New Glarus Unplugged Smoked Rye Bock

Formerly brewed at New Glarus Brewing Company
Style: Smoked
New Glarus, Wisconsin USA

12oz Bottle. 2005. Flickr(http://www.flickr.com/photos/26049401@N0 A bit of dusty, old, vinous bacon shows in the first nosing. Damp, chilly, and restrained. Noticeably smoky, however. Flavor swells in a generic sugar rage, but then lets off a steam of smoked pork hock, a bit of wet charcoal, and some grill marks. Again, even warming in the mouth, the flavor seems awfully held back. Heady carbonation flushes out a really creamy and thick texture in the beer, with dense sugars and a light rye spritz. Well oxidized (somehow even moreso than the Triple three years this beer’s senior). Having trouble getting whooped up about this one. It gives the impression of a lightly smoked, lightly rye-d high gravity lager, but it doesn’t really excel in the any of these categorie. A good idea, but maybe on that doesn’t stand the test of time well.

Bottle on 07/18/2009. Clear dark amber body with a medium frothy off-white head. Good smoke aroma with some rye and floral hop notes. Sweet smoke flavor, light bacon, with floral hops and a rye background. Medium body with moderate carbonation.

Bottle courtesy of maniac at Immy’s Backyard Throwdown. Rusty amber pour. Aroma is smoky and sweet with hint of malt and caramel. Taste is smoke, smoldering wood, caramel, and spicy hops. Body is medium with a dense, soft carbonation. Ends with more smokiness, caramel, spicy hop notes and sweet malt. Yummy!

12 oz. bottle courtesy of maniac and shared at Immy’s Backyard Throwdown (big thanks to maniac for sharing this rare beer). Pours yellow/pale orange in color with an off-white head. Aroma of bubblegum, smoke, caramel, and spiciness. Interesting and complex flavor with some faint smoke. Not the most eloquent review ever written but not one that I could pass up. I really enjoyed this one.

BIG thanks to maniac for sharing this with me... a long retired beer from my all-time favorite brewery. So glad to have tried this. Shared at Immy’s Backyard Throwdown. Pours an amber color with a medium head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma is caramel and mild smoky notes. Taste is caramel, light smoke and faint hop bitterness. Medium bodied. Well balanced. Very nice beer.

This is testament to why Dan Carey is awesome. I recently had one of these and i swear it was smokier than it was when it was fresh (three or four years ago I think)! The alcohol is almost undetectable, and I can not believe it is at 12%! This has the body and mouth feel of a fantastic hefe weizen with plenty of smokiness of a rauch, which seems to balance well with the dryness of the rye and the fruitiness that is ever-present. Delicious!

Thanks to iowaherkeye for bringing this bottle to his ’farewell to Iowa’ tasting. Poured a slightly hazy medium orange color with an off white head. A good amount of chunky sediment was bouncing around on the CO2 bubbles. Smelled like a mix of toffee and a nice malt liquor (if there is such as thing). I didn’t smell any significant smoke. Full bodied and sweet with a warming alcohol effect and mild accompanying bitterness. Oily mouth feel with caramel, subdued buttery toffee, and light smoke flavors. Very smooth and slick. This was my first taste of this brew, but others at the tasting thought it was a bit beyond it’s prime.

Bottle from IowaHerkeye - thanks Joey. Bourbon aroma with notes of caramel, sugar, cheese and some yeast. Golden brown and a little chunky. Woody, yeasty, sweet caramel and smoky flavors. Creamy smooth palate.