Samson Bock
První Budějovický Pivovar Samson

500ml bottle. Poured a crystal clear, golden yellow color with a small, fizzy, white head of foam. It left sudsy lacing. It smelled of caramel, bready malt and grasses. Sweet malty taste with caramel, toffee and a citrusy bite.

 

 

Above average tasting beer. Not much local competition, definitely worth giving it a go.

I unabashedly love Czech lagers. Even the ones many think are just “meh” (Rebel, anyone?). Samson Bock has quickly become one of my go-tos when I want something a bit stronger than a Pils. I only wish I could get it in a format other than 1.09 pints!

Amber color. Nice, off-white head. Malt, bread, light grass, and caramel in the aroma. Malty taste with moderate bitterness at the end. Definitely worth trying.

 

A perfect strong-ish Czech pale lager. Crisp, smooth, lovely color and aroma, elegantly bready and noble hopped. It's a bit malty since it's billed as a bock, but it's an easier drinking beer compared to German bocks. Highly recommend.

 

Only my second from Samson, it caused me to reflect on how I never would have gotten this beer in Chicagoland had it not been InBev's purchase of Samson. I went on Samson's website again and it has the same character as a few years back. And that reminds me a bit of the different management style of InBev and AB that somehow remains separate in the case of Samson... at least the larger parent hasn't swallowed it yet. And I got to sample some in Chi.

As for Samson's Bock, I started it at lunch (a somewhat spicy burrito) and I decided the beer was too good for this burrito. So I saved the balance of the bock for late afternoon and it perfectly warmed this holiday afternoon. Bock opens a pretty amber and a decent foam. Smells are more mute, mostly malt. Tastes are well-balanced, a sweet caramel malt is properly checked by modest hops and they finish together; all playing nice. Medium-mouthed. Soft, possibly from their water drawn from a deep well. Veselé Vánoce ! (Merry Christmas in Czech.)

 

500ml green bottle. Label stamp provides date of 'L2021329'.
Medium amber colored body. Lava lamp type particle ups and downs. Off white head reduces to partial cap and ring. Leaves behind some webs of lacing.
Aroma of bread dough, green apple, and spicy hops.
Taste is golden bread malts, orange and apple, and a late spice note. No real bitterness. Some skunk.
Medium mouth feel. Very smooth, with a clean finish. Very good carbonation.
The moving flakes in the body are kind of off putting, but otherwise the beer is solid with a good malt and spicy flavor, and an extensive lacing web left behind. The noticeable, but not detrimental, skunk is likely because of the green bottle.

 

Hidden gem!
I cant believe I havent had this beer before. Great presentation of a Bock style. Not overpowering, smooth as it can be. Taste just lovely

500mL green bottle Batch L2022160 poured into a becher glass at fridge temp 6.1% ABV. The beer pours bright medium amber with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. The aroma is mild and mostly skunk with a hint of malt sweetness. The taste is semisweet pale malt with a little less skunk, but it's mostly obscuring any hop flavor that I could pick out. Minimal bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just less that average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, seems well made, but the green bottle sunk it.

 

 

500ml bottle

Tons of floating clouds of chunk (my brother thought it had gone bad and tried to return it before the clerk insisted it was all natural and still good). Smells beery, like warm sweet grain and some hopping. Very enjoyable drink, lightly sweet with some bitter hopping, much like the scent.

A very enjoyable simple brew... this and their dark lager were very impressive