Spring Bock
Barn Door Beverage Co.

 

 

 

 

Oof. Liquid sugar almost. Caramel. Understated malt, some dark fruit. Sweeeet.

 

 

500 mL bottle picked up at the LCBO; served slightly chilled. No apparent freshness info, but given the fact that it's called a 'spring' bock (and the LCBO has a history of delaying the release of new beers) I'm going to assume it's at least a few months old.

Pours an attractive, clear copper-amber colour, topped with two fingers of frothy, off-white foam. It recedes steadily over the next couple of minutes, leaving behind a soapy cap and collar and a pattern of lacey webbing. The aroma is quite malty and sweet - lots of bready malts and caramel, in addition to raisin, honey, prunes and some toasted notes.

This is quite a sweet beer - bordering on annoyingly so. With my initial sip, I detect a wide range of malty flavours - caramel and molasses, toasted bread, raisins and dried, dark fruits being the most dominant features. Although there is a vague notion of earthy, herbal hop notes, the finish is mostly like the rest of the flavour profile - saccharine. Medium-bodied, with light carbonation and a very smooth, enjoyable feel on the palate. Fairly drinkable, but not something I'd want more than one bottle of per night.

Final Grade: 3.61, a B grade. I've had a few bottles of Barn Door Brewing's Spring Bock over the past month, and I've also had the same reaction after drinking each one of them - meh. This is not bad for the style, but the preponderance of sweet flavours is really rubbing me the wrong way - I understand that bocks are supposed to be malty, but this one isn't very well-balanced and for that reason I can't consider it an exceptional example. Worth a try if you're a malt maniac, but I'm not convinced I'll be picking this one up again next year.