Bockbier
Blue Stallion Brewing Co.

 

You know spring is right around the corner when bockbiers begin to adorn the tap list. And the classic bier makers of Blue Stallion hit the stride with their malty-rich lager with a plethora of complexity.

The dark lager pours a rusty garnet color with the faintest of haze. Ruby low lights cast through its iron-clad appearance while its cream-stained head slowly builds above. Its dense but thin blanket of froth skirts the glass evenly until it eventually succumbs to the weight of the beer beneath.

Its malty-rich aromas are hearty with toffee, molasses and the savory scent of cooked fruit and molasses; seemingly cobbler-like. A whiff of coffee cake and rum continue to weave into its toasted and nutty scent.

Its rich taste of toffee and molasses is similar to hard candy-type sweetness. Densely bready, again like cake, the fruit flavors begin mounting- apples, cherries, dates, raisins, plumbs and prunes dip into savory sherry-like tones, if ever so briefly. Its toasty and nutty finish continue to provide fruity tones even with the taste of spiced rum lurking in the background.

Medium-full on the palate, the ale promptly promotes its malt dominance and keeps it up session-long. Looking for the beer's patient dissolve toward any toasted dryness that would surprise the palate with drinkability is slow and partial, leaving a lot of sweetness on the back end and giving the beer a "strong ale" type of warm and fruity finish.

The pride of Bockbier is their ability to show a wide range of malt, texture, and sensibility in an effortlessly drinking session. Blue Stallion's Bockbier delivers on those lofty promises for the first half of the session, but it has trouble turning the corner.

 

The color resembles a root beer as it holds a dark amber hue almost to a brown . It poured a dense foam with a decent amount of lacing.

The aromas are sweet barley like malts with some caramel malt. There is a dry biscuit maltiness towards the back but the sweetness is predominant.

The flavor seems to follow suit but the sweetness is a little stronger. The sweetness lends to a caramel malt but barley is definitely there. There is some biscuity malts surrounding this but the overall sweetness is most apparent.

The feel is really crisp and despite the sweetness it comes across as drier on the tongue.

This beer was a bit too sweet at first but as the palate settled in and the dryness took over its comes out better in the end.

 

 

Pours a clear, deep caramel amber with a frothy khaki head that dissipates into a thin layer of foam.

Light specialty malt fruitiness, toasted bread, and sweet malt firm the aroma. There's a hint of floral hop character.

The flavor reveals bready malt at the backbone, lightly toasted, but there are evident fruity malt times that steal the show. Slightly sweet initially, but the finish is bready and dry, not at all bitter.

Body and carbonation are moderate, fair alcohol warmth.

Fruity tones are favored over melanoidin notes. Good beer.