Jack In The Bock
Tree Brewing

Thanks to Orrshow for the bottle!

Appearance: Ruby caramel brown, topped with an acceptable slick of lace.

Smell: Roasted notes with alcoholic effluves, a bit of that "wet grain" smell I often pick up in this style, and just a smudge of noble hops towards the end.

Taste: Very smooth carbonation, mid to light body, the caramel really shines through in the aftertaste, almost like a scottish ale. Not much hops in the taste. Nothing blew me away here, but it's a quaffable brew!

Carmel colored beer with off-color head and fair lacing. Smells of carmel malt. Tasted quite nice with the sweet carmel & roasted malts balanced with a top of hop. NIce smooth mouthfeel and no where as boozey as i expected it to be. A nice effort from Tree.

Appearance – Pours a more than reddish mahogany. Very little off white head is formed.

Smell – Fairly malty. Dominated by caramel and toffee. There are some molasses and black licorice aromas as well.

Taste – Wow this one is sweet malty lager. Again this is very heavy of caramel and toffee with lightly roasted characteristics. Brown sugar and raisins come to mind as well.

Mouthfeel – Decent viscosity and a subtle carbonation the way I like it.

Drinkability – Not bad at all. Goes down fairly well.

Not a bad Bock at all. I’ve seen better in my day but I would never turn this down.

This beer poured from a 650 mL bomber with a mohogany body topped by a thin bubbly head, which quickly dwindled to a thin ring.

Caramel malt dominated the smell, though you can pick up some raisin or prune fruitiness as well. The taste started fruity, with a smoky roasted malt quality in the middle before ending dry and slightly bitter. The low carbonation and thin body didn't do much to excite my palate.

Caramel brown in colour. Some fairly strong malt aromas along with ntoes of toasted sesame seeds and a bit of plum. Toffee and bread are the dominant flavors with some mild berry fruit in the middle. Spicy hops bring up the rear, and provide some good balance. Medium bodied with a vaguely oily texture. Medium carbonation. Not really my favorite style, but enjoyable nonetheless. Thanks to presario for the extra.

A: Mohoganny, light tan head, very little retention, some lace.

S: Very malty (bread, dark raisin & caramel), peppery spice and a hint of floral hop aroma. Faint hints of chocolate & nut.

T: Sweet up front (caramel), slightly bitter in the finish. Nutty bread, peppery spicyness, jaggery, dark caramelized raisins, a little too sweet. Alcohol warmth comes forward as it warms (too much).

M: Moderate to full body is a little syrupy, moderate carbonation.

D: Easily approachable, but as the bomber warmed, the alcohol became a little rough.

A little sweet & syrupy. Perhaps it could use a little more Munich and less crystal malt.

650 ml brown bottle, with a childish Jack in the Box label. It pours out a clear dark brown color, with a thick beige head with good retention, and sticky lacing. The aroma toasted caramel malt and a small hint of chocolate. The flavor is has the similar toasted malty and chocolate-like taste. There is some dark fruityness like raisin or prunes. It is fairly sweet throughout, not overbaring, but just enough to make it flavorful and a medium bodied mouthfeel. Nice to see Tree exploring all these different styles.

Thanks Orrshow! From BIF Canada 2006.

Pours a clear copper/red, small off white head forms, goes pretty fast, although a neat colour. Smell is sweet, caramel, some iron, citrus and floral. Taste is caramel, very grainy, with a citrus kick, not too complex. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with medium carbonation, some warmth going down. Interesting bock, finished pretty dry, some changes and it could be nice.

i like this bock in that it has the right balance for a spring release. Not too sweet and a decent finish. No need to put this in the cellar as it is very drinkable out of the bottle. The colour is mahogany with red highlights topped with a nice tan head. Worth picking up a few for the Easter season.

Beautiful deep reddish mahogany colour with a fluffy, light tan head. Smells sweet and malty, with what appears to a slight candy sugar scent. There are also faint fruit notes, especially bananna and plum.

Taste is predominantly malt, and sweet without being sugary. Hops cut the sweetness but are barely there. Again, faint fruit hints are detectable. A bit of harsh aftertaste.

