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

Nightshift!

Andechs - Doppelbock Dunkel (7.1% ABV, 18.8°P)

I'd agree that this beer is a little bit sweeter (not too sweet for my personal taste) than the newer Weltenburger Asam Bock. Nonetheless one of the best (Doppel)Bocks I know and I'm really enjoying it right now.

@JackHorzempa @Snowcrash000

Prost!

 

Love the pic.

 

Ultimately I couldn’t find any bocks aside from 1 local crappy one and the chain store German imports. (And dead guy and shiner).
Hopefully next round there’s something more widely available. Cheers.

 

Huge shoutout to @TongoRad for hosting this magnificent event. I can’t believe I’ve not had this, and am PUMPED to try it. Let’s get our bock on!!!





4.49/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A delicate pour reveals a cloudy brown beer with a couple of fingers of light tan head that laces not even a little bit. The nose is banana bread, some clove, stone fruit, and a smidge of caramel. Wow.

The banana bread flavor is up front on the taste, and the clove has decided to amp up its game, taking a more prominent role on the taste. The stone fruit and caramel flavors are also present, making this a true hefe Doppelbock, with all the flavors complementing each other and making this 8.2% ABV beer dangerously drinkable.

The mouthfeel is very full, yet a bit “spritzy,” that perfectly balanced hefe/Doppelbock dance these weizenbock’s work toward. This one succeeds at a world-class level, IMHO.

 

This is a new one to me but I saw enough talk from people in the planning thread that I really wanted to try it. Let’s see...spaten optimator (01.22) so I’m guessing bottles sometime in January.



Pours very nicely, nice dense creaming looking I’ll say dirty white head cause it has the slightest hint of brown. Picture I think accurately portrays the color but...When held up to light it almost has a dark dark red hue to it as well. At sight it is very appetizing beer to look at.

Smells like dark breads with some roastiness mixed in as well. I even think I pick up some chocolate and burnt sugars.

The taste follows the nose pretty closely but the difference to me is the chocolate notes is much more noticeable in taste than aroma. Everything else kind of follows as above.

This is medium bodies and nice and full. It somehow does that but manages to go down incredibly smooth with an almost creaminess to it. The bitterness is noticeable but not high and it is very welcoming.

I’m really glad I tried this beer it is delicious. I only wish I had known to try this beer back in winter. Drinking this outside by the fire on a cold night sounds about perfect to me.

 

You are certainly not alone - I think almost everybody fails to recognize that Andygator is a Doppelbock due to the color (it's not classified as one here on BA)... but a Doppelbock can be pale. They call it a Helles Doppelbock, and I give them credit for making one, but they lose a point for not calling it a Heller Doppelbock (note the "R").

If anyone is curious about how the "___-ator" convention started:

Salvator was originally called "Sankt Vaterbier" which meant "Holy Father beer" until the name corrupted to just Salvator(bier). At first, it wasn't a strong beer, but a beer with low attenuation.

The beer was popular, so many other brewers starting making Salvator beers... and it became the name of a style. Eventually, Zacherl trademarked it despite other brewers protesting that it was a style. The name went back to signifying just that one brand. The other breweries had to change the names of their beers, and they supposedly changed their beers to "___-ator" names... keeping a connection to Salvator.

 

Starting off the second night with a domestic brew from Schilling, and it’s a good one. Roast and malt, not too sweet, and a little caramel at the end.

 

I'm going to end the second day of this tasting with a couple of doppelbocks, one from Wisconsin and one from Germany.

First up is the Wisconsin beer. This is not from either Capital or Lakefront, which has gotten several postings already, but from what is a lesser (known and perhaps reputation) brewery, Oliphant from Somerset, Wisconsin.

Oliphant Brewing Xuul
Bock - Doppelbock
ABV: 8.0%
IBU: NA



The aroma is dark, roasted malts predominately, with some hints of caramel and dark fruits, but only hints.

Appearance is almost (but not quite) opaque, deep dark ruby with a backlight. 1/2 inch tan head with a thick and creamy appearance, fading quickly but leaving thick lacing behind. Before long, it is a ring with scattered bubble islands, leaving no lacing.

