Traditional Bock
Adams Street Brewery

 

 

This beer is now called "Traditional Bock" and has a new label.

Pours a dark brown color with a small cream colored head that fades quickly to a light covering of little bubbles. Not much lacing to speak of.

Sweet caramel malts dominate the nose with hints of candy corn and hibiscus flowers. Smells ok, and fairly fresh, but is pretty one dimensional.

Weak and watery lightly toasted malt flavor. A bit of caramel sweetness makes it through to the flavor, but not enough. A smattering of hoppy bitterness and medium carbonation lends a dry, crisp finish. Its drinkable enough, I don't think I will have much trouble finishing my 12oz bottle of it, but it ultimately a forgettable bock.

Pours a dark brown color. 1/4 inch head of a pale tan color. Poor retention and poor lacing. Smells of acidic metal and noticeable yeast cleanliness. Aroma is not pleasing (I believe the lowest rating I've ever given a smell). Barely fits the style of a Bock, if at all. Mouth feel is smooth and crisp with a high carbonation level. Tastes of a lager cleanliness, slight sweet malt, slight hops, and mostly a strong acidic flavor. I hope this is not what the intended flavor of this brew was supposed to be. Wow, what a disappointment and in my opinion this is not worth a try.

Pours chestnut with 1+ finger of sand colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Corny, not much else

T: Cornyness, grainyness & sorghrum up front. Some tobacco like hop tastes mingle with cloying sweetness as this warms, along with a bit of chocolate. Finishes semi-dry, nutty with a tanic twang to it

MF: Light/medium bodied with low carbonation

Drinks okay, these half assed midwest takes on this style are not my cup of tea. This is one I won't be drinking again, almost as nasty as Shiner

12oz bottle acquired in trade.

Poured a medium to deep mahogany color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, nuts (lots of nuts), cookie dough, light chocolate and some roast. Tastes of dough, some nuts, and roast.

Notes from 4/4/07

Pours a dark, clear brown. The head was good, but faded a little. Left some nice lacing.

It smelled sweet from the malts. A little nutty, but heavy on the malts.

The taste was sweet at the start, a slight bitterness in the middle and then a little coffee at the finish.

Overall, alright. But nothing to write home about. I guess I was looking for a little something more.

Another class six find, poured chilled from the 12 oz brown bottle w/ a twist off cap into my Cumberland Brews nonic.

A - Dark brown like weak brewed coffee, the lager is crowned by a thick medium cream colored head w/ a tight bead. The head drops to a thickness about the size of a quarter on its side.

S - Dark fruit w/ plum and fig notes w/ raisin and cereal grain aromas.

M - Rather high in carbonation for the style. Slight semi-burned toast texture and a sweet malt w/ a mix of chalky and dry tingling seltzer in the finish.

T - The bready notes that greet the taste buds are quickly usurped by very carbonated light spice flavor that gradually allows for date and more cereral malt flavors. Subtle toasted dry and more simple burnt toast and light fruit in the finish w/ a touch of light brown sugar.

D - Not a phenomenal bock by any means , A mix that never realizes its strength and has lager ADD(just never seems to focus) I would say this is worth a try, not anything to fuss about though.

a: pours a very clean transparent brown color with a lot of carbonatoin, there is a good half inch of head that dissapears rather quickly leaving no lacing
s: sweet sweet caramel, toffee toasted malts and bready aroma, little floral hop notes but emphais placed on little
t: sweet brew, caramel, toffee both slightly toasted, there is little hop bitterness
m: light bodied beer with a lot of carbonatoin

overall, this isnt a beer that i can see myself buying again, nothing against it, but for $6.99 a 6er there are better beers on the market

12 ounce bottle into an imperial pint glass. darkish brown. clear. one finger light brown head.

balance of hops and malt. sweet malt and friuty hops. no off odors.

crisp with a malt backbone. a little fruit in the back. dry malt aftertaste. balanced for style.

nice carbonation. light body. good drinking beer. crisp enough for warm days. i would drink again.

I grabbed this while in Galena, an ultimately iffy choice. The presentation was good, with one and one-half fingers of slightly tan froth topping a cranberry body. The nose is faint, with hints of citrus malt emerging after some cajoling. While the taste was somewhat fruity, with a bit of bready malt mixed in, I found it on the whole a bit thin. It certainly lacked complexity. A touch flat, this was the first beer I've had in a long time that I could characterize as having a metallic aftertaste, an unwelcome feature of Red Bock Winter Ale. A fairly smooth beer in texture, this is a run-of-the-mill winter ale, one I won't grab next winter.

12oz bottle poured into a pilsener glass.

A: Pours a clean and dark brown with a frothy two inch coffee and cream colored head that leaves a good sticky lace as it bubbles away to a quarter inch cap that eventually fades away into a thin cap, not much carbonation to be seen but I wasn't expecting much either.

S: Strong huskyness backed by a light caramel and coffee sweetness, wish this aroma was the main event but sadly it is not, too much husk for my tastes.

