Anchor Bock Beer

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

Bottle (tap room was closed) during tasting session after tour of the brewery. Pours dark brown with a quarter inch of white head. Aroma is very sweet (plums,figs) and spicy. Mouthful begins rich and malty followed by lemon zest and other citrus flavors. It finishes dry and smoky with a slight bitter, citrusy aftertaste. Although not quite what I was expecting, this Bock is rich and smooth with a complex flavor. Gotta love the label art with its nod to Celebrator.

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.

12 oz bottle. Dark brown cloudy pour with a thin tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, nuts and floral hops. Full bodied taste, a beer you can literally almost chew. Nice even flavor of roasted malt, almonds, dried fruit that finishes with a floral, herbal slightly bitter taste. Nice brew.

Pours dark brown with ruby edges and a tan head. Aroma is rich malt, floral hop, and some roasty notes. Flavor is lightly roasty, some herbal hop, with a bitter finish. Reminds me a lot of the Christmas beer.

Dark dark brown with a thick tan head. Aroma is caramel malt, a little bit herbal. Very straightforward flavor, just great malt, and great hops. The balance is perfect too, the hops aren’t too strong, they just create a subtle herbal quality that rounds out the malt flavor perfectly. Very smooth and very drinkable.

Quite dark in body with ruby tinges and a medium size, light tan head. Toasted malt aroma that got better as it warmed. Dried fruit in the taste, rich, dry, liquorice and meaty with a light bitter finish. Quite like this drop although I probably couldn’t drink too many at once. Reminds me a bit of there porter as well. A fairly dry bock.

Bottle, Beer Ritz, Leeds. Poured a dark ruby tinged brown colour with a small head. Aroma not bad, roasted sweet malts and citrus. Flavour was roast malty, not much sweetness. Drinkable enough but lacks any real balance. Pretty underwhelmed really.