The flavor is, like the aroma, dominated by roasted malts, with a bitterness from the dark malts, like a bitter coffee. The middle retains the domination of the roasty flavors, but starts to pick up some floral, which becomes a bit more assertive toward the finish, resulting in an almost light finish and aftertaste. This is a very interesting beer, but IDK if it is actually a doppelbock. This beer is malty and as dark as a stout, and the roasted malts are prominent over everything else. It is more in the vein of your generic American craft dark ale, despite being a lager.

Mouth feel is light.

Overall, this is an interesting beer, but it's overdone on the roastiness. I am enjoying this and I'm glad to have bought it. But, I doubt I'll buy it again.


L: 3.75 | S: 3.5 | T: 3.5 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.5 | Rating: 3.52

 

No introduction needed I guess.

Facepalm! This one goes down like water after my last one. Should have taken a break

 

First time I've used this glass in a long long time (it took a while to find it). Bottled on September 20, 2020. Patrick Dawson devotes three pages to this in "Vintage Beer" so obviously it cellars well. The two times I've had this previously were aged at the brewer with white paper around the bottle at 11 and 8 years old so this is obviously the freshest (Dawson recommends 4 or 5 years as optimum so time to go back to the bottle store to stock up the cellar for the 2025 and 2026 tasting thread) I've sampled.

As soon as the cap was popped you can detect the clove smell along with malty sweetness. Tasting reflects the smell except you get a trace of the wheat bready banana. As it warms up you can detect the dark fruits and the beginning of the sherry taste which becomes more apparent with age. Mouthfeel is perfect; dangerously refreshing. Thanks to @TongoRad for initiating this tasting thread. Wonderful rite of Spring.

Listening to Dolphy Underlined - Marco Colonna & Alexander Hawkins

 

@sulldaddy I am pretty jealous of some of the locals that you've showcased so far! I haven't tried anything from Tox or East Rock but I will definitely look out for them. Probably need to head down to the shore over the summer to try them directly from the source!

The next one from my B. United delivery was this Plank Bavarian Dunkler Weizenbock from Brauerei Michael Plank. Loving the subtle clove-like spiciness and the banana notes. Being unfamiliar with the style (and having not read all of the post yet), I assume a weizenbock is essentially a stronger hefeweizen.

@TongoRad Based on the few that I have tried so far, I am officially a Bock fan. Thanks for making this happen!

 

All in on the German theme tonight. Went to the local german restaurant tonight, which is incredible by the way.

Started with an Aventinus paired with a sausage plate.


Then a Salvator with some schnitzels. Didn’t do reviews but the Salvator was particularly excellent.


So Bock’ing good.

 

From Germany to Hershey, PA (my birthplace) troegs - troeganator



pours a very dark amber, crystal clear a very dense creamy looking head. Very good retention, but no lacing.

Aroma to me is noticeably dark fruity, immediately dark cherries, has a twang thing to it that is masking most everything else. Some subtle sweet dark candies, like toffee with a touch of licorice.

Taste is interesting because the aromas that were prominent take a back seat. It is mostly dark bread with some chocolate notes.

Mouthfeel is medium and full, creamy full mouthfeel. Smooth clean and dry finish with subtle, had to search for it, bitterness. The 8% abv is all but unnoticeable, this could be dangerous if you didn’t know the abv.

This is a very good beer it’s full, rich but clean and smooth. Thanks to these tastings I revisit beers like this. One more bock tomorrow. If I’m brave I’ll have one more beer tonight, not in the doppelbock abv though, and I got one left for tomorrow.

 

Having a Plank Heller Weizenbock. This is delicious. Should have gotten more. This is one of the few that rivals Weihenstephaner...it is that good.

 

I have a set of those glasses. Bought them about a decade ago probably... and eventually gave up on using them for beer. Lovely to look at but I just didn't like the shape/dimensions for beer. Love them for water when I want to drink a lot. Do you like using them?

 

Fair to say you are not a fan of this beer?

Cheers!

 

I’m very confused that my post is showing up as posted by TommyG22. I don’t think I’m just too Bock’d up, think it’s a beer advocate glitch. So weird.