wheat beers, fall's pumpkin ales and Oktoberfest marzen or even winter's dark porters and stouts or holiday spice, beer taps and aisles are set adrift with dramatic consequences. While brewers use this time to throw any red ale, porter, stout, IPA and bock they can into the ether, beer drinkers tune out.

The Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau notes that the U.S. beer industry makes about 14 million or so barrels during February and between 15 million and 16 million during March. Even with a big boost from St. Patrick's Day and college basketball's March Madness, that March mark is still far less than the the 17 million to 18 million it brews during the peak months from June through August. Meanwhile, craft beer brewers rely on seasonal offerings to bolster their bottom lines and can't just have a whole season left open. As the Brewers Association craft beer industry group points out, sales of seasonal beer variety packs alone jumped 21% by volume in 2014.

Yet, for some reason, spring remains a mystery despite points in its history that very explicitly point toward certain beers as spring beers. The bock styles, dating back to the 14th century and the German town of Einbeck, were typically brewed during religious holidays including Christmas and Easter by Bavarian monks who used their “liquid bread” to get through seasonal fasts. Trappist monks in Belgium used a similar tactic in making their dubbel and trippel abbey beers, but the Bavarian tradition was carried across the Atlantic by German immigrant brewers and turned into bocks made by Shiner, Pabst and other traditional breweries. In Cincinnati, to this day, Bockfest still signals the arrival of spring.

With that in mind, we've put together a 10-pack of seasonally appropriate beers that not only hold to the springtime traditions set forth by the Bavarian and Trappist monks, but maintain the seasonal standard set by brewers around the world:

Hofbrau Maibock
Alcohol by volume: 7.2%

Munich's Hofbrauhaus traces the roots of its Maibock (also known as Helles Bock) back to the early14th century and pours the first batches of it at its U.S. brewhouses during the last week of April. Somewhat hoppier and lighter than a traditional bock, Maibock is also a bit stronger than the 5.1% ABV lager that usually fills HB's liter-sized glass steins. That cold-weather potency mixed with warm-weather clarity makes it a perfect transitional-season beer, but that undeniably malty base shades it to the colder side of that spectrum. It's far better for fireside savoring than for several patio servings.

Rogue Dead Guy Ale
Alcohol by volume 6.5%

Does it hold up to its German counterparts? Absolutely, especially when you consider how tough the trip across the Atlantic is for Europe's seasonal beers.

Rogue has been kicking around since '88 and has made this particular beer consistently for decades. Rogue builds a base of Munich and proprietary malts that give the beer a deep color, but also a rich, complex flavor bordering on bitter – with just a bit of spice in the mix. Other breweries treat this style as a one-off seasonal or a wine-bottle-sized special release, but this year-round offering maintains its fine balance between malty winter brews and spicier summer wheat beers. That you don't need a passport to drink this beer from Newport, Ore., is only one of its benefits.

Gouden Carolus Easter Beer
Alcohol by volume: 10.5%

Remember when we told you the Trappists made beers around Easter too? Well, they just liked theirs slightly stronger.

This ruby red jewel is dark, malty and rich, with just enough spice to give it some added kick. It's also a far sweeter beer than it lets on, which makes it more like a cordial or dessert wine at 10.5% ABV. Maybe while the kids are polishing off the jelly beans and marshmallow Peeps, their parents can enjoy an Easter treat of their own. In a country that does both chocolate and beer this well, a sweet Easter beer just seems like a logical outcome.

Lost Abbey Carnevale
Alcohol by volume: 6.5%

San Diego's Port Brewing and its Belgian-style Lost Abbey branch don't mind making beer specifically for the season. They just don't hold to any seasonal beer specifically.

Lost Abbey's annual Lenten release sometimes qualifies as a winter beer, but has that distinct mellow hops-and-yeast flavor of the farmhouse brew typically sipped around lunch hour by Belgian farmhands working the fields during the summer. While less spicy than similar saisons and containing slightly more alcohol, it also uses American Amarillo and Simcoe hops to punch up the flavor. While it's great to uncork a bottle and savor some of the citrusy notes right away, letting it sit in the cellar until just before summer will mellow out some of that bitterness and make it a much more pleasant transitional beer for the warming season.

