Southern Heirloom Candy Roasted Squash Bock
Strangeways Brewing

Strangeways Brewing "Southern Heirloom"
22 oz. brown glass bottle

First impressions: Nice head... rocky bright white, and three fingers thick. Decent lacing but it could still be better. Malty, hoppy, median-bitter beer - it could be almost anything to a certain extent... some brewery's IPA, another's pale ale, maybe a Munich helles...? Golden in color, just slightly hazy. Medium bodied and gently effervescent (natural carbonation?).

So let's see, this is a ... CANDY ROASTER SQUASH BOCK. What's the candy roaster connection? Ahh, it's a variety of squash, hence the "heirloom" name. I don't particularly find it in the beer although there is something that I can't quite put my finger on, and as it warms what I think of as a squash flavor does come out - but it's still not major, just a component. On to the malt. I don't find it quite malty enough to be a bock, but there is character to the malt. You get it in the aroma, and you get it in the flavor (unless that's the squash adding to it). I was thinking Munich malts, and the label also lists rye which I find in its spiciness. The Munich malts I was imagining, however, are more heirloom ingredients - "heritage" malted barley. And we might as well cover the hops at this point as they're "Huguenot", which I've never heard of... but I see that that's not a variety, that's the supplier, a local hop farm in central Virginia. I find them equally grassy (hay like) and floral, and perhaps spicy although that might just be the rye.

So back to the "bock". At 5.5% abv. it fits into the oldest Bock traditions but it doesn't quite qualify in today's world. It is malty, however, and you do have to give your beer some kind of designation... so I guess we can let that slide.

Nicely done. It's an enjoyable beer; and I appreciate that they're on the "heirloom" bandwagon, promoting tradition and depth of character over "ease of use". Worth trying.