Buzzards Bay Stock Ale
Buzzards Bay Brewing

 

12oz bottle: I didn’t realize that this one had been retired. It pours a cloudy brown color with a bit of head, which drops off rather quickly. The aroma is good, but a tad light. Notes of toffee and caramel malts. Possibly some raisins also. The taste is OK. Somewhat sweet, with some roastiness and dryness in the aftertaste. Not bad. Why did they kill this one?

I received a bottle from my friend Mr. Doyle's BOM club a few months back.

Poured a deep red with a nice head that has sustained well. Nose is lightly malty, no outstanding qualities. Taste is heavy on caramel malts with a light hop finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and fairly smooth. Drinkability is good. When I saw thr name stock ale, I associate it with a beer with a very high abv. However this is a decent red ale with a 5-6% abv that i would recommend if it was still made.

Buzzards Bay Stock Ale pours a rich copper color with a thin head. It's aroma is heavy on the pine and vanilla. Flavor is much the same: heavy vanilla with a nice balance of hops and malts. It's slightly spicy with a surprisingly clean finish. This is a decent brew.

Swelection of the beer of the month club. Poured a reddish amber color with slightly off-white puffy head. Smell is malty with hints of caramel noted. Smell is malty caramel with a pleasant sweetness to be found. Finished malty with a slight hop bitterness. An enjoyable beer but nothing spectacular.

Mahogany with a nice full creamy tan head. Spicy malt and lightly sweet aromas. Spicy malt flavor dominates but not overly sweet; nicely balanced. Medium bodied with a warming malt finish. Nice robust malt profile.

I prefer this to Sam Adams Boston Ale (also labelled as a Stock Ale).

Per BOM notes: A seasonal brewed in 2005 especially for the BOM club.
28 IBU. 5.0% ABV
Malts: Pale, Caramel, Black Patent
Hops: Magnum, Mount Hood (dry hopped with Liberty hops)

Bottling #: 5.237
Tasted: 11/06/05

Aroma – Strait forward amber malt sent complimented by some floral hops. Not very complex, and not very strong, but still pleasant.

Appearance – Poors with a fluffy light tan head, leaving a thin head with minimal retention. There is little to lace. The color is deep mahogany, and even though it’s dark, it’s very clear (not bottle conditioned).

Flavor – This flavor profile is as strait forward as the aroma was. Light, refreshing resin hoppyness is predominant balanced against a light caramel malt. There is a lingering bitterness in a dry finish.

Mouthfeel – This beer has a thin, watery body. It’s lightly carbonated.

Overall Impression – Not necessarily a beer I would go out of my way to look for, but I thought it was a nice simple refreshing beer.

Deep and clear mahogany with ruby tones, with a one-finger ochre head, with average retention. Lacing is minimal. Nose hits with rich caramel, floral hops, with underlying currants and alcohol a little too apparent. Gentle carbonation, thin body, caramel (English Crystal) malt balanced with a refreshing hop bitterness, some piney acridity emerging after it goes down, a slight dry-hopped bitterness lingering.

Pretty standard for the style with an extra bit of character in the flavor profile. Easy-going but gets somewhat boring with its single-mindedness drive toward a particular type of bittering leaving the denouement unexciting. Quality stuff, would be good once in a while.

The beer is a golden amber color with the head minimal in size, frothy in texture and a off white color, the lace is patchy and thin. Nose is all malt, crisp and clean with the start lightly sweet and malt laden, the top is cadaverous. Finish watery, moderately carbonated, hop minimally spicy, dry and lingering aftertaste, another disappointment, from what I heard was a good brewery, seems like a light lager to me?

This old ale has a deep red color and the distinct hoppiness of Buzzard's Bay beers. The strong hops are balanced well with a rich maltiness giving the brew a strong profile. Worth picking up a case right from the brewery.