Anchor Bock Beer

Brewed by Anchor Brewing Company
Style: Dunkler Bock
San Francisco, California USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Snifter

Bottle. Pours brown with a big white ice cream head. Flavor is caramel, toffee, dried fruit. Makes for a solid session beer.

12oz bottle served in a shaker pint. Poured a deep reddish brown with two fingers of tan head. For a minute I thought that I had the porter instead! Some caramel malt and a bit of hops in the aroma. Light to medium bodied. Fairly malty flavor with some chocolate malt. Bit of a hop bite. Not what I look for in a bock, but a very drinkable beer on a purely hedonistic lever. So I guess the lesson is don’t categorize, just drink!

12 oz bottle. Pours a dark color, notes of red. Small tan head. Aroma is malty, hops, notes of dried fruits. Flavor is a nice balance of malts and hops, touches of fruit. A pretty good beer.

Dark slightly hazy mahogany with a little head that siappears quickly. Smells of medium roast, ripe fruits, and sweet tarts. Medium body, crisp but light to start, transitions to a little raisin sweetness, a bit of noble twang, and a little bitterness from the roast. Not too much to it, finishes with just a bit of bitterness. Decent, but nothing exciting.

From bottle. Malt and rich nose, with licorice, caramel, molasses and brown sugar. Mild neutral hop undertones. Sweet and fragrant malty character with no oxidation notes. Dark ruby-brown, almost black, clear with rich foamy light tan lacing head. Medium-heavy watery body, not quite oily, with medium carbonation and light acidic fizz. Starts surprisingly dry for the aroma. Actually quite a shock in some ways, as the really sweet notes in the nose made me expect a doppelbock sweetness. However, the sweet taste was not found, but rather a tart carbonic acid and fruity acidity is here, with mild astringency and hop bitterness. Smoky and burnt malt, and a soda water tang. Finish is dry with mild bitterness and light tang. After is dry with some chalkyness. A very odd taste to go with the aroma - not quite digging this balance.

The pour was dark molasses with go retention/lacing to tan frothy head. Aromas of molasses, caramel, burnt malts, light pine hops. Tasted of light spicy hops, burnt malts(caramel, light honey), light toffee. Slightly sweet, bitter, sour. Leaves a light burnt malt finish.

12oz bottle. Aroma: raisins, molasses, hints of chocolate, caramel toffee, slight vinous fruit, hints of almost savory roasted grain character, and soft alcohol. Appearance: deep dark brown and ruby red, brilliantly clear. Medium-sized tan head that fades to a persistent ring and leaves spots and short streaks of lace on the glass. Taste starts a little more watery than aroma would indicate. Starts bready and grainy, with very subtle hints of sour/acidic fruit, lots of fruit-cakey malts, some dry roasty malt flavors, and a mild malt sweetness. At mid-palate, light-to-moderate slightly earthy but mostly neutral hop bitterness balances the bready, toasty, molasses malt notes. Beer finishes moderate - neither dry nor full - with some malt sweetness and a grainy and slightly roasty aftertaste. Mouthfeel: full-bodied and slippery with growing creaminess as the suds swirl around the mouth. Carbonation is somewhat light, but provides a pleasant texture. Overall: a very decent brew with a complex malt character. But it doesn’t taste like a Bock - not enough malt richness (melanoidins, caramel, sweetness) and a little too much roasted grain character. Still quite drinkable.

A very nice bock. Rich coffee/caramel aroma with a hint of breadiness. Nice lacing and chestnut color. The taste is a little dry, not too sticky sweet. Coffee, cocoa, some pecan cake. Crisp mouthfeel for a beer this full bodied.