Barrel Aged Aaaaah Bock
Great River Brewery

Sampled at the brewery. I'd had the Aaaaah bock at the Iowa City brewhouse, and it was so beige and bland that it seemed the perfect candidate for barrel aging...

This here is waaaay barrel aged. That means that the main thing you get is the rye barrel--no bock malt, no hops. Just bourbony-ness, vanilla, and chocolate.

That's not to say this is bad, because it's not. I like barrel-aged blankness. I don't like it as much as I like barrel-aged somethingness, but, still, this is worth the price of admission.

Poured dark deep brown, almost black, looks like a porter or stout, not a bock so much.

The smell is all oak, vanilla, and Whiskey, the barrel aging is dominating everything else.

Some subtle roasted malt notes are evident in the flavor, but its mostly just whiskey barrel flavor with a long dry oak finish.

The finish is long and dry and a bit cloying.

This is a strange beer, it has no bock properties at all, its not bad if your into barrel aged beer, but nothing special either and completely out of balance.