T/MF: Starts very nice with a smooth light coffee and heavy cream sweetness but gets a bit nuttier and huskier closing with a rather bitter finish, mouthfeel is overall watery with a slight bittering finish.

D: Not bad, but not good either, there are better bocks out their but the price is right at least.

A - Poured out a brown hue with flecks of red and small, soapy, tan head. It left small traces of lace.

S - It smelled of burnt toast and malt.

T - It tasted of roasted malt with a touch of sweetness. Also, a little bitter bite.

M - It was fairly sharp and very smooth. A light to medium-bodied beer.

D - This is a descent bock. One of the better brews from Minhas.

Eye: The color is brown with sunset red and orange highlights and the body is clear. There is no head, pretty upsetting, it really kills it for me, no lacing either, just a small ring of foam around the edge of the glass.

Nose: Nice malty aroma on this brew though I wish there were more to it. I get chocolate and a roasted aroma. Pretty robust malt aroma, it also reminds me of molasses Could be better, more complexities would be nice.

Tongue: Chocolate and some coffee flavors are present as well as some roasted flavors. A bit watery overall though. To me it seems like there is a forced sweetness just as there is a forced sweetness in soft drinks, esp. coke/pepsi.

Mouthfeel and Drinkability: Finish is drier, and the bear leaves almost no aftertaste, its almost like drinking coke/pepsi. I wouldn't say that the body is heavy, or that its full bodied, rather it seems to me that it is thick, like a syrup-again reminds me too much of cola. This beer isn't all that hard to drink, but I think I explore other bocks before coming back to this one.

Aggresive pour, into a tulip glass. Very dark, with decent head, even decent lacing. More head than many other bocks I have had.

S: Very noticable coffee. Even a chocolate. Not being a coffee lover, or, even liker, I am prepared NOT to like this beer.

T: Toasted malt, metallic taste, and chocolate up front. Finishes a bit sweet, which is OK for me with a bock. Not much of a coffee taste..yet

M: A bit metallic. Nature of the beast, but, seems large. Leaves a rough coffee after taste.

D: Not bad, I can make do, if it the only bock I have. Won't seek it out again, but, will drink it if offered.

Appearance: Pours a reddish brown color with about a half inch head of tan bubbles that sticks around for about a minute and end up as a small ring around the top of the beer. There is no lacing left on the glass after the head fell.

Aroma: I get a serious metallic note in this beer that is almost impossible to get around. There is some malt in here that comes across as a dark caramel more than anything. I don't get any Melanoidins in here, but there are some toasty notes.

Taste: The flavor follows the aroma in that there is a metallic flavor that comes across to me as more copper-like. Once you get past the metallic flavor, there are some toasty notes in here that are somewhat closer to a real German beer. There is a bit of alcoholic warming in here that sits in and stays on the back of the throat long into the finish. Also in the finish there is a little bit of caramel.

Opinion: I am not too happy with this beer, but I am a really critical drinker of German Lagers. The beer has more flavor than the big three...but what does that mean? I don't really know what it would take to make this a better beer except to change the recipe...use better ingedients and better water. This beer is off, and I seriously doubt that I will be drinking this again anytime soon.

A- Appearance was good. Poured to about a inch and a half head. it was almost black in color with a slight reddish tint.. Lacing was good and left a ring with every swallow. Head lasted on the sides for the whole glass.
S-There was a little alcohol smell but not much. It smelled like a typical dark beer.
T-Tasted pretty much like a dark beer. Very similar to Berghoff dark. There really wasnt much of a difference between the two.
M-You could tell that you had something in your mouth. It was heavier than your lager beers. In a good way.
D-I could drink a few of these all the time. But because it is heavier it does fill you up faster. The little bit higher alcohol content was evident also. Ill buy a sixer of this again, very soon. The beer was good tasting and the price is right.

Appearance: Pours a clear, brown body with a small, fizzy white head.

Smell: Very, very light aroma of toasty caramel and floral hops. Maybe a little chocolate in there, too.

Taste: Light caramel maltiness with a pinch of cocoa powder and a hint of plum fruitiness. Some mild flowery hops appear before the exceedingly quick finish.

Mouthfeel: Thin-bodied. Medium carbonation. Watery.

Drinkability: A rather misleading title, unless it's famous for being thin on flavor and expressly watery.

A good looking dark brown beer with a little amber hue shining through when held up to light. A thin head quickly dissipates into fine lacing. Smell is average, mostly roasted malts. A very good tasting beer... Tastes like a stout, but not nearly as heavy. Has a pleasant aftertaste and mouthfeel as well.

Served at approximatel 45 degrees with a good foamy head which dissapited rather quickly. Dark tan opaque coloring. Thin film of lace coated the glass on the way down.

Hint of malt in the background.

Seemed to be a lighter side for a bock but was pleasant.

Some maltiness in the mouth which would be considered average.

Wouldn't go out of my way to pick up but wouldn't pass up if the right opportunity came along.