Barleywraith
Varietal Beer Company

 

Nice pour, clear gold in the glass, white head that recedes sort of fast, minor lacing though which is nice.

The nose is honey laden light toasted grain and cereal; some sweetness; there is some leafiness to it and a like alcohol bite that I tend to get from this style.

The taste is quite balanced and rich; really full malt presence, it is quite bread like and lightly toasted in quality, there is an earthy hop presence, lightly grass like.

Mouthfeel is medium; hefty and full but quite drinkable, has a nice snap on the finish, along with moderate dryness and bitterness; slight alcohol warmth on the finish.

 

Can from Uptown Market.

A clear golden orange with a dense white head with good retention and lacing. The nose is excellent. Soft bread, white wine soaked yellow raisins, soft spice, a kiss of hops, earthy and mildly spicy. Soft honey. The palate opens mildly sweet with dough, bread, honey and a touch of fruit. Raisins, mild grape. Mild spice, earth and dusty lemony hops follow. The hops are firm on the finish, tempering both the sweetness and the alcohol. Arguably a hair more alcohol than needed, but then it would be even closer to Lenzbock. Creamy mouthfeel, lovely conditioning.

Beautiful looking beer; clear, golden yellow body; scant slow-rising carbonation; thick, billowy head, white and semi-creamy. Soothing light caramel aroma with a suggestion of herbal notes in the background. Outstanding taste; malty with a honey-like sweetness; light bitterness; mild alcohol note. Medium-heavy body; smooth with a touch of velvet on the palate; nice soft residual sugars; slight alcohol dryness at the finish.

This collaborative bock is a pleasure to sip. Rich and complex with a very pleasing lager smoothness.

Pouring temperature: 48 °F; canning info: DON'T FEAR THE REAPER BEST BY 11/20/22

Poured into a Celebrator pokal. Pours a medium orange-gold amber with a quarter finger white head that dissipates to a thin film with light lacing. Aroma of bready and grainy malt, apple and a touch of caramel. Flavor is caramel and bready malt with light husky grain, apple, honey and grassy hops. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Delicious. To me, this tastes like a festbier on steroids; similar grainy with light caramel malt body and light grassy hops with some apple fruit notes. This malt is great and the hops, while mild as is typical of bock, is still a clear note, especially in the finish. Although it could have a more aggressive head, it overall looks, smell and tastes great with a robust mouth feel. This sounded appealing and beat my expectations.