Yankee Jim Ice Bock
Big Hole Brewing Company

 

 

 

A: Colour is a pale straw. Poured a head that was about 1 inch then fell to a thin film. Very clear.

S: Alcohol present. Adjunct aromas present. No hop aroma.

T: Sweet adjunct flavours (almost like watered down cheap bourbon. Slight alcohol flavour but nothing harsh. Hints of pear present.

M: Slick on the tongue, med-low body, carbonation is too high.

O: This is way off style. There are no malt flavours present, carbonation is too high, adjunct flavours are present, the sweetness is not from the malt.

 

473ml Can - from the LCBO

Appearance – Clear yellow colour with an average size fizzy white coloured head. There is an average amount of carbonation showing and there is some faint lacing. The head lasted for 1 or 2 minutes.

Smell - Grains, bread, corn, malts, alcohol, apples

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an average amount of carbonation and I can taste malts mixed with grains and corn. There is also a bit of a apple juice sweetness and some harsh alcohol flavour. It ends with a corn/grainy alcoholic flavour that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Overall – What was I thinking when I picked this one up.. this is barely drinkable. I'll never buy it again.

 

Tallboy can from the LCBO; served ice cold and poured into a pint glass.

Pours a vaguely cloudy golden-blonde colour, generating a little less than a finger of frothy white head that is in a hurry to disappear. Some scant lacing on the sides and a soapy film on the surface are its only remnants. The ice-cold temperature mutes the aroma of this stuff, but I have a feeling it's for the best, because the faint notes I am picking up are not all that appealing. Corn syrup is unfortunately rather prominent, with that tart apple juice feel I usually find in these cheap high abv lagers.

Pretty bland taste with maybe a few redeeming qualities. Lots of corn adjunct, honey syrupy sweetness with some underlying grainy malts and apple skin. Slightly dry finish is a saving grace for what would otherwise just be an insipidly sweet brew. Pretty thin-bodied and watery, but it leaves a bit of slickness behind on the palate. The alcohol is fairly well-hidden when served cold, IMO, with only some faint warmth toward the end of the sip.

This is not really enjoyable, but it's at least tolerable and not a complete chore to drink. Calling this a maibock or any other sort of bock is a serious stretch; it is just a strong lager, and an unremarkable one at that.

Final Grade: 2.66, about a C-.This is serviceable and far from the worst offering in its category, but in general I'd have to say the Europeans do this high abv lager thing better - I'd easily take a Warka Strong or Okocim Mocne over this. Finishing this glass will not be a problem, but I'd be surprised if I ever have another.

 

473ml can, looking like something out of Mountain Crest, in both presentation and confusion about origin of American production for a product sold in Canada...

This beer pours a slightly hazy golden yellow colour, with three fingers of thick soapy white head, which leaves sparse, but consistent paramecia lace around the glass as it settles. It smells of sweet adjunct malt, melting plastic, laboratory alcohol, and a vague skankiness. The taste (after suppressing my involuntary initial gag reflex) is sweet, sweet glutenous malt, some actually unobtrusive warming alcohol, and an industrial chemical nature, which, while not overpowering, is just enough to maintain a constant level of annoyance. The carbonation is fairly mild, the body medium weight - by dint of its cloying nature, its 'smoothness' derived from the same. It finishes sweet and somewhat boozy, the cheap ice-beer character flooding my senses like a poor Brisbane suburbanite.

While not stricken with a skunky hop profile, this is still a run of the mill, low-rent ice beer, a style already carrying an inborn burden. Just because my need to convulse abated over the course of consuming the can, doesn't mean this is any good, nor should anyone else come sniffing for quality.

This beer came up far easier than it went down. I took 3 swigs of the bitter chemical liquid, but couldn't swallow more than 2 without retching, which doesn't exactly give one enough for a proper review. Reminiscent of a FAXE variation I tried years ago with similar outcome. Should not even be in the category of rateable beers.

473ml bottle poured into pint glass nov8 2010

A clear golden liquid with loads of bubbles that only produce a thin film that's gone pretty quick

S not much but what I do get is some candied corn and a chemical smell that hurts its cause

T some booze and sweet malts with that same chemical aspect that I can't quite place but perhaps that's a good thing

M much less carbonation then I could see in the glass and it has a little burn as it goes down

D not so much, I finished it but that's it

avoid this one if possible unless you just want to get smashed without spending much

Of all the places to find this beer its sitting in a cooler at a New Brunswick, Canada liquor store. The can caught my eye not only because of the unique name but also the catchy design of the can. Silver pin stripes run vertically on a black background. Shiney silver sharpie signature of Yankee Jim at the bottom.

