Samuel Adams Triple Bock
Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

Samuel Adams Triple BockSamuel Adams Triple Bock
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From:
Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)
 
Massachusetts, United States
Style:
American Strong Ale
ABV:
17.5%
Score:
69
Avg:
2.97 | pDev: 37.71%
Reviews:
660
Ratings:
974
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jul 06, 2023
Added:
Jan 10, 1998
Wants:
  87
Gots:
  143
Though the little cobalt bottles still decorate the shelves today, this beer only had 3 vintage releases; 1994, 1995, and 1997. Brewed with two row malted barley, water, Noble hops and yeast, along with maple syrup, it was then aged several months in oak whiskey barrels before being bottled. At the time it was considered the world's strongest beer, and a precursor of today's Extreme Beers.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by UGADawgGuy:
Photo of UGADawgGuy
Reviewed by UGADawgGuy from Georgia

1/5  rDev -66.3%
look: 1 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1
I love many of life's indulgences: music, film, food, beer, BeerAdvocate.com, and so on.

With most of my strongest interests, I have a well-documented love for the best of the best...and the worst of the worst. For example, my favorite movies of all time include the widely-acclaimed likes of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "The Godfather" (parts I and II), and "Rocky." They also include the inimitable "Troll 2," "The Crawlers," and "Manos: The Hands of Fate" (try sitting through the non-MST3K version in its entirety).

As such, when I began to foster an abiding interest in beer, it stood to reason that I should seek out the most infamously bad beers available, in order to further my education and shorten my life. At the time that occurred to me, Samuel Adams Triple Bock was the most notorious beer discussed on this site's forums. And so I sought it out.

I was sent a bottle of 1997 Triple Bock -- along with a "bonus" bottle of Blue Diamond Stout, straight from China -- by BA EinWeizenBitte. From California to Georgia. For free (i.e., he asked for nothing in return). Thus began my odyssey.

I held onto the already twelve-year-old bottle for a few months after receiving it, until I could share it with as many people as possible under exactly the right circumstances. Those circumstances turned out to be the night of my grandfather's funeral, at my homebrewing uncle's house. I can think of no more appropriate context in which to attempt drinking Triple Bock. My brother and I stepped outside to open and pour the beer.

Appearance: The bottle itself is small, blue, and unassuming. In fact, I'd go so far as to call that delicate vessel attractive. What lurks inside, however, is repugnant.

Upon removing the placebo seal around the cork, and then the cork itself, I was greeted with no evidence of carbonated life. I did my best to pour the beer evenly into two glasses, and it lived up to its reputation: it looked like fetid pond water, rife with suspended algae and the long-rotting carcasses of various aquatic fauna. Chunks of thick sediment clung to the insides of both the bottle and each glass. The end of the pour yielded an audible "plop," the result of a slimy wad of what appeared to be manatee feces entering the glass. My God.

Smell: Please, don't smell it.

Others have likened the stench of Triple Bock to soy sauce, but I suspect something far more sinister is afoot here. The souls of innocent toddlers, slaughtered by a demonic cult? The olfactory distillation of Genghis Khan's tyranny? I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it smells far worse than any soy sauce I've ever encountered.

Taste: In each person's lifetime, one encounters a handful of turning points. A first kiss. High-school graduation. A wedding day. The birth of a child. For me, the moment Triple Bock met my lips was one such turning point.

As soon as the thick, tarry stool sample caressed my tongue, I knew I had been fundamentally changed. The rumors were true. Triple Bock tastes at once sickly sweet (like vomit after you've eaten a stack of pancakes drizzled with maple syrup), bone-chillingly sour (like soy sauce brewed in 1910, or vinegar derived from an eagle's tears), and improbably alluring. A second sip unveiled notes of mulch pile, fresh giraffe manure, and 9-volt battery.

This beer is a revelation.

Mouthfeel: Imagine giving a pint of blood -- you know, as you would at the Red Cross. Then imagine letting that blood partially coagulate, at room temperature, for maybe eight hours. Next, imagine attempting to drink that blood. That's how this nightmare felt in my mouth...and in my soul. As an added bonus, I could do nothing to remove the sensation, flavor, and smell of Triple Bock from my tongue, teeth, palate, and throat for several hours after drinking it. Even hard liquor couldn't cut through it.

Drinkability: Whatever the OPPOSITE of drinkability is, Triple Bock has it. In fact, it's made of it. I'd rather drink my own regurgitated bile than attempt to choke down another sip of this cruel, twisted monstrosity.

True story: While outside, my brother and I poured a little bit of Triple Bock into the bowls of the three dogs who live at my uncle's house. All three dogs, very hungry due to not having eaten since breakfast, ran toward the bowls, then simultaneously retreated by slowly walking backward. They appeared to be concerned that whatever was in there might reward sudden movement by attacking them. Such concerns were probably well-founded.

Truth be told, I strongly recommend Triple Bock to everyone who calls himself a beer connoisseur, just as I recommend "Troll 2" to strangers I pass on the street. There truly is nothing else like it in this world. It deserves every bit of its insidious reputation, and it will take years off your life.

