Goat Toppler
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

First had: on tap at Rock Bottom, King of Prussia, PA

Pours into a Mug Club mug, a clear amber color with a finger of foamy white head that retained fairly well. Grassy, bready aroma, seems like a good hop/malt balance. Lightly toasted caramel malts in the taste, with grassy hops accompanying. Not quite floral, but pretty crisp. Light-medium body. A pretty average beer, but I had no problem ordering another.

I was hoping for a little bit more out of a beer named "Goat Toppler", but alas, it turned out to be a pretty basic Mai-bock.

It was a little darker than I'd expected it to be, falling into the amber range, but that's certainly not out of style. The creamy white head held surprisingly well, and it left some pretty nice lacing behind. The aroma was limited to some basic, lightly bready malt. Fortunately, the flavor was fuller and the malt was a touch caramelish as well; and backed by some mild floral and spicy hops. The alcohol never showed, and it was very rounded and balanced. It wasn't super rich, but it was very drinkable. I drank it almost as if it was any other standard beer. Nice!

On tap at the KoP location and listed as their Goat Toppler Maibock (not Dunkler Bock). 6.5% abv listed on the board. Poured a medium amberish color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of some breadiness, a little earthy, toffeee, and nuts. Tastes of breadiness, lighter earthy, nutty, and caramel.

I have this beer on-tap at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery in King of Prussia, PA. It came in a pint glass.
Appearance: The body is a transparent amber color. The head is a light tan, small sized bubbles, good retention and ok lacing.
Smell: The aromas are toffee, unfermented sugars and candy.
Taste: The flavors are cotton candy, coffee and nuts.
Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is rough around the edges.
Drinkability: This is a fine beer.
Don't drink and review.

Poured a clear amber color with 1 finger of foamy off-white head into a Mug Club Mug. OK retention and nice lacing. Smells of dried grass, earthy malts, honey, and spices. Tastes of honey, sweet malts, dirt, pepper, and grass. Medium in body with good carbonation. Crisp with a nice bitterness, somewhat metallic feel. A nice attempt, but not one of my favorites from them.

Stopped by the resturant while in Boston for the day. I decided to have something on tap and was not in the mood for an IPA, which looked like the best offering. This was on of the Brewmaster's Selections so I decided to give it a try.

Appearannce was light brown to light amber with a one finger beige head with good retention. The nose was not that noticable in this brew. There were hints of caramel and butterscotch from the malt. Not much of a hop presence. The taste was much stronger. Sweet caramel and butterscotch notes are present through and lend the brew good falvor without being overpowering. Not much depth to the flavor though. The mouthfeel was medium bodied and dry. Not much carbonation. Drinkability was exceptional because of the light flavor and the fact that the beer didn't taste boozy.

Overall, an enjoyable brew and a pretty standard bock. Good flavor, but needed more depth. After having this, I would probably have something else for varieties sake next time I go, but I do not regret having it at all.

Pours brownish in color with some light brown undertones. About a half inch of head immediately after the pour, but is quickly gone. Smell is all malts with some toffee. Taste is more of the malts, essentially no hops are present at all. Very good caramel malt and decent amount of toffee. Not a lot of carbonation and incredibly easy drinking, smooth. A little watery and thin. Seems that most of the flavor is a bit muted.

Unblemished apricot beneath a sponge-like cap that was some combination of pale orange, beige and alabaster. It looked as though a solid sheet of lace would be deposited, but the glass ended up displaying thin, feathery rings that marked each mouthful.

The aroma was too laid back initially. Despite becoming a little bolder with warming, it never did stand out like the rest of the beer. My notes read 'lightly toasted', 'fruity hops', 'slightly sweet', and 'nice balance'. That pretty much covers it.

The flavor score was not an easy call and wasn't settled on until the trip home from Rock Bottom. The reason for the 4.5 is that Goat-Toppler is the best maibock that I've ever had. Any beer (of a style that I don't normally care for) that can impress me this much deserves to be rewarded.

This maibock/helles bock was slightly darker than the typical maibock/helles bock. It wasn't as dark as a bock, but was at least halfway there. That's what happens when the malt bill contains Vienna and Munich is addition to pale. The flavor profile was made up of whole grain toast drizzled with dark honey, assorted herbs and spices, and a shaving of bitter orange rind.

Since no herbs or spices were added, that aspect of the flavor profile must have been due to the Summit and Mt. Hood hops. Although the bitterness of the hops added yet another dimension, the beer was all about the contrast between sweet and spicy. Not too sweet and not too spicy, but juuust right.

