Fort Collins Spring Bock

Brewed by Fort Collins Brewery
Style: Dunkler Bock
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Bottle courtesy of Crosling
Pours a nice rich clear dark copper with a small white head that leaves tightly packed lace along the sides. Smells like a perfect bock -- rich, malty, sweet, refreshing. Flavor reflected most of these characters too, along with a light hop bitterness and, unfortunately, some grassy sour notes that knocked the flavor points down a notch. Finishes with a nice creamy palate. Pretty decent.

bottle-purchased at riley’s in madison, WI. pours crimson red with a small off-white head. apple, sligt dark fruit notes, and a good dose of oxidization in the malt profile that has hits of plum. i didn’t get any of that smoke that was listed by some raters. super fruity malt flavors predominate with plum mostly. fairly one dimensional, but not in a bad way. Very thick body on this one, leaning towards doppelbock feel. light veggie note as it warms as well, which was not a good thing. all in all , not a bad beer.

Pours a clear mahogany brown with a wispy, lightly-lacing off-white head. Aroma of earthy caramel malt and some German lager yeast. Body starts rich and sweet with a nice balance of carbonation, a hint of tartness and some mild smoke. A fairly interesting and enjoyable brew that hides its alcohol quite well.

Medium brown with some reddish notes, slowly fading lush head, attractive. Big chewy molasses aroma, almost reminiscent of Samichlaus. Thick flavor of molasses and toffee, with a touch of brown sugar. This was really quite excellent. I usually don’t care for bocks, but the mouthfeel was perfect, the sweetness wasn’t cloying, and the flavors were rich in the mouth. I was highly impressed. Huge thanks to Secret Santa Crosling!

Clear plum-brown body, thin light tan head. Assertive prune and dark malt extract aroma with a grainy edge. The flavor retains that extract twang but with a stronger emphasis on grain husks and over-sweet, tangy brown sugar. Burnt caramel finish. A flawed beer, tastes over roasted and over sweet.

I wasn’t looking for a fancy beer tonight. I had had a busy day taking my family to the new Dallas IKEA (just in its second weekend) and, while we had a great time, it was so busy--with three small kids, including a 2.5 month old baby. So we enjoyed our Swedish meatballs and got some outraegeously cheap plastic cups for the kids, but in the traffic, heat, throng of people, and the like, I was ready for a beer. And so I opened this bottle, a gift from Kevin. It was bock-like but I treated it more of a solid brown ale, such was its depth of malts, which peaked with notes of caramel and nuts. Very rich malts, rather sweet, engaging and extremely drinkable. In fact, I drank it rather fast, with its notable body and moderate carbonation. The rich nut-brown beer went down so easily, I had absolutely no idea it was pegged at 9% abv. I don’t believe it, at all. A bottle of 9% should hit me at least a bit; this didn’t do that. And it had no flavor of alcohol. So I can’t comprehend that this was 9%. At any rate, whatever it is, it’s good beer, every bit as yummy as those Swedish meatballs.

rusty brown pour with a nice light khaki head. the nose is full of fruity phenols and is very inviting. it’s one of those that i don’t want to stop smelling, i can wait a while to taste this so i can enjoy the aroma fully. just a great malt and cashew aroma. great flavor, very rich flavors with this thin body. smokey caramel and maple syrup with the nut taste the aroma hinted at. just a bit of burn on the finish to remind me of the abv of this, but it so good i could easily get in trouble with this one. just the right bitter level in this to keep things in control. amazingly smooth. i will buy more the next chance i get. thanks to crosling for recommending this when i was at his store, i owe you nick.

Bottle. Big malty nose that reminds me of the way malt extract smells. Taste is very malty and full-reminds me of bran flakes. A good hop presence without going overboard. Notes of fig, some dry coffee, bread/yeast, and dried fruit. Very, very drinkable beer and quite enjoyable. I am not a fan of this style, but a beer like this may convert me!