Anyway on to the beer. It most definitely has a bock flavor as the can states. It definitely has the typical hotness from a Euro Strong Lager. Like a malt liquor brew with softer malts and a tad lighter on the bull ice aftertaste. Its a good novelty type brew for yankee fans. Decent enough not to insult your swilling friends.

Notes: Its not a beer judge type.

LCBO tasting- 473 ml can- A golden body is released from the can, and pours a thick billowing white foam, that cowers back to just a thin dusting. The aroma starts off with a touch of fusels, some grain, a dash of malt, and a load of corn. The flavour profile is grainy sweet at first and has some ok hops bitterness in the finish. There's corn here as well and a touch of sweet malt. MAinly this is a strong lager with non descript aromas, and a very bitter finish, but with little in the way of actual flavour. I enjoy the tongue tingle here, the bitterness is well placed and embraced.There's a touch of tin amongst all this too. The alcohol is not noticable at all, making it far more drinkable than I expected. A standard strong lager with few good qualities, but drinkable in the end.

a - the yellow colour on this one isn't nice and the head faded so fast that I couldn't even appraise it, but, for me, this makes absolutely no difference. I've tasted great beer that wasn't visually appealing, and I've had appalling beer that looked gorgeous. looks can be deceiving. For the style though, this beer is way light.

s - nice, citrusy hops, warm alcoholic scent, and a little roasted malt playing in the background. I like. not too complex, but, not bad at all. a touch of raw honey and grist.

t - resilient hops. apparently bocks are supposed to be malty, and this one definitely doesn't favour the malts. Medium big malt in the back with the citrusy bitter hops playing up front. I am really enjoying the hop influence here. It's not cuisine, but it's damn good fried chicken. Well balanced on the attack, but very bizarre on the after-aftertaste. Not intriguing bizarre, but "wtf is going on" bizarre.

m - the catch: as soon as the carbonation dies on this puppy, it falls over like a house of cards. not sure why. Otherwise, satisfying, medium body.

d - this brew starts off pretty well, but fails near the end. Still, not bad. The biggest body I've tasted on a beer this light in colour. Whatever that means. Don't expect anything overly complex, but as far as euro strong ales in the ~500ml can go, this one is worth a taste.

wtf? The can said Ice Bock. So how come it pours the color of a urine sample. I hope that's not a sign of things to come.

Smells like a cheap macro lager mixed with floor cleaner.

Tastes thin and metallic and a sort of florally soapy. Sour, almost like there's a shot of apple cider vinegar in it. Kind of reminds me of Tiger or some other mediocre Asian lager that I could probably enjoy ice-cold in a frosted mug but at the temperature I'm drinking it at it's kind of just mildly gross.

Mouthfeel? It's possible.

Drinkability? It's just kind of meh.

Ehhhh....copper-gold coulr with a fairly flaccid, thin white head. Stringent, bitter smell of malt and over done hopes. It almost stings my nose.

Harsh, metallic taste. Hops are too much and the malts seem off and relegated to the background.

Rough mouthfeel, and there is a slight hint of alcohol which I would not expect with only 6.5% ABV.

Not worth repeating at all.

Pours a crystal clear pale gold, with strong lines of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass. Two fingers of white head dissipate to a thin haze quickly. No lacing on the glass.
Strong smell of corn and malt with hints of pine and an alcohol finish.
Taste is a light mineral taste, followed by light honey sweetness. Bitter finish. None of these flavours really jump out at me.
Mouthfeel is a slightly creamy, medium-light body with sharp carbonation. Fairly good balance here.

This brew is inoffensive, but not much else. It was refreshing on a hot, sunny day.

A: Pale straw / blonde... seems very light for an eisbock style. Head is fizzy and very short lived, leaving very little behind.

S: Malts, a slightly herbal hoppiness, solvent and alcohol.

T: Not very good. Trying to go for the eisbock flavour, but it's falling short and seems very watery. It's slightly malty with an unusual solvent flavour.

M + D: Thin, a little sharp on the carbonation... this is closer to being a malt liquor than an eisbock. Not the most drinkable thing. Flavour is unpleasant, not much going on for aroma, thin, and watery. Not recommended.

As I get my notes, I see that this is listedr here as a European Light Lager, which seems odd, too. Either way, not an "ice bock" in the sense that I have ever known one, and not very good.

473ml can
6.5% ABV

I tried this beer on December 23, 2007 after purchasing from my local LCBO outlet. The beer poured a translucent gold colour with a generous white fluffy head which quickly disippated after pouring was complete. The aroma was vomit, pure unadulterated vomit. Had I not poured this myself, I don;t think I would have drank it. The mouthfeel was medium bodied, mild carbonation. The taste was better than the aroma. There was a definite hoppy taste. It was a very easy drinking beer, went down well.