Holsten Festbock
Holsten-Brauerei

 

 

 

Holsten 'Festbock' @ 7.0% , served from a 500 ml can
A-pour is amber from the can , hints of red along the glass edge to a dark amber in the glass with a small beige head
S-hints of sugar
T-big robust malts
MF-decent carbonation , feels full bodied
Ov-not a style I will re-visit ,
prost LampertLand

 

Pours a deep amber with an off-white two fingers head that recedes to a thin layer of suds that lasts quite a long time considering the ABV. Decent lacing, for whatever that's worth. Smell is a big hit of sweet caramel, to the extent that I can't get much else. Yeah, caramel, a hint of ripe fruit, and the alcohol content. Taste pretty much follows the nose. Taste starts with sweet caramel malt, ripe fruit in the middle, and then a sharp and warming tinge from the alcohol. Very little hops bitterness. The caramel sweetness is somewhat balanced by the alcohol in a way, but the alcohol is very prominent. Makes sense considering it's 7%, but then again, just the other day I had a Weizenbock that was at least 7% and the alcohol was balanced much better, seamlessly in fact. Overall this is a decent beer, nothing special. I would say it's not quite up to par with most of the other traditional German brewers, but definitely a step up from macro lager swill, and a lot of misguided craft beers.

Holsten Festbock is a crystal clear, deep copper colored beer edging on ruby. The head is dense, cream colored, and shows decent, if not great retention.

Holsten Festbock's aroma leads with the expected aroma of caramel that has somehow achieved some extra depth of aroma. Hints of coffee and damp earth add depth but there's something in here that seems out of whack somehow. Somehow the center brings me a combination of cocoa powder and ripe stone fruits. In this case dark cherry, cocoa, and coffee-caramel just don't seem to mix well together.

On the tongue, Holsten Festbock's mouthfeel is rounded, smooth, and kind of slick. Flavors of caramel and cocoa powder come through up front before moving directly into flavors of dark, ripe, orchard fruit. Ripe fruit taste kind of like dark, ripe cherries combined with peach and nectarine. Somehow the slick, almost oily mouthfeel detracts from the other flavors.

I'd like this more if the flavors somehow found a way to balance and compliment each other. I mean really, caramel, cocoa, and ripe dark fruit should make for a pleasant flavor profile. It's as though someone cheaped out somewhere along the line and opted for lesser ingredients and that's where the lack of complimentary balance comes from.

 

500ml can purchased from grocery store poured into a hammer textured pint glass. Soda style carbonation with audible fizz that bubbled to nothing within 15 seconds. No ring. No lacing. Very limited carbonation thereafter; really only after I took a drink and set the glass back down, I'd witness a few rising bubbles then back to complete stillness.. This is completely lifeless... Did I get a bad can? Smells of caramel, booze and sugar. Taste is the same. No sign of hops and a bit of malt, but really just sweetness and caramel throughout. Decided to dump this one as it just didn't feel right. I'll try another and will revise my review if the experience is any different.

 

 

 

 

500 ml can served cold into a pint glass. Purchased from the LCBO for $2.60 CDN. Pretty good price for a hefty 7.0% ABV tallboy, if it tastes ok, that's an added plus. Best before May 2018.

Appearance - A clear dark amber colored beer is poured. A finger and change of light beige head is poured and sticks around for a few minutes, reducing to a wispy thin layer on top. Some visible carbonation.

Smell - Pretty light, with some dark fruits and molasses, but in general just quite a bit of sweetness.

Taste - Thin flavors, some grain, hints of dark fruits and some apple, a slight smoky stale bitterness in the background. Molasses in the background too. Not immensely flavorful, but not a bad quaff either. Not as sweet as the nose thankfully. Alcohol hidden nicely.

Mouthfeel - Lighter bodied than average, carbonation is reasonably expressive. Lacks a little of the stickiness that some bocks have, but pretty decent.

Overall - Better than expected and good value. May be worth a try if bocks are your thing. By no means a world beater, but just flavorful enough to make this reasonably enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

This beer is pretty good. I like how it tastes. Yummy!