Bock Bock

Pours a slightly hazy reddish light copper with a medium-sized, ivory head of small bubbles that fades slowly. Complex aromas include caramel, nutty, golden raisins, rich toasty and toffee malt with low floral hops. Moderate alcohol presence with slight fusel higher alcohols, a touch of molasses and a background black licorice. Taking a sip, the hops are earthy and lightly floral, and the malt is bready, nutty, light toast and a bit of toffee with a slight fig character underneath. Alcohol in the flavor is fairly prominent but clean, and there are slightly woody, vanilla-like oak notes. A clean fermentation that has a low hop bittering tilts mostly towards the malt with a medium sweetness in the finish. A medium body with a creamy and smooth texture leads into a bit of heat from the higher alcohols near the end. This is an unusual combination of styles -- bocks are usually imperial-ish, anyway, but the American character (presumably from the hops) was quite low. The bourbon barrel contribution was fairly low -- low in bourbon, with just the slight vanilla tinge. Overall, seems to be a mishmash of styles that don't quite play well together. Probably best in a snifter and not too cold.