New Glarus Uff-da Bock

Pours a rich chocolate brown, and glowing red near the edges, forming a sticky thin film of white. Earthy, smoky and sweet herbal wood aroma, like tree bark stewed in anise and dark chocolate. Deep undercurrents of rock candy, dried caramel, and brown sugar, with just the slightest hints of red berries and banana; a stunning portrait of malt complexity in the details of coffee, fruits, dark spicing and chocolate, cut just slightly with herbal bitterness. Calm and gorgeous.

Alternately, there’s a bit too much crystal malt for the textures of the other malts to show through in the flavor, and it initially comes across as a simple bittersweet blend of sugary coffee and herbal iced tea. With warming, the brown sugar-dipped flavors of munich malts in dried cranberries and raisins, swimming in a dense bread, thicken the substance somewhat. Herbal touches of bay leaf and anise are persistent, and somewhat cooling, and that’s a strange sensation in this type of malt structure; it’s somewhat similar to the astringency ill-advised coffee beans lend to a brown ale or a porter, but it’s much more subtle and better integrated than that; it rubs off nicely on the various forms of malt sweetness, and abets balance.

Medium-full palate is syrupy and sticky; effervescent, but clingy toward the finish, where a sugary chocolate malt component is most prominent, with a bitter pecan and toasted walnut skin flavor amidst maple syrup in the furthest smacking bittersweetness. The malt driven character is pristine; this is a wonderful example of the solidity of this brewery’s products when craft and finesse are the requirements more so than attitude and creativity.

served on draft from glarner stube. aroma is full of malt sweetness and dark chocolate/crystal malts. good balance. minimal roastiness at first but evident as it warms. a very very good beer

Single from Three Cellars Milwaukee. Less than malty in my book another dud from New Glarus.

Bottle thanks to monger. Very dark brown pour, though still evidently transparent. Very thin gauzy light tan head. Notes of chocolate, not too much coffee on my taste buds; lots of sweet grainy malt. Caramel and toffee. A little ash. Just damn easy to drink. Surprisingly so considering the 7.3%. Well hidden. Tasty.

My buddy didn’t want any ’cause it’s a lager. But Bocks are different beasts. Yes, they are lagers. But they have full flavor and lots of malt. And this one does too. Well done.