De Dolle Boskeun
Alcohol by volume: 10%

De Dolle really takes its Trappist influence to heart by making its Stille Nacht strong ale for Christmas and this sweet, orange-pale gem for Easter. We can't emphasize how sweet and fruity this beer is – almost like an Easter sweet pie – yet light and frothy enough for drinkers to discount its 10% ABV. Don't do it. This is a fine little confection to find in your Easter basket, but it's far too potent to keep your spring awakening from becoming a Sunday snooze.

Ayinger Celebrator
Alcohol by volume: 7.2%

We almost couldn't decide between this wonderful doppelbock and Ayinger's equally glorious Maibock, but this one is a lot easier to find in the wild.

Originally used by Franciscan monks as a means of enduring a fast when solid foods were forbidden, the Doppelbock is a dark, malty, toasty beer with enough alcohol content to give it the flavor and feel of warm pastry. Celebrator fits that bill, with its dark, malt-laden body laden with caramel, toffee and roasted coffee flavor. You can find it on goat-head taps across the country, but its importers at Merchant du Vin have been kind enough to bring the bottled version overseas as well this spring.

Viking Olgerd Paskabjor
Alcohol by volume: 4.8%

Iceland isn't generally known for its beer, and Viking plays a big role in that. The biggest brewer in the island nation, Viking makes pale light lager and lots of it. While other, smaller breweries such as Olvisholt Brugghus can play around with smoked porters and other styles, Viking's lager is just about the only reason Icelandic beers aren't pushed out of Reykjavik bars and clubs altogether by bully beers from Ireland, the U.K. and continental Europe. Around Easter, though, Viking darkens up its Easter beer a bit by adding roasted malt and giving it some caramel and toffee flavor. It's not overpowering, mind you, but it's a great motivator for getting to Iceland during an otherwise bleak time of year.

Bell's Consecrator
Alcohol by volume: 8%

This longstanding Kalamazoo, Mich., brewery has trotted out this doppelbock each year for Mardi Gras and lets its own version of the monks' liquid bread linger right into May. As a result, beer drinkers who hate a bitter lager get this dark lager filled with molasses and caramel flavor for nearly three months. It's a smooth, sweet little holiday present that we wish Bell's could give year-round.

Gordon Biersch Maibock
Alcohol by volume: 7.3%

You may know these folks as your local brewpub chain or the people who make the garlic fries at your team's ballpark, arena or stadium. This San Jose, Calif.-based brewer has put nearly 30 years and a whole lot of training into creating some of the most refined German- and Czech-style beers this country has produced.

Head brewer Dan Gordon, while studying in the German town of Gottingen, toured the nearby Einbecker brewery on several occasions and greatly enjoyed the Maibock it first made in the 14th century. That experience led him to his graduate studies at the Technical University of Munich and inspired him to found Gordon Biersch with a business partner. His Maibock stays true to the style by using copious amounts of caramel malt to give it the strength and sweetness of a bock, but to also keep it somewhat lighter in complexion. It's not a ballpark or brewpub beer: It's just a fine example of a traditional German style executed well.

Victory St. Boisterous Hellenbock
Alcohol by volume: 7.5%

Leave it to a state with as deep a German brewing history as Pennsylvania's to get the bock right. Brewers such as Stoudt's and Yuengling have bocks in their back catalogs, but Pennsylvania craft brewers such as Victory have a deep respect for the old school.

Victory's take on Maibock uses German malt and German Hallertauer Saphir and Tettnang hops to remain as faithful to the traditional recipe as possible. It also keeps the alcohol level on the warm side while maintaining a deep, rich, malty body.

— Written by Jason Notte in Portland, Ore., for MainStreet

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This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held TK positions in the stocks mentioned.