Tunnel Ram Imperial Bock
Atwater Brewery

Happy New Atwater Brewery Beer Sunday (Week 664)! Each week, I try to gather several beers out of my backlog from one particular brewery for a brewery horizontal. This week is the exceptionally hit-or-miss Atwater Brewery from Detroit, MI, concluding with this beer.

From the bottle: "Imperial Bock"; "Pairs with: High Octane Get Togethers and Low Pressure Weekends."; "Born in Detroit. Raised everywhere."

My last of theirs for today! Awww. It has been a fascinating journey & I am fascinated to see what shakes out. Actually, I just Pop!ped the cap & performed a slow, gentle pour into the awaiting glass. Things were looking good so I decided to stir them up with an in-glass swirl, raising two-plus fingers of fluffy, foamy, eggshell-white head with decent retention. Color was Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) with NE-quality clarity, prompting a return visit from The Gelt Gang of Croesus, Midas & Mammon, each one vying for a taste. Down, boys! Nose was malty sweet with a fusel alcohol presence that cut through the mélange & came straight to the point. It was a reminder that a ram is not known for its subtlety. Fair dinkum. I like a straight on, no b.s. approach myself! Mouthfeel was smooth, silky, like fresh-spun lamb's wool. Say, what happened to the ram? POW! Exploding out of the corner of my eye, it hit me like a runaway Peterbilt. This was no playing around! The taste was warm, if not outright hot, with a malty biscuitiness that continued to keep me off guard as I just kept getting pummeled by this beer. Phew! Perhaps it was the collective effects of the day, but this beer was bringing it. Finish was dry, but not at all bitter. Instead, it was a testament as to the power of yeast. The malt's sugar had clearly been well converted to alcohol, but it remained a tasty brew throughout. It would be wise to be cautious with it, though.

 

 

 

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Atwater's Tunnel Ram for $2.09 at The Lager Mill. It's been a little while since I've tired a new beer from Atwater and I'm interested to see what they can do with an Imperial Bock, so lets see how it goes. 2016 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a snifter.

A- The label looks ok, it's a little weird looking, but it is a little eye catching. It poured a hazy golden orange color that took on more of an orange color when held to the light with half a fingers worth of bubbly slightly off white head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left a little bit of spotty lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking bock, but I wish it was a little clearer with better head retention.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the clean lager yeast being the first to show up and it goes right into a fruity aroma with a noticeable apple juice aroma with some stonefruits in the background and it's followed by some malts which impart a sweet malt, pale malt, bready and slightly grainy aroma. Towards the end there's just a slight amount of alcohol. This beer had a pretty nice aroma, it's what I would expect from an Imperial Bock.

T- The taste seems to be very similar to the aroma and it starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the yeast still being the first to show up and it impart that same clean lager yeast aspect that it did in the aroma and it's followed by the fruits which are a little lighter than they were in the aroma and they still impart a little bit of an apple juice like aroma. Up next comes the malts which impart all the same aspects that it did in the aroma with a noticeable alcohol flavor and towards the end there's a slightly higher amount of medium bitterness with some more sweetness joining it and it had a yeasty, malty, and slight boozy aftertaste. This is a pretty nice tasting Imperial Bock, it's true to style, but nothing really sets it apart.

M- Not too smooth, a little clean , crisp, medium bodied with a slightly higher amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is nice, but I wish it was smoother.

OVerall I thought this was a pretty nice beer and I thought it was a nice example of the style, it had pretty much all the aspects that I would expect from the style, but it was a little rough around the edges compared to some of the german examples of the style. This beer had ok drinkability, one is enough, anymore than that and it might start to wear on me. What I like the most about this beer is that is was pretty true to style. What I like the least about this beer was that it was a little on the boozy side for how strong it is and I wish it was a little smoother. I might buy this beer again, but chances are all I just get a German strong bock and I would recommend it if your looking for a solid American version of the style. All in all I liked this beer, but I didn't love it, it was still pretty nice, but I will still will take most german ones over this one. It's not a favorite Atwater beer and it's above average for the style. Nice job guys, this is a solid Imperial Bock, keep it up.

 

 

Pours a clear amber with a thin, white head. Has a pleasant sour malt smell, very subtle. The taste is European malts, with a nice hoppy bitterness to balance the sweet and sour of the malt. A clean and refreshing finish that hides the 8% ABV, and. Goes well with warm weather, but be careful of that alcohol! I really like the combination of sweet, sour and bitter. Another winner from Atwater.

 

 

 

A - Deep color yellow slightly hazy with just a 1/4 inch of head that falls back to nothing.
S - Malty and grainy not harsh but not sweet either. No skunk?
T - Good flavor grainy but not sweet like a doppelbock with some hops in the finish.
M - Smooth medium to heavy body.

Overall its not bad but not great either.

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 12/17/2015. Pours slightly hazy deep golden yellow color with a 1-2 finger dense and fluffy off white head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of honey, cracker, biscuit, light nuttiness, herbal, grass, light pepper, and herbal/yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of bready malt and moderate earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of big honey, cracker, biscuit, light nuttiness, herbal, grass, pepper, and herbal/yeast earthiness. Moderate herbal/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of honey, cracker, biscuit, light nuttiness, pepper, and herbal/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of bready malt and moderate earthy hop flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and minimal astringent hop flavors after the finish. Moderate dryness from bitterness, that increases through the glass. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth and moderately creamy/bready/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Very clean on lager flavors with minimal yeast ester notes present. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is a very good Helles bock style. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of bready malt and moderate earthy hop flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV. Maybe just a bit too hoppy overall, but tasted very traditional to style otherwise. A very enjoyable offering.

 

Poured from bottle to glass. Bottle dated Dec 17, about 2 1/2 months old. Easily read date, thank you.

This one looks lighter in color than I expected. It is a fairly clear gold color, probably just right for a Bock.

Smell is like a spicy, fruity bread. I'm thinking fruitcake, but it smells like a very good fruitcake. Nice.

Taste is an upfront spicy noble hop, with a malty, slightly sweet middle, and a mildly bittersweet finish. Lots going on here, a nice complexity to the flavors. Very enjoyable.

Overall, a very nice drinking bock. It has an excellent balance between sweetness and bitterness. I'm very glad that I decided to try it.