Holsten Festbock

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

Nice and malty winter bock.

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!

Holsten's Festbock is an exceptionally enjoyable, easy drinking beer that dishes up enough kick taste wise, aroma wise, style wise, and alcohol wise to really be considered a nice general drinking beer. But its high alcohol content (7%) does seep through in the taste which was a bit of a downer. However, if you're drinking a few brews a day, its tough to justify paying $5-10 a bottle for the great stuff, but Holsten's Festbock (obtainable locally for a mere $2.10CDN (that's $1.37USD) for a traditional 500ml can, this is not only enjoyable, its incredibly affordable. Packaged similarly to that of their Maibock and Premium (Lager), I've made the mistake on more than one occasion of picking up the Maibock (which is considerably lighter) when I really wanted the Festbock. Nonetheless, both are enjoyable, but the Festbock is clearly the frontrunner in their lineup. Pours surprisingly clean and crisp for a bock styled beer, with condersiderable thick frothy white head which disapates to a rather flat shallow surface murkiness., Thankfully, this one still delivers excellent (longterm) glass lacing. Exceptionally dark, hints of amber can be seen when raising your glass to a bright light. Taste wise, Festbock presents a very nice blend of caramel, chocolate and coffee tones, with a nice blend of malts and hops to make this more than just a little enjoyable. As mentioned earlier, there is a slight hint of the alcohol coming through, but the above characterists help to gloss over that minor drawback. I'm a fan of the bock concept with the Doppelbocks (Aventinus and Celebrator) clearly leading the ways in my book, but with the price of those at 2-4 times higher, Holsten's is a nice alternative when you've already got the important money wrapped up in the "premium" brews.

Good rich full bodied bock. It has good malty fullness, some chocolate notes, alchohol heat can be pronounced at times.

Pours a deep cherry color with nice red highlights. Head is medium to smallish and sort of a pale brown color, reasonably thick, and lasts nicely. Aroma is a little bit roasty, and maybe some alcohol? A touch of bitterness there. Carbonation is pretty low, but nice, and it’s acceptably thick. Flavor is nice and malty with a hint of caramel, raisins and roastiness. There’s also a bit of bitterness and maybe some smoke in the finish.

Dark brown, no head. Choclatey, slight roast and coffee notes in the nose. Body carries the chocolate, comes across sweet and malty, notes of licorice and a touch of hops. Finishes dry.

0.5l can. Pours an opaque brown with a solid frothy head. Kind of looks like a coke. Smell is pleasant, with notes of malt and hops. Palate is smooth. Taste is strong and very malty. Notes of nuts, and somewhat sweet.

why the hell this gets such a low score is beyond me, a very nice beer, aroma reminds me of Rochefort 8, malty and spicy aroma. Taste is a bit sweet and chocolaty, nice aftertaste!