Highly recommended.
Aug 25, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.13 by smi69 from New York

Jul 06, 2023
Photo of Seanlor
Reviewed by Seanlor from New Jersey

4.59/5  rDev +54.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
It's 2023, and I still have an entire case of the 1994 "vintage" Sam Adams Triple Bock. I loved it when I first tasted it, and I put away a case as an investment. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to sell it with all of the regulations surrounding the sale (even private sale) of beer.
Jun 22, 2023
Photo of bgenzoli72
Reviewed by bgenzoli72 from Washington

4.99/5  rDev +68%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Dark Caramel gives way to warm notes of barrel aged smoothness. Unexpected reddish notes, not dark as one might expect. Fermented cherries and a medium dark chocolate notes on front of tongue. Velvet syrupy notes as it swishes the mouth, with a feeling of an aged Madeira wine. Some say it's like a Port wine, but this is much deeper, much smoother. This is a complex, sweet beer meant to be sipped and savored, very slowly. It starts out as one beer experience, but over the course of 20 minutes (give yourself this amount of time to fully enjoy it), it will lead you to an entirely different experience.

Final notes: Notes of stone fruit in here. Strong and proud. Dark, caramel and brown butter. Aged Cherries. Medium Dark Chocolate. Warming, like an old leather-clad library with a roaring fireplace. The beer that started it all. Madiera and old Oak.
Apr 07, 2023
Photo of Ristaccia
Rated by Ristaccia from Nebraska

4.5/5  rDev +51.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
'94: 4.5/4.5/4.5/4.5/4.5
'97: 4.25/3/1.5/2/2
Dec 12, 2022
Photo of edthehead
Reviewed by edthehead from Maryland

3.63/5  rDev +22.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
1994 vintage, still great.
Dark brown appearance with a sparse tan head that recedes slowly to a collar, low retention, no lacing. Maple, whiskey, leather, tobacco. Moderate to light body, light carbonation likely due to age.
Jan 17, 2022
 
Rated: 2.34 by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota

Nov 26, 2021
 
Rated: 2.48 by alexsergio from New York

Oct 30, 2021
 
Rated: 1.82 by SadMachine from New Jersey

Oct 17, 2021
Photo of digboy
Reviewed by digboy from New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +34.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A friend had a bottle of 1994 vintage had been previously opened and recorked some time back, so that's out there.

That it poured a deep reddish-blown, almost black color. The aroma is richly sweet, like a concentrated tincture of dried cherries. The flavor is similar with lots of port wine character - dried cherry and prunes, leather and a bit of tobacco and molasses in the finish. Feel is dense and syrup-like, smooth and not bitter at all - again, like a tawny port. The alcohol was very present but not burning. I am sure this has lost some of its original character after all these years and having been opened before, but reading others here it appears to have held up very well. It was an honor to try such a legend.

I am giving it all fours as I have no idea if this is what the beer is supposed to be like. I enjoyed it enough to warrant a 4.
Oct 19, 2020
Photo of melitameister
Reviewed by melitameister from New York

3.57/5  rDev +20.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Purchased this 1995 Brew Reserve new for $3.19. Then it sat quietly and somewhat lost in a 50-degree Cellar for 25 years.

A bright ruby edge tops the opaque purplish black brew. Smell is a nice alcoholic prune juice that develops into much more. Taste is like and as sweet as prune juice with a tutti frutti blend of candy sugar, dried fruits, cherries, banana, a bit of grapefruit and some nice big bitterness growing to give balance. Feel is rich and creamy.

Enjoyed this more than expected when sipped quite slowly. Certainly a huge overly sweet brew that I find an exotic trip.
Apr 26, 2020
Photo of Evercandy
Reviewed by Evercandy from Nevada

5/5  rDev +68.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I am probably the largest single consumer of Sam Adams Triple Bock. My all 5 rating is a little bias. I loved every single bottle that I drank. Reason I claim to be the largest single consumer. Is my friend owned a restaurant/bar in Ventura, California. The restaurant was told that they bought more cases then anybody in the tri-county (Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara county) area. My friend bought (I paid my friend for all the cases) every case and bottle was only for me. The wholesale price was $76.90 from Lagomarsino Distributor. I should have bought the last case that Lagomarsino had.
Mar 02, 2020
 
Rated: 3.25 by fossage78 from Massachusetts

Feb 23, 2020
 
Rated: 3.77 by DVMin98 from North Carolina

Nov 17, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by smartassboiler from Illinois

May 30, 2019
Photo of ArrogantB
Reviewed by ArrogantB from Colorado

3.58/5  rDev +20.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
1994 vintage. Got a pour at a share and for 25 years old I was surprised that this beer did not taste bad. Very strong, very sweet, really no soy for me. I thought it was like a super strong stout. On the other hand I couldn't drink my whole sample.
Apr 08, 2019
 
Rated: 3 by KMcGrath from Massachusetts

Dec 03, 2018
Photo of JayWolf
Reviewed by JayWolf from Illinois

4.9/5  rDev +65%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5
I loved this beer. FYI Monastic Triple are my favorite beers. So this ones thick heady body, rich flavors, aroma and alcohol percentage felt like home to me. Damn shame they don't make this one anymore.
Aug 16, 2018
 
Rated: 3.97 by SargeC from California

Aug 06, 2018
Photo of cook_a_wolf
Rated by cook_a_wolf from New York

3.31/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Ran across a bottle in 94,can't say it was great beer,but as a liquor it was nice. Tried the 95 and it was not worth the cork
Mar 25, 2018
Samuel Adams Triple Bock from Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)
Beer rating: 69 out of 100 with 974 ratings