Pre-Prohibition Style Bock Beer
August Schell Brewing Company

The pour reveals a beautiful copper color, brilliantly clear, with a slightly tan colored head. The aroma is caramel (like the Heirloom), but there's also toffee aromas.

The toffee really comes forward on the taste, and it melds well with the caramel flavors. The "base" bock from Schell's is great (it has to be, since it supports a big beer-soaked brawl known as Bock Fest), Heirloom is better, but this is no slouch.

Alcohol was surprising the first Had... but still pleasant to drink the second time. No rating change.
But by the third bottle, I noticed that this has more carbonation and that detracts from the maltiness. So slight decrease in Feel. Otherwise, this is a balanced, but rich bock. Recommended.

 

 

Very retro label, very cool.

Pours a light caramel toffee color (30% opaque) with a 3 finger grey head. The head diminishes to about 1/4 finger and leaves a touch of hilly lace on the sides.

A very malty aroma of musty grains, caramel, fruits (oranges, raspberry), and a bit of hop.

The flavor starts off with a bit of banana, caramel, metallic blueberry, and then fades into a darker flavor with lots of metallic off notes (battery, tin, copper).

Feel is semi-creamy, plenty carbonated, ends wet and unremarkable.

Overall, this Bock beer was kinda weak. I have two more of these to have and maybe I'll like it more by then, but, I've liked the others in the pack better so far.

Edit : Later after having this straight from the bottle and not thinking, I enjoyed it much more. I bumped the scores up a bit from the original overall of 3.32.

clear golden amber with a short off-white head. this is significantly lighter looking than the Schell’s Bock with the blue label. also lighter smelling, with just a hint of the caramel and more grain. on the palate, there is even a huskiness and the finish is nearly spare enough to befit an American adjunct lager. the carbonation is fairly spritzy and the body light. if not for a subtle, lingering essence of maltiness, which is quite nice really, I would not at all suspect “bock.” a light, refreshing brew for those late spring days that are starting to feel more like summer.

3.75, 3.25, 3.75, 3.75

update: just glanced at the supposed 7.1% abv listed on this site. wha??? if that's true, this is the most 5% drinking 7% beer I have ever had.

12 oz bottle, poured into a nonic pint at ~50 degrees F.

Appearance: Pours a crystal-clear clover honey amber, topped with a couple fingers of dense barely-beige foam. Bubbles rage up from the bottom of this beer in swift geysers. Head retention is good, with nice lacing rings.

Smell: Caramel and toast, wreathed through with unmown, overgrown wildflower field.

Taste: There's a decided floral kick to this beer, at least to my supertaster palate, but luckily it is insufficient to activate my patent pending "Wall O' Perfume" response. Soft caramel, toast, and pecan flavors swirl underneath the flowerbed, alongside a faint hint of fresh ground pepper.

Mouthfeel: A bit to the lighter side, with plenty of fizz. This is an exceptionally not dry beer, leaving the mouth very refreshed and damp in its wake. On some sips, there's something of what I refer to as a watery breakdown at the swallow.

Overall: I'll be honest, this isn't my favorite bock. The amount of hop presence dismays me, and I prefer a slightly fuller mouthfeel. That being said, it's not a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Pours clear dark gold to light amber with a one finger white head, with good retention and lacing. The aroma has toasted malt, caramel, and bread malt.

tastes just like it smells with toasted malt, caramel, and bread malt. Slightly sweet.

Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation. smooth and easy to drink.

Appearance: Clear amber, good head.

Smell: Sweet, floral, grains, bit of apple/grape.

Taste: Grains, toffee, little bit of grapes, a little on the sweet side but pretty neutral.

Overall: First beer from the herd of bocks pack from Schell. Reminds me a little of malt liquor with the apple/grape notes, but mostly clean and easy drinking. Decent strong lager.

Bottle from the Bock sampler pack.
Pours a clear, dark amber with a creamy off-white head that leaves lacing down the glass.
The aroma is pretty much all malt -- toffee and cracker, caramel and a hint of spice.
Taste is toffee and bready with a touch of spicy hops.
Mouthfeel is medium and smooth.
Tasty and drinkable, not too complex.

 

 

 

Part of a Schell's Bock sampler 12-pack. This is their "starter-bock", I suppose. Nice rich clear amber pour, light head. Smell of light roasted malts, not too mich else. Taste is light, slightly sweet and smooth. It would be a good intro to beer styles for the BMC crowd, not much to object to. Label says, "Pre-prohibition style lager", which being well before my time, I will have to take their word for. Well done, as from most by Schell's.

 

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a chalice.

Appearance: Pours amber orange with a moderate amount of bubbles. Solid finger of off white head that settles into a thin patchy layer.

Smell: A bready and fairly sweet malt forward aroma with a scent of grains and caramel. Toasted malt with hints of cereal grains, cracker, caramel, biscuit, and yeast. Light fruit hints of apple. Very light hops. A decent aroma.

Taste: Like it smells, a bready and slightly sweet malt forward taste with notes of grains and caramel. Toasted malt with bready notes of cereal grains, caramel, cracker, biscuit, and yeast. Subtle notes of dried fruit. Very light hop spice. A decent bock taste.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Crisp, clean, and pretty smooth.

Overall: A solid Pre-Prohibition style take on a Bock. Nice grainy caramel malt flavor.

 

A helles style bock. That is a nice surprise. Clear, pale amber color with a finger of dense white head that good retention before settling to a thick cap. Just a little bit of spotty lacing is left down the glass. Bready aroma that smells sweet. A little bit of noble hop spice aroma. The flavor is on the sweet side as well and not dry like an imperial pilsner. Mostly bread with some caramel and a bit of hop spice in the finish. Has enough hop bitterness to keep this from being cloying. A little bit of alcohol flavor sneaks in as well. Medium body that has a bit of fizzy carbonation in the finish.