Thumbprint Mocha Berry Bock
New Glarus Brewing Company

 

 

Kind of an iced tea coloring with a malty presence. Distinctive khaki head that is at first quite fluffy and velvety but has an audible fizziness to it. Some nice lacing down the glass.

Berries and cherries (especially) are the first thing I notice on the nose, then some very light roasted chocolate malts appear to give it some nuance and depth. I’d never pick this out as a bock, and the chocolatey characteristics described on the bottle aren’t nearly as pronounced as advertised. But it’s a nice, if somewhat fruit-dominated aroma profile. Maybe a touch of acidic balsamic vinegar hidden in the background as the beer warms.

Light cocoa plays a larger role on the tongue, especially on the back end, which does provide a slight chocolate-covered-cherry vibe. Fortunately it isn’t cloying or artificial in any way, just an additional layer behind the ripe berries (now more pronounced) and cherries. Maybe a little pithy hop bitterness under the surface? Again, fruit-juice dominated so the “beer” features are well hidden, as is often the case in the Thumbprint series beers. But incredibly drinkable, and I’m not getting the cherry cola vibe that previous reviewers mentioned.

Soft and smooth with a pleasant amount of stickiness on the teeth. Goes down smooth.

This doesn’t match the ultra-fruit-focused NB offerings like Belgian Red and Raspberry Tart for me, as those are standouts. But this is a very tasty beer that I will consume happily and that tickles a similar itch.

It reminds me of a cherry soda more than a beer, but its very good and appreciate its character. The chocolate flavor is a strong backbone for the tart fruit.

 

 

 

12 oz bottle poured into a willi becher. Pours a medium brown with a reddish tint. Medium-sized off-white head; good retention and lacing. Aroma and flavor feature chocolate-covered raspberries, fresh raspberries, caramel malt, light roast coffee, and hints of vanilla and earthy hops. It's moderately sweet without being cloying. Similar to the blueberry cocoa stout, this has the best elements of a pastry stout without being overly sweet, boozy, or thick/chunky. It looks, tastes, and acts like beer. Great stuff.

 

Look
Looks as it should for the style; Ruddy-amber/brown, topped with a medium tan head. Good duration, good lacing.

Smell
Berry all over the nose. Raspberry is my best guess. Much lighter notes of caramel, toffee, and darker, roasted malt. Very, very clean and neutral.

Taste
SWEET. Much sweeter than I was anticipating on the first sip, and with much less of the mocha (or Bock-like, even) character than I would have expected or liked. A bit lighter and “fizzy”, carbonation-wise. Not sure what to make of that altogether, although I expect (and prefer) Bocks to be a bit fuller in body.

Mocha character emerges about mid-palate, but is very subtle, and is subsumed by the berry character and the overall sweetness. Very little bitterness to this beer, also, so it seems a bit less than what it aimed to be (Bock beer has at least -some- bitterness, right?)

Feel
Much lighter in body than I had expected, but is very, very drinkable despite this.

Overall
The sweetness and fizziness (combined with the berry flavor dominance) is not what I expected, and if I were being 100% honest (with respect to my personal tastes) I’d rate this one a bit lower.

As it is, I expect that this is exactly what the brewmaster was going for, and I also expect that it is the sort of beer that would be well received by the “people who don’t like beer” crowd (this refers to the people that disdained and disparaged American Adjunct Lager for the last forty tears or so — some of whom probably still do so!)

Conceptually, berries and bock sounds like a good idea, but the execution falls short. The depth of fruit is what I've come to expect from New Glarus, but there is a clash between the fruit and the bitterness, which I assume is hop but could perhaps be roasted malt. The result is a sweet fruitiness that hides an off bitterness, and that means it reminds me of cough medicine. The bitterness comes through in the finish, an I find the if I let the beer pass quickly in my mouth, it comes across as someting like their main fruit beers with a slight chocolate finish. If I try to savor that finish, cough medicine. If this were simply mocha bock or berry beer, I'd be pretty pleased, but the combo is flawed.

Two statements constitute my full disclosure about this very favorable review.

First is a bias: New Glarus occupies a special place in my heart; being my favorite brewer for almost two decades, until I found Off Color in my own backyard... (but NG remains #2 without rivals.)

Second, NG brews in two styles in which its beers are pretty consistently world-class: first, its lagers range from faultless to great; second, its fruit beers dominate because they are as close in complexity as can be to the best Lambics.

Mocha Berry Bock combines these two NG world-class interpretations into one brew. Building from its strengths, NG nearly succeeds in, yet another, world-class creation.

