Hansa Urbock

Brewed by Namibia Breweries
Style: Dunkler Bock
Windhoek, Namibia

Serve in Dimpled mug, Snifter

This must rank fairly highly in the African beer scale: a rich, flavoursome Namibian bock. Poured a deep copper colour with ruby highlights and a thick head that lasted well. Thick alcoholic aroma of toffee, dark rum and butter. Nice chewy mouthfeel, medium-bodied, with a big warming swallow. Carries its 7% abv effortlessly. The flavour showed toffee, some melony esters in the middle and spicy nutmeg in the finish. Yum. A very satisfying bock. (330ml bottle shared with Aarleks, IBS, Perth)

Bottle: Dark red-brown with a yellowy lasting head that I noticed seemed to have some hop residue floating on it (looked like kreusen). Buttery, toffee aromas that are really thick in the nose. Lots of cereal too. Later on I got a big hit of ’bong-water’...thankfully it dissapeared soon after. Flavours were great: lots of smokey, spicy caramels, toffees, dark bread and a finishing peppery warmth with some dark fruits. Really nice, classic bock flavours. Quite fizzy, but in a restrained way, and a little sticky (in a good way). Very nice.
Thanks to highlandlad for sharing this one with me at his home.

Dark red-brown, hazy, tan head. Rich aromas and flavours of roasted malt, toffee, and dried sweet fruits (prunes, raisins). Full bodied and flavourful, a pleasant surprise from Namibia!

Had this one recommended to me by the boys at the Int’l Beer shop, W. Leederville, and after tasting it I would personally recommend it to anyone that I meet. Poured into a stumpy tulip, very fine carbonation raised a short pillowy tan head atop a clear, deep copper-amber body. Head was retained for the most and left a little legs down the glass. Rich and almost pungent pulped dark fruit aroma, cherries, plums and red grapes, with a mix of molasses and toffee, and an odd nutty note that came in long into drinking it. Similarly rich in the mouth and more intense than the light body would suggest. Sweet toffee and burnt sugars upfront, bready and doughy toasted grain and strong fruity esters mid-palate, through to a fruity and dry back that followed long into the malty and almost vinous swallow. Well rounded, intense yet sufficiently light in body and carbonation, this one was a great Bock and made for an excellent sipping beer. Pleasantly surprised by the flavour and balance of this one, held it’s alcohol well and managed to end my day on a good note. It’s definitely found a new place in my beer fridge. Lovely!!!

I like. It pours a slightly hazy reddish-brown body with a thick and dense tan head. The aroma is of toffee and juicy fruits (grapes, cherries, plums...) withy a handful of crushed nuts. Thick and creamy in the mouth, the flavor seems to have a brandy-like quality to it. It tastes like buttery toffee with a little fruity tartness and a definite hint of alcohol. The finish is sticky, warm, and buttery. U.S. breweries should do as decent a bock as this Namibian company.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Beverage World, Elmhurst, IL<font size=-1>

This beer was exceptionally good for a lager made in Namibia. QUite complex, something I wouldn’t expect, has some sourness to it, hints of grapes. Very good, recommended it is.

Appearance: bright, and deep rubyish color, redder than I’d I’d figure for a bock, with a very nice, soft, pillowy tannish head. Aroma: quite nice, sticks out well from the glass before I even raise it up for a sniff..Mmmm! Darkly fruity (cherries, grapes, dates, prunes), richly sweet, leathery, and exuding intensive alcohol notes, putting one in mind of brandy or cognac, or at least a pungent port. Quite impressed with this nose, a real treat! Taste: Mmmm, lush and fruity, those same suggestions of darker fruits recurring on the palate, with a syrupy, near-cloying sweetness on the ’buds, but never too long, with a medium body, and an attractive, sunny, very irridescent flavor, that shines and shines. Yum...did I say that yet? ...very welcome on this tongue, a very flavorful bock that stands above many other lackluster varieties that have passed by these lips before! Cheers to the fine German-style beer coming out of Southern Africa!

Hazy red/brown. Sweet nose, with some toffee, cider, wine, and cocoa. Light flavor, with some cider/wine notes, chocolate. Seems more reminiscent of an old ale than a bock. Nice, but somewhat light.