Carbonation is right. Mouthfeeel is good overall, but can be a bit thin at times.

Pours a clear red colour with a fizzy tan head that did not stay at all. Not a trace remains.

The smell is not jumping out for me right away, but there is a bit in there. Sugary cherry is what I find most, and a bit of mustiness. Cinammon seems to pop in as it warms.

The taste maintains some of the cherry, with an addition of molasses. The finish is slightly medicinal and somewhat grassy, leading to a dryness in the back half of the mouth. Alcohol seems to make an appearance every few mouthfulls, but it isn't strong.

Mouthfeel is a touch sticky, thick for a lager. The carbonation is adequate and not harsh. The beer has a bit of macro "crispness" in the finish for lack of a better term.

Jack in the Bock is not a tough beer drink, however the flavour profile is not the most pleasing to my palate. A decent brew, but not breaking into my favorites.

Thanks to dotar for giving out the CSPC for this beer on his New Beer Tuesday last week. Wow, this beer came in quick, only 2 days after my ordering it at my local stop here in Airdrie. A wonderful end-of-winter/early-spring beer from Tree here. Jack In The Bock is not an easy bottle to miss. This is a 650ml brown bottle with a very colourful and quirky label, looking as though it should be on a kid's juice container rather than a beer. Definitely unique. A small fizzy bone-white head forms atop a lovely rose-ruby coloured beer. Shades of butterscotch, rosewood and tea-red. The head required some swirling of the glass for better consistency(at least in this glass) but it always stayed quite small and not overly fine-bubbled. Still, the beer's colour is redeeming. Sweet bubblegum sugar on the nose, with a little roasted malt coming out in closer to the beer. Big hits of mollasses and maple syrup, as well as some faint astringency that bites at the nose a little. Other notes of roasted salty nuts, tree sap, milk chocolate, and soft perfume. As the beer warms I get more and more porter-like aromas, such as charcoal and dry coffee. The aroma is great: a nice sweet malty blend that does the bock style justice. The smell actually reminds me of another recent local seasonal: Alley Kat's Kiltlifter Scotch Ale. I get similar malt aroma from them both. The taste is malty and sweet, but just not as full as I was hoping. Good elements, just not enough excitement here in the flavour. The malts seem to favour more of a roasted quality more akin to a porter or stout. I was expecting more sweetness and less bitterness. The finish is a little too dry for a bock. Flavours of brown sugar, maple syrup, black licorice, and coffee. The problem here is the beginning, where the malts err towards watery-sourness, a taste I find common in a lot of dark beers from BC and Alberta. Is it the malts used? I don't know. The middle is the best part, where horehound candy and a light taste of cinnamon mix. Mouthfeel is full but not heavy, and with medium carbonation. A quaffable beer on a rain-drenched spring day or in the remaining days of this lackluster winter in Alberta. Good, but not great. This could pass more as a porter. There is something in the malting of this beer that ruins its potential with me for flavour. This is still a very tasty beer however, and I will be buying more.

A nice new limited edition run to see from Tree Brewing in Kelowna, and 'tis the right season for the style to pop up. The cashier at the store that I bought these at commented on how cute the label was.

This sample came in a 650 ml brown bottle. It pours out a brilliant cherry oak hue, all the more apparent when held to the light. Thick tight spongy beige head with great retention, and sticky lacing. The aroma is mild, containing toasted caramel malt, the faintest of chocolate, and very light grassy hops. Thankfully the flavour is more robust, the malt possesses a more chocolate flavour, toasted, with faint notes of rum soaked cherries and raisins in the middle, this is where the abv% becomes somewhat apparent. The sweetness continues towards the finish, where there is the faintest trace of floral hops. Although a bit sticky, the aftertaste is more of a dry chocolate wafer. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, a baby bear's porridge of not too watery but not too thick, just somewhere right in between without commiting to either direction. Sticky on the palate as well, but it washes away quickly enough, doesn't coat. A nice crack at the bock style to see from Tree, and always great to see micros putting out seasonals and special editions, I'll be picking up more of this one while it's still available.