Hogback Bock
The Bobcat Café & Brewery

Poured into my glass a bronze color with orange highlights. Off white head did lace a little and great retention. The nose was of toffee and sweet malts. Nice but not much depth. The taste was very enjoyable though. Again the toffee this time with some caramel and bready malts. Reminds me of one of those oversized coffee shop cookies. Smooth but as the beer warmed and some esters appeared I became aware that the higher ALC% was being (well) hidden by the malty sweetness. Well balanced with a slightly bitter finish.

A-Reddish copper with a thin ring of off-white foam. No lace.

S-A bit of dark fruit and honey in addition to sweet malt.

T-Honey kissed grain and a bit of dark fruit. Not overly sweet.

M-Medium to medium-heavy body. Very round and infinitely smooth.

D-Good, but for one. A bit unidimensional and too much building sweetness for my liking. Alcohol is well hidden, this is a stealthy one.

Last stop of the day (19APR08) for Alewife and me was at the Bobcat, and this bier caught both of our eyes (all four of our eyes?). It's actually a Doppelbock, as listed on their bier menu and confirmed by their host on duty. We each ordered one, about 12oz in a pilsner type glass.

Poured a clear, robust, mahogany color, with a fair but thin white head, leaving sporadic lacing. Aroma was distinctly caramel and toffee, suggesting a pleasing level of malty sweetness. This medium-bodied lager eased silkily over the tongue on its way down the throat.

As with the nose, the flavor was a well-put-together combo of caramel and toffee, a superb level of sweetness which never nears being cloying. A semblance of butterscotch is present, ever so mild, but nice nonetheless. Floral hops make up the lingering and tasteful finish. Supremely quaffable, only our night-time journey over the "App-Gap" back to our B&B prevented us from downing more. Verry nice!!

Prosit!!

4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4.5

1060

On tap at the Bobcat, the beer was presented in a standard pint glass and was a light brown/light bronze color. It was given to me with only a sliver of white head and some spotty lace lined the glass throughout the sample.

The nose was super malty. Almost hard to detect any other aromas in the smell of this beer. It has a cookie like baked bread smell that only helped to accentuate the maltiness of the beer.

Taste was very heavy upfront with a good cookie like chewy and malty character. Not overly robust, but well bodied and balanced. Very little hop character which allowed the slightly sweet malt taste to dominate the flavour. What hops were present lent themselves to just an ever so slight bitterness to each sip, but predominantly, the beer had a semi-sweet and chewy malty taste. Slight warming alcohol to the taste as well, but nothing overpowering.

Moderate mouthfeel with a deceiving heaviness that kicked in throughout the length of the sample. Little carbonation noticed.

Drinkable indeed. But not "have several in one sitting" drinkable. More to be savored after dinner or before. One I'll return to.