Saranac Roggen Bock
Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery

Saranac Roggen BockSaranac Roggen Bock
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From:
Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery
 
New York, United States
Style:
Rye Beer
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
81
Avg:
3.5 | pDev: 7.71%
Reviews:
29
Ratings:
32
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 26, 2013
Added:
Nov 04, 2004
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by WesWes:
Photo of WesWes
Reviewed by WesWes from New York

3.65/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
The beer pours a ruby red color with a thin offwhite lace head. The aroma is good. It has a nice malty scent that boasts of toasted malts and caramel malts. It seems quite sweet. The taste is decent. It has a dry, yet malty flavor that has a toasted aftertaste. The mouthfeel is decent. It is a medium bodied beer with good carbonation. This is a decent beer, but nothing special.
Nov 19, 2004
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.75 by shigg85 from Japan

Feb 26, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by jfcaa193 from Canada (QC)

Feb 05, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by rab53 from Washington

Dec 02, 2011
Photo of changeup45
Reviewed by changeup45 from Florida

3.65/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Much better than I thought it would be. Deep amber color, thick off-white head and lots of lace on the glass. Strong malty flavor up front, a little spicy as well, and sugary sweet with a somewhat sour aftertaste. I got this one in one of those mix 12 packs which can be a fun, affordable way to try different brews.
Aug 24, 2008
Photo of jhu1995
Reviewed by jhu1995 from Maryland

3.14/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Appearance was an amber/brown color, slightly cloud, with minimal head and lacing. Rye aroma was dominant with some faint sweetness. Reminded of rye bread and actually gave me the craving for a ham and cheese on rye. Rye flavor was upfront but not completely overwhelming, with some mild sweetness at the end. A little rough in the mouth and to drink, but paired with a good sandwich with rye bread, this would make a good meal. Worth a try if you are looking for something different.
Feb 04, 2006
Photo of tgbljb
Reviewed by tgbljb from Pennsylvania

3.2/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
poured a medium copper color with slightly off-white puffy head. Smell is fairly sweet with some toasted malt notes present. Taste is a little too sweet with hints of maple (?) present. Finished Sweet and smooth and refreshing. Kind of odd mixture of tastes. OK to drink
Aug 19, 2005
Photo of blitheringidiot
Reviewed by blitheringidiot from Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev +10%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Perfectly red brown russet sunset hues with scant beading bubbles rising to a razor thin beige uneven cap, easily aroused by a swirl or two.

Aromatic rye wheat grains with a touch of vegetal carrot and maple.

First swigs: Apple and pear fruit meets rye malts balance. Vanilla ice cream notes. Reminiscent of Rogue Dead Guy with more brassy caramel. A twinge metallic in the grain.

Crisp foamy bottle in a pint. Medium body. Tacky lingering toasted malt aftertaste. After this one, I actually crave another. Too bad that these are only in the mixer.

Last swigs: Cheerios and interesting malt soda. Rye bock that lives up to its name in the flavor department. Neck label explains that 20% rye malt is imparted. * What an odd style* This was a pleasant surprise in the famous mixed case by FX Matt.

Beer is good. Happy beering. 26/3.55
Jul 18, 2005
Photo of LarryV
Reviewed by LarryV from Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
I found this to be a rather tasty brew. Poured with a dense, fine head that gradually dissipated to an 1/8 inch layer of fine fluff.

Clear, deep red color that initially looks almost opaque. Nose is pretty much straight ahead malt with the hops being barely discernible. Left a lattice of foam memories down the side of the glass while being consumed. Unlike others, I didn't find this to be overwhelmingly sweet. I thought it was rather nicely balanced with just enough hop bitterness coming through on the backend. My final thoughts when I polished it off - pretty nice brew.
Jun 24, 2005
Photo of RocketWidget
Reviewed by RocketWidget from Massachusetts

3.64/5  rDev +4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
This one is a surprising gem. Pours a deep brown-red color that is somewhat clear when held up to the light. Smell is just so-so. Taste is downright potent, and quite and intriguing. Spicy character throughout, but the rye element gives a taste that is boldly distinctive. Sweet character of the malt is only subtle, and only evident on the aftertaste. Mouthfeel of the beer seems like it has lots of particulates. Better than I thought it would be.
Apr 13, 2005
Photo of mschofield
Reviewed by mschofield from Massachusetts

3.49/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Pours a dark clear red, topped with a one finger off-white head, leaves just a little lacing.
Clean aroma, cream, malt, rye, spicy note, herbs and flowers, fairly sweet.
Spicy and sweet taste, they say 20% rye malt - it does appear but I wouldn't have guessed it made up that much of the grain bill, caramel, roasty malt, floral note.
Medium bodied, smooth, but a bit too harsh and sweet in taste.
Mar 30, 2005
Photo of shertzogovina
Reviewed by shertzogovina from New York

3.53/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A 12-oz long neck bottle from Saranac's variety 12-pack.
No freshness date , a little info about the beer on the neck label.
Pours dark amber with a nice 1 inch tan head. little lacing.
Smell is of mostly sweet malts.
Taste is malty with nice hop balance and very minor rye sting. body is very close to full, quite creamy with a bitter finish.
Beer is drinkable though i'm not sure i can have another one now.
A rare beer style that is worth a try.
Mar 20, 2005
Photo of hobbes2112
Reviewed by hobbes2112 from Texas

3.01/5  rDev -14%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5
12 oz bottle from the sample pack.

