Great Lakes Glockenspiel Weizenbock

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Weizen Bock
Cleveland, Ohio USA

12 oz bottle. Deep orange brown with a thin beige haze. Nose is caramel, wheat and raisin with a touch of spice. Medium body with sharp fizzy carb. Taste is banana, burnt sugar and yeasty wheat. Some clove in the finish.

Thanks to Lou (bluesandbarbq) who sent me this, bottle 4 of our 4 for 4 swap. I’m always down with trying a new Great Lakes product, so this was easy to enjoy. The beer pours out a golden orange color, slightly cloudy with a 2" off-white frothy head. Lots of fruitiness in the aroma, toasted malts, bananas, cloves and caramel all meld together incredibly well. Flavor has some nice sweetness to it with and orange and banana 1-2 punch. Some light clove notes, a subtle doughy character that finishes with a touch of honey. Really nice. Just wish it were available in California.

Bottle [12oz]. Pours a slightly hazy, very deep amber with a small diminishing frothy off-white head. Mild aroma of light caramel malt, light fruit and light spices -- it’s all very light. Flavour of caramel malt, light fruit, light spices and a light bitter finish. Light to average bodied. Not bad but it’s all very mild and a bit dull. Still, it’s easy to drink and there’s nothing bad about it.

My Bottom Line:
Cloves and bananas float atop this Weizenbock’s caramelized cereals for a softly carbonated and lean example of the style.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam skirts the hazy dark amber.
-Carbonation could definitely be more effervescent.
-The flavor profile is not as complex as the best Weizenbocks out there.
-My expectations may have been too high for this brew as I usually love everything Great Lakes brews.

Bottle.

Bottle ( 12oz ). Clear deep copper with an average frothy diminishing off-white head. Aroma is mostly alcohol, mild spice and vague fruit (raisin?) - slightly nutty. I quite like the taste - the alcohol is somewhat muted, and it’s fruity and spicy, dry roast, a bit floral. Light body and carbonation, with a smooth not-boozy finish, just a dry spicy afterlinger. Pretty drinkable.

12 oz. bottle via trade with Ughsmash - Pours a deep amber color with a one and a half finger thick off white head. Aroma is esters (banana) and toasted malt. Flavor is sweet esters and malt. A tad dry. Light to medium body. Nice. Thanks Jason.

12oz. Bottle: Aroma of banana, slight wheat, and slight spices. Poured orange/deep amber/light copper in color with a large, creamy, dense, beige head that diminished but lasted throughout. Cloudy. Slightly sparkling. Full of tiny, small, medium, and large-sized particles throughout. Flavor is light to medium sweet. Tastes of banana, light spices, slight wheat, light yeast, cloves, and light toasted caramel. Medium body. Lightly thick, slightly sticky texture. Soft to average carbonation. Light to medium sweet, banana, slight clove, and slight toasted malt finish is slightly dry, light yeast, and slightly sticky. 8%ABV is completely hidden.

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a ruby chestnut color with a medium sized khaki head that lingered. The aroma was malty, sweetish and had notes of banana bread, citrus and clove. The flavor was spicy and moderately sweet with notes of citrus, clove, banana and red wine. The finish was medium length and the body was thick and full. Well done.