Online Tasting: Bocks (April 23-25, 2021)

For my 2nd (and last) of the evening, I went for a Polish craft version (I just got a load of Polish craft beer in the post, so I couldn't resist):

Nepomucen & Funky Fluid Classic with a Twist #2 Double Rauchbock
Pours a very nice dark brown with an excellent tan head. The smell is smoked bacon, and it’s not shy about it. The flavor, however, is a bit more complex than that. Actually, it is somewhat of a roller coaster. It oscillates between incredibly sweet caramel notes, super deep smoked bacon and campfire notes, and bits of dark chocolate and roasted peanuts. None of these is even remotely subtle, they all attack as if they are fighting for dominance in the beer. On one hand, it is wonderful and fascinating to drink. You never quite know what you will get with each sip. On the other hand, it is a wee bit exhausting. But it definitely keeps me coming back for more. Really great beer.

 

So I just wanna share a bock related beer story.

It was back in the wee early halcion days of the Internet... no I am not talking dial up... heck I am not even talking way back in BBS 2400 baud days (wait a sec, that is even before the Internet!), but Beer Advocate was a much different site, with a unique forum thread that had quite lets say an interesting "nesting" feature shall we say...

It was that time ago, I embarked on my first beer trade. Very new, but I received my first ever traded box in the day, and there was an extra thrown in.

That extra beer... was Ayinger Celebrator.

I can still remember that day and trying that beer for the first time, What a memory... great stuff and glad to see many people drinking it today.

 

Yeah, but CLASSY smoke rings. Do it. It's such a great beer from a great brewery. I'll buy anything from these Rauchmasters.

 

Moving on to beer #2, that’s right it’s Bock to Bock for me tonight.

Bottling date:250620, which I believe makes this approx 10 months old.

Love this beer. Always a pleasure to drink. Haven’t reviewed one for a while so here goes.

Pours mahogany in color, hazy to the point of being opaque. Light tan head builds quickly then fades equally as quickly. Aroma is banana, clove, dark fruits, caramel, and a bit of booze. I get very subtle notes of cocoa and candied sugar. Prominent phenolic spice. A bit of fusel alcohol. Just so much going on on the nose. Taste follows with huge fruity yeast esters up front and equally huge phenolic spice on the finish. Specific characters I get are banana, caramel, dark fruits like dates. There’s a pretty prominent bitterness on the finish. Alcohol bite to round it out. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a high carbonation. Even though the alcohol is noticeable it’s not detrimental. Drinkability is dangerously good. Overall, a stellar beer. I do think I lean to preferring the regular Aventinus but both are terrific.

4/4.5/4.25/4.25/4.5







Cheers, fellow advocates of strong, bottom fermented lagers!

 

Or the Celebrator of today is noticeably different from the Celebrator of yore.

I am personally convinced that the Celebrator I purchased last December, while very good, was not the same as previous bottles I have had. A 'change' not for the better.

Cheers!

 

German style Maibock lagered in Chardonnay Barrels for several months. 6.2 ABV and 23 IBU. Simply Divine!

 

"You ain't seen nothing Yet"...
Here is BTO from Eagle Park. I got this one for the Bock party but had to try it earlier this week. It is better in the can. Very different than the local Maibocks. Smokey flavor.

If I only knew now to put videos in here there are some good ones. Maybe someone from my era can do it.

Cheers,

 

That would explain a lot for me!

 

I have little piles of plastic goats stashed away in the house and truck, and everyone else is having it, so I guess I'll start with Celebrator

And I've never rated it on BA before. This bottle is fairly fresh for an import. The color is a beautiful dark chestnut with red highlights. Great toasty, nutty aroma with a mineral note that sneaks in.
I get some dark fruit and bread in the flavor. Good stubborn carbonation. Smooth creamy feel.
Seems as good as ever.
4.4/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

 

Hitting this tasting a little different. As I won't really have the time to sit down with a bock until later on the last day of this tasting, I wrote some notes on a bock beer served to me via draft a week or so ago. I transposed those notes into a review:

Sandhills' Maibock.

Pours a medium shade of caramel with nearly unobstructed clarity. Head is a finger of white foam. Aroma is caramel and toffee with heavy bread malts underneath. That caramel and toffee brings forward a touch of sweetness, but it's quickly balanced out by bread. Flavor profile is more of the same, hitting caramel and toffee first, before a big hit of bready malts. There are bits and pieces of molasses and spicy hops interspursed throughout, just enough to add a touch of additional sweetness at the finish, along with a little bite of bitterness via the hops. It's that touch of flavor texture that elevates it from the aromatic introduction. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a texture akin to crushed velvet. Texture dies out on the tongue pretty quickly, not lingering long. Overall, caramel and bread at every corner, delivered smoothly. The 3D aspect of some mild sweetness and the zesty hops helps add some depth to this beer's backstory.

Score: 3.5 | 3.75 | 4 | 3.75 | 4 | BA Score: 3.91 | rDev: NA (first beer for this entire brewery location)

Hope you enjoy. Have fun sipping your bocks. It's probably been since I hosted the last bock tasting (2017?) since I have visited some bock options. May have to hit the store, but otherwise, I have a couple local options lined up for later this week.

 

Dinner complete, so, Troegs is next
This has more of a hefty mouth feel than the prior Notch offering.
The malt expressions of the three offerings is surprisingly consistant
The breweries, in 3 wildly different areas must study each others water.
That said this Troegenator is a well constructed offering
Cheers

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into the test glass
A - Dark copper color, nice clarity, thin cap is supported by gentle carbonation
S - Dark malts, hints of Canadian brown bread, raison, burnt sugar
T - A more refined version of the aromatics, with some more focused threads, caramel, toffee, grassy hops
M - Medium in body, texture is smooth, culminating in a lovely sweet dry finish
O - A very good offering from Troegs, solid knod to the classics.

 

I stocked up on bock today and wasn’t sure where to start. Following the lead of some previous posters and starting with Einbecker Mai-Ur-bock.

 

First of all thank you @TongoRad for hosting this killer event.

My last minute hunting makes for a pretty average line-up and now I miss grabbing a few more classics which were available, but at least I´ll join the show and enjoy a couple of bocks.

I drink beers like Vitus, Aventinus, Celebrator and Korbinian pretty often, and have choosen the latter between them as the 'mainstream' option (I read a nice review from you last night and haven´t had it in some time).



The one I will be focusing on is my first ever Aventinus Eisbock though, which for some reason I´ve been passing on for years while having loads of the regular one. I don´t like cloying beers but I am still excited about it, and will try to find the right moment through the weekend.



My master plan also involved Schlenkerla Eiche almost as a treat (it always seemed too heavy/cloying to me, even as a lover of the brewery), but I guess I´ll go for it when in a better mood and some heavy food around!

Opening the Korbinian as we speak, after heating up with 1516 and a Weltenburger Dunkel.

Prost!

 

I’m starting to realize I’ve made a terrible mistake by not purchasing nearly enough Bocks for this weekend.....

 

I seem to recall you not being too crazy about that beer before (relatively speaking I guess). Are you liking it more today?

 

I'm starting to realize I have to increase the size of my circle to look for liquor stores a little further away and hope they have some new Maibocks. I am down to 2 kinds left. I need to restock for tomorrow.