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Old Review
22 oz bomber I picked up at Green's off Ponce in ATL, GA. I think the bottle was around $6. I love bocks and they make me happy. Served up in a pint glass.

A: Pours a nice dark brown that when held to the light allows some nice amber hues to come through. The beer is completely clear, no haze and you can see easily through it. The head was about a finger in height and was off white to beige in color. The retention is not that impressive, faltering to a really thin ring in mere minutes. No lace shows up on the glass.

S: Smell is pretty muted, but the major aroma coming out is some smoke. There is a nice salty smoke in here. The malts are light and seem to be caramel coming out. Slight vanilla and wood in here as well. There may be a touch of dark fruit, but its too muted to be able to tell what it is. Not bad at all, but the aromas are pretty weak, without any real power coming forth.

T: Taste is a more amplified version of the slight aromas. The smoke is not as heavy as it is in the nose, but it is nice and there. There is a nice rich pork and salt flavor coming from the smoke. Kinda like a really rich bacon that has those almost sweet flavors. This is complimented by those caramel malts but they aren't heavily roasted at all. There is a pretty heavy sweetness in here but it works. The wood is a nice touch added with just a bit of vanilla coming forth. Very light bourbon spice coming out. Not bad at all.

M: Medium bodied brew that has a nice stickiness to it. Very nice indeed. ABV seems to be very light and makes for an easy drinker. The carbonation is medium, nothing too crazy. Keeps this feel a bit thick. Aftertaste is all caramel malt lingering.

D: Not bad at all. This beer is a bit on the sweet side, so it does keep me from giving this a higher drinkability score. Still its tasty and enjoyable even if it could deal without a bit of this sweetness. Overall, this was a nice pick up. It works. Its not too complex but it has enough going on here to where it is a welcomed change with the smoke going on in here. Would absoluely pick up another.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 04-16-2009 05:08:15

Served In: Pint Glass

A solid pour produces a four finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer is dark amber, red color that shows a brilliantly clear, red-cranberry hue when held up to the light. The aroma has a light smokiness to it that adds a nice richness to the nose. This is followed by some toasty malt character that adds a malty, whole grain character. There is also a sweet, concentrated malt notes that has a Maillard browning richness and caramelized character. Salty, smoky, peat like notes reside on top of a some spicy barrel notes. Some of the sweetness I now realize is accentuated by a light toasted coconut note that must be from the barrel. Speaking of which, the barrel influence is quite subtle here, in fact if I hadn’t known, I might not have even guessed that this had any barrel aging based upon the aroma. The aroma is nice and rich and I like the complex character that the touch of smoke malt has and how it combines with the soft barrel influence.

Sweet tasting without being cloying, but this does have both a clean malt sweetness as well as a rich, concentrated malt, complex-caramelized malt character. The beer finishes with a touch of spicy oak and some warming alcohol, both of which add a touch of pepper to the finish. The smoke adds a subtle complexity to the flavor that adds a hint of saltiness, which along with subtle Bourbon flavors accentuates some peat like flavors. The bourbon is just a hair more noticeable in the flavor than it was in the nose, I like that it is quite subtle here, but it does add a sort of sweet bourbon flavor as well as some of the other notes. Rich caramelized notes combine with the barrel to produce a hint of toasted, sweetened coconut flavors. This definitely has the heft and mouthfeel of a Doppelbock; rich without being too heavy, nice and chewy, yet strangely this is quite drinkable.

This beer is quite nice, I really like how subtle the Barrel influence is, but it could definitely use a bit more smoke influence. Though if you let this beer warm significantly up the smoke becomes a bit more noticeable.

Served In: Tulip