grandet (421), Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA May 4, 2009 Bottle from pittsburgh. Poured a nice dark amber color with a small head. Aroma is of roasty malt. Taste is nice and roasty with some malt sweetness and some mild hops at the end. not bad beerbill (1742), Laurel, New York, USA Mar 22, 2009 12 oz. bottle. Pours a mostly clear deep reddish amber with a thin tan head that faded to a ring after two sips and left considerable spotty lace. The aroma is malt with a bit of roast and some light stale mustiness, almost like old cigarette smoke. Thankfully, the mustiness is nowhere to be seen in the flavor, which is predominantly malt again with a bit of roast. Medium hops bitterness at the finish that actually grows in the strength after the swallow and lingers in the back of the throat. Not great, but not a bad beer either. As an aside, I like the Thomas Nast portrait of St. Nick on the label. Floback (325), Naples, Florida, USA Mar 3, 2009 Batch #001. Bottle from Total Wine. Pours a two-inch tan head and a brown color. The nose is apple and grains. Flavors include subtle cola, wheat, and green apple. The body is watery-thin with medium carbonation. A decent dunkler, but nothing special. blipp (1407), Grand Island, New York, USA Jan 31, 2009 Draft at the brewpub. Dark brown with a thin off white head. Light aroma with a touch of roastiness. The flavor is also on the light side, with some caramel sweetness and a touch of toast. Not bad. Heathen (666), Riverside, New Jersey, USA Jan 30, 2009 THOUGHTS: It wasn’t far off from a doppelbock. Really nice, even though it really didn’t scream "christmas" to me. It was a warming winter beer though.
TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark, brownish red with a small, off-white head that mostly diminished. The aroma was moderate to heavy dark bread, grain and caramel malts and lighter chocolate along with cherry, red wine, port, brown sugar and alcohol. The flavor started sweet and finished a little bitter and slightly sour with an average to long duration. There was raisin, liquor, a little chocolate, roasted malt, caramel malt, grain and some balancing hops and fitter coffee. The medium body was sort of oily with tingly carbonation and a slightly metallic, lightly astringent and lightly alcoholic finish. Ron (889), Rochester, New York, USA Jan 24, 2009 Dark brown color with light head. Sweet aroma of dark fruits, chocolate and some spices. Taste is a strange sweet, sour, & spicy mix that was OK. Thanks for the trade JB. Rustyham (335), miami, Florida, USA Jan 19, 2009 Rather boring, even for a Bock. All this has going for it is it color, dark blood red to black and a some nice seasonal smells- cinnamon, nutmeg. Possibly a chugger. jb (904), Rochester, New York, USA Jan 9, 2009 This is the first beer I’m sampling from a massive trade made with Zach8270, thanks Zach! I love bocks so was glad to get this one, that I haven’t seen around here.
Aroma is heavy molasses, some graham crackers and through and through you can tell they didn’t hold back on the malt. The appearance is a nice red but has a very minimal head, but nice lacing. The palate is sweet, has a nice small-bubble carbonation feel, then it is a tad light in a middle with a wee bit of hops to dry out the end. Nice. As it warms, the maltiness comes out even more, and is less watery. No alcohol detected.
|