White Hot Rockin' Bock
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

Hazy, differential tawny. Lighter near the bottom edge of the glass, progressively darker as the eye traveled upward to the one finger, eggshell white head. Unfortunately, the cap didn't last long, melting away to a transparent film within minutes. Spider web-like lace affixed itself to the glass and lasted for the life of the pint. A much better than average brewpub look, no doubt about it.

The nose was on the timid side, although it did become more aromatic with warming. I noted lightly spicy fruit, apples especially. With a little more oomph it would have easily earned the next highest score.

My first sip told me that WHRB was fabulous beer. It was sweet, fruity, nutty and lightly smoky; the beer equivalent of a nut-covered caramel apple. The bottom end was held down by a caramel malt base while delicious, crisp, sweet-tart appley top notes played the melody. There was enough nuttiness to lend added personality and more than a hint of smokiness on the medium-long finish.

I struggled a little when attempting to assign the proper style. My first thought, prior to tasting, was 'smoked beer' since smoke alone seems to be enough for inclusion in that particular style. However, once I determined that smoke played a secondary (or even a tertiary) role, I decided on weizenbock. The official description is along the lines of "a smoked wheat bock brewed with German malts and hefeweizen yeast."

It all worked beautifully on the palate. Each and every enthusiastic gulp was a lightly sweet, appley, smoky treat. The beginning of each mouthful was a little buzzy, but the bubbles were short lived and by the midway point, the beer became composed, smooth and ever so slightly syrupy. Sweet and snappy apple burps were a delightful bonus.

White Hot Rockin' Bock is, without question, one of the three best beers that I've ever had at my local Rock Bottom. I'm not sure how much of an experiment this was--there can't be too many smoked weizenbocks out there--but it's an unqualified success if I'm any judge of quality. No other brewpub in Des Moines could come close to brewing this beer and I am ever more grateful that wdmrock plies his trade within minutes of my house.