Holsten Festbock

Brewed by Holsten-Brauerei (Carlsberg)
Style: Dunkler Bock
Hamburg, Germany

This beer is amasing. Maby it;s cuz I’ve just had my 7th can, but this beer is amasinf. Not many great beers avalible in my hood, and this one is a new adition. Pours a deep dark brown, just a hint of copper in the light, whispy thin short white head, quickly disapates. aroma is sweet, freshly boiled corn, undertones of balsamic vinagar, bread, rising bread/yeast. Mouthfeel is the major problem. Palat is a little thin, minimal carbonation, flat halfway through, slightly watery. Would be a little more refreshing with more bubbles. Taste is fenominal. Sweet darkend malt cut with the slightest touch of the most bitter german hops I’ve ever tasted, {cource they cant compare with the american hops, not by a long shot,} make for a lovley sweet but not shugary or syropy lager, without the slighest hint of floral hop, or that weird bubble-gum taste comon is so many bocks that keep us bitter APA drinkers away. Taste has notes of bread, caromel, plumb, roasted fig, with undertones of old peaches, burnt shugar, and green plumb. Aftertaste is predomonantly sweet, a deep black molasas sweet that pulls the corners of the lips towards the ears, folowed by a slight yeasty tinge, a sweet acidic note, and a final dry carrot tone clinging to every corner of the mouth. And at 7%abv, it packs a wicked strong, yet very VERY clean stone to it. Lovley, just lovley. CHEERS!

Can (BB 09/2005)
Dark brown-ruby color, creamy brownish head, lace. Roasted malts, coffee and burnt sugar in the aroma. Roasted malty, suprisingly quite thin hiding alcohol well. Slightly bitter, roasted aftertaste. Average, clean bock (dobbelbock?) but not very interesting.

Dark brownish hue with reddish highlights, thick creamy tan-colored head, with good lacing, roasted malt, toasted malt aromas follow through on a medium-bodied palate with sweety notes of dried brown fruits, roasted malt, caramelized malt, chocolatey note, even mocha, nutty, toffee character in a hint of bitterness and sweet malt finish.

I was expecting something a bit smoother, but as the beer warmed, it became slightly more mellow and smooth. Heavy roasted malting, with a coffee prescence, grapefruity styled hopping, and a heavy yeastiness. Nice easy carbonation. Gives a long duration aftertaste. Unfortunately I had no head retention - but I had this in a hostel, and the glass may have been dirty... So, very full flavoured, and also with a identifiably high SG. A bit too much of an alcohol flavour for my liking (I would have liked more flavour complexities instead). Certainly good to try, as I’ve not tried many beer of this style. But I don’t think I could drink a lot of it.

(Canned) Very dark reddish brown color with a medium, quite creamy and lacy head. Metallic, caramely-malty, slightly ashy and flowery aroma. Strongly malty rye-pudding flavor with a hint of chocolate and a sweetish, metallic finish. Hides the ABV very well. Medium-bodied, maybe an inch thin, slicky and quite carbonated palate. An easily drinkable, reasonably-bodied and nice-looking (doppel)bock.

500ml can. Poured ruby brown. Left a smallish creamy head of tan foam. Light hops in nose, also some caramel and dark malt. Roasted grains, caramel in the flavour. Light roasted note to the finish, more grains. A bit thin bodied, left me a bit disappointed in the finish, which was a bit washed out.

Almost black, with an interesting tinge of translucence. Fairly pronounced aromas of malt and black cherry jelly – nice depth. Unfortunately, not nearly as full-flavoured as the colour and smell lead you to believe. There’s a tiny taste of chocolate malt, and an impression of fortified wine as the beverage warms up, but not much else. A good starter and bad finisher.

500 ml can from LCBO. Ruby-brown colour with a wispy tan head. Aroma is slightly roasty with a bitter background. Sweet caramel-malt flavour with some dark fruitiness and a good finish. Body is a little thin, but it’s otherwise pretty decent and would make a good dark session beer. Can’t believe it’s taken me so long to try this one!