Texas Ice Bock
Franconia Brewing Company

Pours a pitch black color with no head or lacing. Sweet Molasses aroma. Very mildly roasty. Sweet creamy Molasses on the taste with a hint of roasted Cocoa at the end. Surupy. Heavy bodied with no carbonation.

 

Didn't know this existed until I spotted a 1-bottle limit single display at the local big bottle carrier's service counter. A 17% abv. bock? Ok let's try. Pour is ink black, barely a head, some well-covered tan lacing appears dripping when the glass is tilted, and body appears medium-rich.
Smell is a mix of roasted malts and malt sweetness with somewhat sweet hints of black coffee and cocoa powder. Barely a distant burn.
Taste is sweet then charry, and immediately the slick feel is noticed with a surge of grains/ wheat flavor, an odd (but not off-putting) note bordering something both hop-forward and vegetable-like, then a sweet milk characteristic comes through, then lingering hints of that odd note mix in there again, with dried cocoa.
Feels medium and slick as each sip is swished and swallowed, then it gets sticky against the mouth. Low carbonation.
I'm partial to high gravity beers these days, esp. when they taste nice and also manage to mask the heavy-duty booze so that individual flavor nuances are able to show. This beer accomplishes that fairly well. Higher kudos for the flavors being layered as they are/ surprisingly complex.

So the first bottle release was only 17%. It was delicious and it went down like a lite beer in 5 minutes on a fishing day in 105 degree weather. I highly recommend. I doubt my wife wants me to keep a lot of this around.

On draft at Ron's Corner Tavern. Six ounce glass. Reported 27% ABV! Black as molasses and sweet smelling. Thick alcoholic mouthfeel. Get the burn going down. Awesome brew.