Hofmark Engel Bock

Brewed by Hofmark Brauerei
Style: Heller Bock
Cham-Loifling, Oberpfalz/Bayern, Germany

Bottle. Pale for a bock, thick white head. How did this stuff make it to Tokyo? I swear, you find the most random stuff out here. Very refined and classy aroma of: wood, cherries, roses, licoriche, chocolate, smoke, brown sugar. Nice followthrough into the flavor with more pronounced chocolate, slightly lactic. Faint hints of alcohol in the finish. Seems to get better as it warms, with an exceptionally thick and satisfying mouthfeel. Masterful!

Thanks to The_Beer_God for the bottle. Gray 500ml swingtop bottle that was capped with a crown. Clear amber body topped by a dense foamy alabaster head that leaves thick lace on the glass. The aroma is lovely, nutty, biscuity, sweet malt, yum. The aroma is more helles-esque, not as sweet as a bock. The flavor is really nice and shows that it is in fact a bock. Toffee, biscuits, standing outside of a bakery, light herbal hops kick in and really bring thins together. Medium palate, very crisp and clean throughout all the while evolving and never becoming boring or just another bock. Color me impressedm, very impressed.

500mL crock. Poured a very slightly hazy orangey-caramel with a lovely initial cap of off-white head. The nose picked up bunches of sweet, well-toasted and spiked caramel, brown sugar, dried herbal and leafy hops, and a pinch of smoke... I damn near got lost in it. The flavor was also heavily malt-centric with an incredible blend of drawn caramel, brown sugar, nuttiness, toffee, chewy bread dough.. accents of herbal hops, smoke, and complimentary alcohol. Crisp on the palate with well-placed bitterness and alcohol warmth. This was an excellent beer!

Glassy honey gold. Off-white medium-sized bubbles hug the glass. Immaculate aroma of toffee, fresh hay, herbal hops, and minerals. Equally crispy and fuzzy carbonation. Firm body. Soothingly malty and lush, but with a slick, understated toffee apple sweetness. Cleansing sweep of alcohol resets the palate. Squeaky clean and focused at the same time, though. Firm mineral character curtails the rounded huskiness, but an abundance of fresh hay and deeply toasty malt astringency holds its ground. Subtle apple fruitiness coincides with spicy alcohol whispers to create an effect of dessert apples. Striking composure in the finish between herbaceous spiciness from the hops and the delicate sweetness of toffee glazed toast. One of the cleanest, most exquisite Bocks you’ll find, although I consider this more of a sweetish Helles, than a Bock. Sparklingly aromatic [clean as a whistle and yet has a good degree of complexity to it], polished/well-balanced flavors, and krausened in the bottle, to boot?! Splendid.

Nicely packaged 500ml ceramic bottle with swing-top. Beautiful, dense and resilient head, copper color. This beer is great with a varirty of tastes hitting at different times. Starts malty, gets a bit cookie-like and finishes a little herbal and spicy. warm and creamy mouthfeel. really good, complex bock.

I always look forward to the MJ Beer club beers. Reading the accompanying pamphlet always seems to add another dimension to the rating. Aroma was that of rising bread dough, lemon and mellow geraniums. Toasted wheat and nutty malts round out the body. Grass and rye, along with tangy yeast in the finish.

Personal Milestone: German rating #200 (out of 2568)!

Pouring from a nifty swing-top bottle, this has a light golden brown body with a creamy off-white head. This has the sweet smell of wort, caramel, and hot buttered bread. Medium bodied. The flavor is sweet caramel, fresh bread, and honey with just enough earthy hop bitterness to keep the sweetness in check. Very nicely done, and a lucky choice for my milestone.

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Swing-top bottle from the Rare Beer Club. Translucent amber body with a quickly disappearing, frothy tan foam resting upon it. Aroma conjures light caramel, crisp grassiness, warm buttered biscuits and almost some honey. Taste is creamy malts, light hops, some grassy notes, fresh bread, and mild caramel. Body is crisp with dryness around the edges and moderate carbonation. Finishes crisp and dry with light caramel, biscuits, grassy notes, light fruit and buttered bread. Very good indeed!