I can't recommend any improvements other than the obvious: perhaps more mocha malt and less berry. How do to do that? Dan Carey can figure it out.

5/17/22 Had a second bottle at the end of a surprisingly cool spring day and it was a treat. I even saved some for dessert. Keeping count @ UnTappd.

This beer pours a reddish brown color. The head is somewhere between red and white. The head is 2 finger and long lasting, however, there wasn't much lacing.
The nose is a berry bomb. I get blackberries, and raspberries. Well balanced, and pleasing to the nose.
The flavor is a berry bomb up front. I get raspberries, and blackberries in the flavor. They're a combination of sweet and tart. The berries linger, but are added to, on the back with a nice biscuit, bread malt flavor that adds even more to this beer.
The body is decent. Very smooth feeling.
This is delicious, but it went down way too fast. I do recommend this.

 

 

Appearance - The beer looked like a bock, brown with ruby hints and a small head.

Smell - The berries largely overruled the maltiness of the bock.

Taste - Even though the beer is flavored with raspberry, it reminded me of Belgian Red. The fresh berry taste is not overwhelming, but the base beer is hidden. Raspberries continued to the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - The beer had medium carbonation, with a somewhat heavy body.

Overall - I might like the beer if the base beer stood out more.

 

Dark crimson tone, two fingers of foam, lasting head and even a thin collar of spotty lacing around the edges.

Raspberry aroma, tiny bit of yeast in the periphery. Not getting any chocolate or bock related aromas.

Moderately sweet with some natural raspberry tartness to balance. Raspberry Italian ice comes to mind. Minor traces of chocolate, but pretty hard to find. Drinks like Raspberry Tart lite.

Lighter side of medium bodied, ample carbonation, fruit forward. Pleasant enough as an apertif, not something i’d want more of. Thankfully not as sickly sweet as some of New Glarus’ fruit beers lately.

 

 

Part of the Thumbprint Series. ABV is not listed on the bottle or on the website.

Pours tan colored, thick with a modest head of foam. Aroma is highly raspberries, present when poured. Just a whiff of chocolate can be detected, though it is quite faint. Taste is up front raspberry with chocolate notes, some very mild hint of caramel and a dry, bitterness coats the tongue. There is a similarity to beer brewed with tea. This is very distinct and not your typical bock. It is pleasing but holds its' distance. Quite unique.

 

 

Cranberry colored, decent initial head that fades.

Heavy raspberry in the nose

Heavy on the raspberry in the taste, maybe a little less tart than their regular raspberry brew. Ever so slight cocoa note in the finish.

Low carbonation, smooth drinking.

This one pretty much defies categorization. If you're looking for bock flavors (or for that matter, mocha flavors) you'll be disappointed. But is it tasty and refreshing? Sure!

Unbalanced and surprisingly disappointing for a great brewer. Berries overwhelmed everything else with an almost candy sweet quality. Not sure what was trying to be achieved.

12oz bottle poured into tulip glass.

Appearance: medium brown body with a red hue. Thick cap of off white head; scant spotty lacing. Head dies down to no head with a thin ring around the glass.

Smell: seeds and jammy raspberry's and blackberry's. Perhaps some brown sugar notes as well. Mostly smelling tart berries though.

Taste: big tart raspberries upfront that seems to thin out towards the end of the taste into a very subtle caramel and chocolate note in the finish. I can say I have never tasted a beer like this before. Not getting much of the coffee aspect of a beer labeled "mocha" in the name. The berries kind of wash over most flavors of this beer.

Mouthfeel: On the light end of a medium bodied beer with low levels of carbonation present. There is plenty of carbonation in the beer though. drinkable not boozy.

Overall: Not your typical New Glarus beer. It's got fruit which we all know that Dan C. is a master of fruit beers. And it's a Bock which we all know that Dan C. also brews incredible German style beers. It's interesting and its enjoyable enough to try once. All this said, I think this is a bit of a stretch for what New Glarus does well.

 

 

 

 

Look - dark red clear with a big reddish white head and lacing
Smell - raspberry mostly
Taste - chocolate raspberry slight sour but sweet as well
Feel - lighter body with a medium light body
Overall - can't really tell this is a bock and has a very slight chocolate. This is more of a easy going raspberry tart. Dialed way back from there standard raspberry tart sour. This is very drinkable and not overly tart or sweet. Really nice

Pours dark brownish red.
Smell is berry forward.
Taste is big berries. Can’t tell this is a bock beer.
Small amount of mocha. Tart on the back end.
Pretty refreshing beer.