Left Hand Rye Bock

Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co.
Style: Dunkler Bock
Longmont, Colorado USA

Great, big, off-white head over a dark, copper body. Aroma is filled with citrus and hops. Nicely balanced overall and also quite tasty. Medium sweetness balances the hoppy bitterness. Chewy mouthfeel.

Cloudy brown pour, with a fizzy head - fairly apparent rye in the aroma, with underlying caramel malt, cherry and raisin fruitiness, some brown sugar, yeasty notes - the carbonation is fairly high, and nearly abrasive in the mouth - since most great bocks are creamy in texture, this is a bit of a turn-off - much drier than I expected - strong rye flavor, with some caramel and lager fruitiness underneath - yeasty, bready flavors, with some slight warm, spicy notes - fairly tasty, but why do their 750s have to cost so much?

Dark caramel brown color. Looks ver carbonated. There is a nice thin head roaming around the top of the beer. Looks like a decent brew. A nice malty aroma with a sweet fruity smell. Wow, this beer is too carbonated. The rye flavor is noticeable. Ther is not a very sweet flavor in the beer. The malt flavor is there but it has more of a sweet malt aroma than sweet malt taste. The beer has a rich malty and rye flavor, but beyond that there isn’t much to talk about. The beer is nice and thick, but the range of flavors are lacking.

Draught dimpled mug at Sunset Grill on 9/25/07
Clear, amber-auburn with some deeper earthen-brown tints. Beige head atop is small, and shows moderate retention, little lacing.
Some spicy hops and a bit of a yeast bite definitely define the style, but I dont get much of the rye, if any, and the caramel/toffee sweetness hits pretty heavily. Light alcohol notes dry the finish, which has some gingerbread-molasses qualities that help the complexity. A bit sweet, though, and I could do without the alcohol. Medium strength of aroma, overall.
Sweet toffee and caramel in the flavor is very top-heavy, giving way to a stronger dryness, or more accurately, astringency, due to the breadiness of the malts and some alcohol heat. Some spicy hops are notable, but are pushed back by the sweetness. Some chocolate-coffee hints on the finish, after warming. Really reaching for things to say about this. It’s underattenuated even for a style that’s about malt richness, and has pretty poor complexity, lacking lager yeast crispness and too much alcohol heat. Despite all the malt sugars, the mouthfeel still remains somewhat hardened by the filtration and excessive caramel malts.

Corked & Caged 750ml bottle. Pours a deep and murky, orangey-brown with a thick, rocky, speckled, light tan head. The aroma has a grainy rye flavor that also has notes of chocolate and sweet, sweet malts. There is also a hint of yeast and alcohol in the aroma along with a very subtle note of spice and smoke. The flavor starts very malty, bready, and reminiscent of a chocolate-covered Reisen (caramel chew). There is a touch of rye, spicy noble hops, and lager yeast, too. By the middle of the tongue, the chocolate is accompanied by soft fruit and toffee. The sting of the carbonation on the middle of the tongue pleasantly collaborates with noble hop flavors to balance the malts. Another sniff reveals stronger notes of fruit in the aroma now. The finish is a well-conducted symphony of chocolate and malt, spicy noble hop bitterness, yeast, and alcohol. Despite the sweet flavor and body, the finish is dry with a unobtrusive, lingering impression of cocoa powder mixed in club soda. The mouthfeel is quite thoroughly bubbly and deceptively light. In some ways you can sense the gravity in the beer’s body, but swishing it in your mouth releases enough carbonation to make it feel light and airy. The beer feels quite dry, too - particularly at the back of the tongue and on the sides. Burps bring back some of the fruit and malt. Overall, a pretty fine beer!

Medium amber, clear until the very last pour, quite a nice head retention. Aroma is simply malty, faint hint of molasses. Pleasant enough though. Very smooth on the palate, totally malt focused, enjoyable yet not intense. Quick finish that goes dry. Sweet but not cloying otherwise. Quite nice, especially for a style that isn’t my favorite.

750ml bottle, caged and corked. Pours a beautiful brownish ruby red with a creamy off white head that retains well and laces the glass. There’s lots of sediment in the last pour.

The aroma is metallic alcohol (rye trying to come through?) initially with some sweet nutty grains and tobacco and cinnamon and dark fruits.

The flavor is sweet nutty caramel malts with a dry, slightly bitter rye finish. The alcohol is tinny and medicinal and becomes a little overbearing as it warms. The mouthfeel is pretty fully and creamy.

Overall, a decent beer. The flavors just don’t do it for me. I’d much rather have an FCB doppelbock.

750 ml bottle poured a clear copper brown with a small lasting amber head. Aromas of rye, toasted malt, chocolate and a hint of molasses. Palate was light to medium bodied and crisp. Flavors of rye, chocolate and light molasses with a crisp malty finish.