From old tasting notes. Deep orange gold color. Huge creamy tan head. Fragrant fruity malt aroma. Tangy malt flavor becomes sour uninspiring. Starts off good but leaves you wanting more.

Found some old ratings on paper from an unknown date... bottle #582. Thanks Jason. The beer pours to a dark brown body with a thin tan/beige head. Hazy to murky body. The aroma is a lightly oxidized malt. The aroma is surprisingly good given the age. Caramelized malts. Extremely complex and it held up really well. The flavor is malty with mostly caramel. There’s some complex tobacco going on. The beer’s palate is silky /velvety and medium bodied.

750ml bottle. 2001 Vintage. Poured a deep deep amberish brownish color with a reddish tint. Aromas of nuttiness, cherries, chocolate, and a little roasty. Tastes of chocolate, cherries, lighter nuttiness, roast (roasted nuts), and some bananas.

750 ml bottle
Thanks to Jeff for sharing this at a winter tasting. It was a 2004 vintage and it shows as this beer has seen better days. I would loved to have tried it in its prime. It is far from the worst beer at the moment but everything seems to be a mere shadow of what it was at one point. It reminds me of trying an year old imperial IPA which is beginning the slow decline to mediocrity.

Aroma / Appearance - Thin and watery the body had almost no head despite a vigorous pour. Chocolate brownies and black cherry stick out the most as the hops have long since given up the ghost. They still haunt the edges of the senses from time to time.

Flavor / Palate - Thin this is beginning to develop a bit of dryness. Despite the bottle conditioning it shows signs of a beer on the decline. Overall it has held up admirably for almost six years but is a perfect example of why only a handful of styles should be aged for such periods of time. If you are crazy enough to still be aging one either drink it now or stick it in the back of the cellar as a decoration.

From a 750mL Bottle, #582. Courtesy of Dickinsonbeer. Mostly hazy, fig-flesh amber body with a tall head of quickly dissipating off-white head. Impressive amount of carbonation for a beer of this age. Aromas of dark fruit malts combine with some corn-like grains. Certainly oxidized, but the oxidation notes work well with the malt suggestions of raisin and figs. Clean aromatics yeast-wise, leaving this a little lacking in terms of aroma, since the only aromatics are oxidized malt. Again, excusable and not unpleasant. Medium bodied, moderately carbonated mouthfeel with a spritzy texture. Flavors of pale chocolate and raisin. The munich malt characters seem to have lasted better in the aroma than in the flavor. A bit leathery and thin from the oxidation, but otherwise is exceptionally clean. Flavors of chocolate and faint roast linger in the finish. This has aged remarkably well. Thanks, Paul!

750mL Bottle. #582. Thanks Andy for sharing! Aroma gives off a green olive tone to some sourdough bready in an old brown malt manner. Soft and salty. Very well carbonated at 8 years old. Pours a dark brown, with a tall finger of banana-bread tone. Flavor gives off a strong honey character, in a shallow buckwheat way, with a bit of bread. Some light browness, rye, and caraway. Gentle and nuanced. This is interesting. It’s aged gracefully without too much oxidation, cardboard, dust or old hops. Nicely dry. The malts have gracefully developed some really interesting complexity and holding good carbonation, this has a beautiful softness that makes it really attractive. Graham cracker in the smack fills it out. Surprisingly enjoyable.

750mL bottle, #582, dated March 2001. Poured deeper reddish-brown with a creamy cap of yellowy-beige head. The aroma was sweet and toasty with caramel, lighter chocolate, and a faint hint of molasses supporting herbal accents.. mild oxidation.. this held up very well! The flavor found semi-sweet chocolate and molasses again at the core with lightly sour black malts and dry herbal surroundings.. finished dry and warm, picking up a little more of the oxidation. Medium-bodied with little carbonation left on the palate.. dry and definitely aged, but it certainly aged gracefully!

Brewed March of 2001. Thanks guys! Pours a dirty brown with a ring of off-white head. Aroma is alcohol, malt, brown sugar, and dark fruit. Taste is malty, caramel, brown sugar. Amazing.

750ml bottle @Vero Beach Throwdown-pours a thin off white head and brown color. Aroma is sweet caramel, medium malt. Taste is sweet caramel, medium malt, dry secondary earthy hops. OK effervescence. Thanks mgumby10/from dickinsonbeer for sharing.

765 ml. bottle dated 02/04/03 courtesy Buffalohead, my mysterious younger brother. Well, here is an interesting offering - a bottle conditioned lager that is now 5 years old. Very minimal sound as the cap was popped, raising concerns about the carbonation and general condition of the beer. Not to worry, as a medium, creamy, light tan head formed above the dark, ruby/brown pour. Actually, the head lasted well, and produced a very respectable lace.

Prominent dark malty aroma, some chocolate, molasses, prune, and maybe even a hint of vanilla, but no hops to speak of.

Medium to full body and very light carbonation, smooth and rich. Big malty sweetness to start off with, followed by a slowly building soft bitterness that has a distant tangy character at the finish.

I’ve had a couple of other bocks this old, but I don’t think they were bottle conditioned, and they didn’t fare too well. This, however, has some character and seems to have developed some complexity with time. It would be nice to have a fresh bottle as a baseline, but apparently they’re not making this anymore. Too bad.