Fort Collins Barrel Licked Bock

Serving: 22 oz. bottle. Appearance: Deep amber color with a small, effervescent, off-white head. The head is gone in seconds. Aroma: A hint of smoke, definite wood notes, some whiskey, and some malty sweetness. Flavor: Lighter in profile than I was expecting. The wood notes dominate with the whiskey playing second fiddle and the smoke playing harmony. It all comes together with some nice sweet malt notes of caramel and some vanilla. Mild, but tasty. Palate: Medium carbonation with a medium mouthfeel and a medium-short finish. Overall: I was expecting big and bruising but was surprised with subtle and easy drinking. I think the alcohol is well hidden and this is a nice use of barrel aging. Recommended.

A diminishing and fizzy head sits atop a copper-brown body, leaving some good spots of lacing. Upfront smoked malt aroma with hints of meat and campfire. A brush of whiskey and wood followed by a faint fruitiness. The aroma fills the air and pulls you in. Clean and medium bodied, sweet and smoky with a soft creaminess. No trace of the high alcohol content. Caramel and doughnut flavors are soon washed out by smoke and wood. Mild bourbon taste is evident in the background and leads way to plums and vanilla. This is one solid beer, not as big as I was expecting which is what makes it fairly easy and enjoyable. The smoked malt is well portioned and the bourbon barrel influence is constantly in the back ground.

From the bottle shared by AgedOak. Reddish copper color with a thin, off white head. Dark sugar nose with hints of extinguished campfire and rum cake. Flavors of burnt caramel, some smoke, faint bourbon and wood tones, and dried fruit and raisen notes. I found this to be a nice use of the barrel to accent the beer.

22oz bomber. What a cool name for a beer. Pours a dark but clear glowing garnet red with a fizzy soda foamy tan head 3.5. Aroma is going to take a second to figure out, leather and smoke, pineapple, canadian bacon, mmm my favorite pizza, some sort of acidity, quite sharp, salted cured ham 7.5. Flavor follows, sharp at first, fuller than it smells, what an odd interesting play of flavors, I think each of the different flavors would work as a pair but when all together it is a bit unfocused, canned pineapple, bacon, ham, light leather, fairly sweet, a lighter bock dopple bock, light choclate tootsie roll, a bit cloying, quick finish leaving behind sweet whisky, completely unique. Medium bodied, feels heavier, ubiquitous softer tightly packed carbonation, viscous but not really syrupy. Strange beer. The pineapple-like acidity is really what throws everything out of balance.

Bottle. Moderate aroma of dark bread for the malt, herbs for the hops, broth for the yeast, and a big note of smoked meat. Head is small, wispy, slightly off-white with a little lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is clear mohagany. Flavor starts moderately sweet and a little acidic, then finishes lightly sweet and acidic. Palate is on the fuller side of medium, creamy with a carbonation between soft and lively. The most prominently smoke influenced beer I’ve had. Very unique and well put together.

Sampled from PizzaKing at the recent Mug Club tapping (Flossmoor, IL). Pours a nice reddish brown, a bit hazed but still able to see through, offwhite head that dies to a film and clings to the edges. Aromas are a nice sweet caramel and toffee malt with a decent smokiness, a touch of jerky, with a bit of oak, vanilla, faint bitterness. Really, a malt forward brew with a good dose of meaty smoke. Initial is medium bodied, a bit of meat on the forward, raisin and caramel/toffee come forward after, a touch of booziness, oak, vanilla, with dark fruits coming through, light bitterness, and smoothness come through. The smoke and dark fruit really linger, raisins and jerly, caramel, and a touch of wet wood. Faint chocolate, biscuits. This is pretty good, smoke grows in bigger sips.

Pours a dark clear garnet/amber with a pretty decent light tan head. Laces the glass. A rich caramel and stout-like smokey aroma asserts itself. Taste is quite busy. There’s smoked sweet roasted malt, buttery caramel, coffee, and a vinous, brandy-like warmth and richness. I would call something like this an imperial doppelbock. Very good, but almost overpowering, yet well balanced.

Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. The smell is meat, smoke, malts, and somehow sweet. The look is brownish in color with a beige colored head. The taste is sweet, chocolate, smoke, and malts.