Flat Branch Bare Knuckle Bock

Brewed by Flat Branch Pub & Brewing
Style: Doppelbock
Columbia, Missouri USA

Vanilla and caramel dominate this nice offering. Carbonated. Malty. Not intensely dark or sweet, but the best Flat Branch I’ve had in awhile.

Sampler @ brewpub. It has a clear but dark burgundy brown color and comes with no head but a bit of hairline halo white around the edge. Aroma is full of sweetness. dark fruits, alcohol. At this point I figured out its a doppelbock. Taste follows suite. It was in a rather weird place, way beyond the point of what a regular doppelbock should be but not far enough into the Samiclaus territory. I feel they need to either tone it down and bring it back to normal or make the full push to the dark side.

2005 vintage on tap at the brewery. Aroma of dark malts and a little bit of smoke. Flavor is sweet malt with ripe fruits, very light smoke, and woodiness.

On tap at brewery:A grape nose like Dimetapp cough syrup which rang well into the flavor which gave that burn/itchy throat sensation you get from a grape icee-pop. Deep near black color and decent head, but where’s the complexity? The balance? come on, give me something to appreciate. The yeasts were stale and lifeless, the malts simple and hella sweet and the hops was nonfunctional. Alas, a immature, underdeveloped and lazy attempt at a style that demands respect and tradition. Flat Branch isn’t serious enough for a brew of this difficulty.

Draught: The beer is a opaque brown, with some tan head. Serious malt taste and nose. I also get some fruit notes to the nose, of which cherries appear to be the most evident. The taste has some evidence of the cherries as well as a hint of roastiness. Served only in a 10oz. glass. I suspect the alchohol content is quite high, but it isn't noticeable.