Jamieson Chocolate Bock
Jamieson Brewery

On tap at the brewery.

A: Served a dark brown color with a small head that fades to some lacing.

S: Aroma of roasted malt and chocolate, not much else.

T: Taste of roasted malt with a bit of caramel and chocolate. Mild bitterness and a clean finish.

F: Fairly full body, creamy and smooth. Nice balance.

O: Nice beer to have on a cold evening. Good for a couple.

On tap at the Local.

Pours a very clear dark reddish bronze. Very filmy head of ochre foam. I'm surprised at the clarity, and a little disappointed at the head. I'm not terribly impressed overall.

Yeah, there is chocolate on the nose if you look for it. A musty sweetness, quite raw, with a bit of malt to back it up. Quite subdued really, not very in your face. I think the serving temp is good, because it doesn't have a really thick body to warrant a warmer serving temperature, but it does lose some of the aromas as a result.

Taste is much better. A noticeable and very pleasant chocolate sweetness, which is folded in with the malt to produce a slightly drier hazelnut character. Smooth, but with a crisp finish to clean up the otherwise rather sweet palate, I think the lager yeast is a good choice here.

Very drinkable with a good amount of character. Not overdone with sweetness - just very nicely balanced. Jamieson has another subtle winner here for me.

Pours a ruby red colour with a clear appearance. Slow bead, fairly minimal carbs really. Head is modest thin beige crown, lacing is pretty alright. Looks great for a bock, but still just 'good'.

Nose is incredibly sweet, toffee and sugar paste with a big diacetyl whiff. Bit of mustiness on there, but very sweet, like an LCM's bar. Maybe a hint of chocolate? But not a lot, just smells overly sweet.

Taste is a bit better, because there is a strong, quite phenolic alcohol bite on it, but yeah still sweet, a lot of that toffee and a nutty nougat kind of edge. Aspects of a buttery goodness, kind of cakey really, and just a bit of liqueur. Taste is alright but very strong and leaves a peanut brittle kind of sweetness lingering. A bitter or a burnt aftertaste is okay, but sweet is just not good. Tolerable but not great.

Mouthfeel is quite slick, has a good texture from the booziness, goes down pretty well.

Actually though this is a bit of a struggle to get through. Very strong and sweet. Bit intense for me I think, although the characters on their own are OK, just too much.