Bison Organic Golden Bock

Brewed by Bison Brewing Company
Style: Heller Bock
Berkeley, California USA

50cl bottle from Willow Bend Liquors (Florida). Pours a somewhat cloudy dark golden with a one-finger white head that dissipates quickly but still provides lacing on the glass. Smells like ripe, sour fruit with hints of raisins, malt and molasses. Tastes slightly bitter throughout with flavors of ripe fruit (faint hints of citrus), malt and molasses. On subsequent tastes, we noticed wild spice and maybe a hint of something sweet like caramel. Normally do not enjoy lagers, but this one is drinkable.

I generally don’t really care for Bison’s beers. So when I saw a brewer I’m really not into making a style that I typically don’t care for, I almost passed on the bottle. Then my "spirit of adventure" took over, and I bought it anyway. Good decision, and a great illustration of why I pick up stuff I don’t think I’m going to like sometimes. I’m wrong on occasion, and this was one of those occasions, happily enough. Clear deep gold, nice, very long lasting compact white head. Aroma of honey sweet malts, followed by a spicy hop note. Perhaps a bit too hoppy for style, but that is probably why I actually liked it. The flavor matched, with sweet, honey accented light malts and a fantastic spicy, floral, noble hop finish, bitter and lingering, drying out the mouth. I really enjoyed the hopping of this brew. Probably even overrating it a touch just because I’m so surprised that I liked it, but, this was really quite good. Smooth mouthfeel to boot.

Bottle. Appearance was a small off-white head that mostly diminished, spotty amount of lacing, transparent, visible carbonation, and a golden and pale yellow hue. Nose was malty, grassy, sweet, lightly hoppy, caramel, and a hint of toffee. The flavor was sweet, lightly bitter, hoppy, malty, some caramel, and a dry finish. Tingly, dry mouthfeel. Medium body. Just an okay beer for me as it had somewhat of an unpleasant aftertaste, it was heavy tasting and did not leave me wanting more.

Poured a slightly hazy golden-copper body. Mildly sweet, yet bitter and floral. Crisp and bready. Some caramel notes in there, but nothing to scare me away. Mild bodied brew with some earthiness. Pretty good beer!

From a 22 oz bottle this poured a clear rich yellow (gold) with a small white head and mild lacing. Nose of light malts and light grassy hops. Smooth mouthfeel, and a clean crisp flavor of caramel malts. Not a lot of finish. Kind of simple, but very easy to drink.

Aroma of honey and pale malt. Hazy ripe apricot color with a white head that lazed about. Lace tatters. Medium body with creamy carbonation. The flavor is caramel and herb. There’s hop, but it’s either grassy or floral. It’s got a really pleasant impact. A little spice. It’s nice. Amazing flavor for a lager. The finish is dry and ... It’s good, but difficult for me to describe. Try it, you’ll like it. I was really surprised.

pours a clear gold, with mild white head, and no aroma, little complexity and flat tasting, not bad, just not much going on either, lack in complexity and depth.

Bottled. A hazy golden beer with a thin orange head. The aroma is sweet malty with notes of straw, and so is the flavor, though notes of grass is added to the flavor. Fine, but nothing special.