Pours a dark amber with small tan head. Low retention, lots-o-lacing.
Smell is not surprisingly a sweet/sour front mixed with rye grain. I have noted bready hints before, but this beer really smells like a piece a bread. Not much else in there though. This is the first of the rye style for me (that I know about) so I am going to have to call it average. Taste is again rye dominated, with a creamy somewhat bubbly mouthfeel. Decent hop in the finish, along with the long sour aftertaste that I guess is caused by rye.

I would say this is an interesting beer that might go well with some ruebens sandwhiches or even better a nice tart dessert.
Feb 20, 2005
Photo of blitz134
Reviewed by blitz134 from California

3.52/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Caramel color with red highlights. Poured a minimal just off white head that quickly disappeared to nothing. A definite rye character which is just a little sweet. Not much hop character and what is there smells a bit floral. Taste is actually decent (which is a good thing after their caramel porter I had to dump). Again some malty-rye characteristics are present which make this one sweet, possibly too sweet. A bit of hops in the finish add a touch of pine resin to this one. Flavors seem to coat the mouth well and linger for a bit. Mouthfeel is pretty full. Drinkability is just about average and brought down by the sweetness
Feb 08, 2005
Photo of Jason
Reviewed by Jason from Massachusetts

3.43/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Presentation: 12 oz brown bottle with no freshness date.

Appearance: Tawny brown hue, perfect clarity with a sticky light tan lace.

Smell: Mild cloying sweetness with a bready rye grain in the back.

Taste & Mouth Feel: Full bodied with a slight crispness and a creamy slick mouth feel. Sweet palate with a semi-astringent husk flavor, spicy hop bitterness melds well with the rye … odd watered down burnt sugar flavor in the finish.

Drinkability & Notes: Not half bad, I wish it wasn’t so sweet … pretty hard to drink. I think the rye gets muted because of the sweetness.
Feb 04, 2005
Photo of sprackops
Reviewed by sprackops from Pennsylvania

3.61/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Appearance: Deep, dark red with sparse cream-colored head. Impressive coloration.

Smell: Light aroma of dark malts, rye and floral hops. Slightly peppery character to the nose.

Taste: Full presence of sweet caramel malts. Subtle spicy hops clean it up toward the finish. Some alcohol in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Soft yet full-bodied with fairly high carbonation.

Drinkability: Moderate with the relatively high alcohol presence and body taken into consideration.

Comments: Interesting style, glad to see that a large craft brewery was willing to experiment with it. I'll be looking out for more beers using rye malt in the future.
Jan 28, 2005
Photo of HappyHourHero
Reviewed by HappyHourHero from Indiana

3.5/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Faint aroma, a bit malty and some rye, but you really have to concentrate. Decent fream colored head left a little bit of lace. Transparent, dark amber colored beer with a bit of carbonation action. Flavor is mostly malt, followed by some rye, and just a bit of spicy hops at the end. Lightly sweet all the way through, drys out a little towards the end. Soft, fairly light bodied beer, easy drinking. I was trying to figure out what a Roggen Bock was so I did some googling and came across the BJCP guidelines which says that "by German law must contain atleast 50% rye, although it may contain up to 70%" I was pretty dissapointed by this beer when I decided to look at the bottle, which said that Saranac"added a twist by using 20% rye malt".
Jan 28, 2005
Photo of Southernbrew
Reviewed by Southernbrew from Georgia

3.6/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Pours a red/brown with a 1/2" head.

Some malt in the aroma and a bit of rye spiciness.

Fairly smooth with a medium body. Roasted malts up front move to a faint sweetness then a light spicy rye flavor comes in. Finishes with a weak bitterness.

Not a bad beer, one of Saranac's better offerings.
Jan 20, 2005
Photo of connecticutpoet
Reviewed by connecticutpoet from Connecticut

2.85/5  rDev -18.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
This was a deep reddish amber beer with a three finger head, and lacing.

The smell was of grains, a bit of rye malt, and some spicy hops. Not as much rye character as I had expected.

The taste was largely grainy... there was a slight rye bite, a bitter hop aftertaste, and a slight astringency... but if I had to do a blind guess, I would have guessed this was an adjunct lager. I was not impressed... I had thought a bock should have more richness, more body, more maltiness.

The mouthfeel was just average... nothing that clung to the tongue.

Poor drinkability. I was disappointed. This beer was one of the reasons I bought the Saranac 12 pack... I saved it for the next to last one... and it didn't deliver.
Jan 13, 2005
Photo of ElGordo
Reviewed by ElGordo from Oregon

3.33/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a deep ruby red with a small, off-white head that fades pretty quickly. Rich, malty aroma accompanied by a hint of astringency. Palate is mild, with a fairly generic sweet malt character that develops a slightly astringent character towards the back of the mouth. Nice, smooth body. I've never had a roggenbier before, so I don't really know if this is true to the style or not, but it's pretty decent.
Jan 13, 2005
Saranac Roggen Bock from Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery
Beer rating: 81 out of 100 with 32 ratings