Thanks to the generous amount of malt sugars and the close-to-perfect carbonation, the mouthfeel was outstanding as well. No wimpy lagers here. The beer was medium-full for the style, with tremendous volume and big, graceful, rounded edges.

Is goat-toppling like cow-tipping? I have never toppled a goat, but there are goats that topple themselves. Google 'fainting goats' and watch the videos. It seems that the poor creatures fall over stiff-legged whenever they're shocked or startled. Goat-Toppler Maibock has startling quality and drinkability, so the name fits.

Bottom line: this latest West Des Moines Rock Bottom seasonal is not your typical maibock and is probably a better beer for it. If they all tasted like this, I'd be a massive maibock fan.

The brew was released three days ago so I got to sample the origional batch.

It was a nice light brown color with very little head. That's where the comments stop.

Overall, I'm not impressed with this at all. It had almost a sour flavor to it, like the ingredients weren't up to spec. Not going to try again.

Appearance - pours a nice looking bronze color. A finger of head churns up after the pours evens out. A thin soapy head puts some thin sheet lacing on the pint glass.

Aroma - a light toastiness and grain sweetness with some florals thrown in for good measure. Fresh but simple.

Taste - malty sweet grain, some light toast to it as in the nose. Alcohol is warm and evident but not overbearing. Light fruity hops balance quite well on the swallow. I didn't pick them up until the second pint from the growler, but they make for a nice lengthy finish and pair up well with some malt toastiness at the end. A fine maibock.

Mouthfeel - lively carbonation, a little muted by the bigger maibock body, but that's cool. A nice smooth beer.

Drinkability - the first half of the growler went easily during a bbq tonight. The second half will go a little slower as the abv makes a statement before too long.

Had a few pints of this yesterday in Boston with Alewife before hitting the Comedy Connection for a show. Tap handle said it was a Maibock, and their blackboard had it at 8.8% abv.

A full pint glass was filled with a clear, medium-copper hued liquid. There was barely any head at all, merely a smidge around the edge, which left a trace of lace. There was minimal carbonation evident within. Nose consisted of bready malts, some light sweetness and a trace of floral hopping. Body was decently medium, and the bier passed fairly smoothly over the palate.

Flavor, as with the aroma, was a solid bready, toasty malt combo with subtle sweetness dancing on the tongue. The finish is short and lightly hoppy, with some floral notes and a wisp of fruitiness hitting the spot. Both Alewife and I liked it quite well.

Prosit!!

3.9
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

1044

A - a nice copper color with some clingy lace

S - hints of cinnamon and burnt sugar as is the case with all bocks. This one was nothing special.

T - started off (slightly) sweet and syrupy, ended with a very strikingly metallic taste that left me unsatisfied. There was something sour there too... slightly so. Also the bitterness was too overpowering for this type of beer.

M - general beer mouthfeel - creamy and bubbly, but not exceptionally so. It's a bock so it's not going to have an amazing mouthfeel.

D - Just not impressed with this one. I didn't finish the glass, which is highly unusual for me.

Poure a shiny brown. Wonderfully clear with a thick and stubborn foamy head. Nose was sugary sweet with a nice strong biscuit presence from the Munich malts.

Those same Munich malts prevail nicely with a mug full of biscuit flavors. Lots of toastiness and doughiness around this beer as well. Also picked up some butterscotch and toffee. Nice and sweet. Very low hop presence in this beer. A tad dry with medium body. Very smooth.

Reviewed at the AHA Banquet at the Rock Bottom Chicago.

(Brewed with a 100% Simpsons Malt)

Nice bright gold beer with a fair haze. The head is low and very white and sticky, coating and clinging to the glass.

Aroma is light and grainy with a perfume wafting off the glass of waxed heavy hot house flowers.

The initial flavor is of honey and grainy malt with a thick viscous feel on the fore palate. Floral and spicy continential hops rise up in the mid palate to cut the grainy sweetness.

The overall impression is of a smooth drinkable beer with a good dose of alcohol.

Goat Toppler Mai Bock: on tap at the Chicago location. Golden color, with slight haze. Not much head on the pint, but terrific thick lacing. Muted, not very strong aroma, but it was difficult to detect in the bar.

Really terrific taste, as good a mai-bock as I’ve ever had. Very notable hops flavors, in fact much more so than would be considered appropriate for the style, but if you don’t care, I sure as hell don’t. Malts are present, at least initially, but they are smoothly replaced by floral hops notes rolling through and cleaning up at the end. I was particularly impressed with smooth and creamy mouthfeel and the fact that this nicely complemented the flavors, making it seem very well balanced for a beer as hoppy as this one was.. Very nice and flavorful.