Rock Art Hells Bock

Brewed by Rock Art Brewery
Style: Heller Bock
Morrisville, Vermont USA

Bottle shared at Madness. Pours a slightly hazy orange amber with a small white head. Aroma of yeast, grains and must. Medium bodied with hardly any carbonation and a slightly dry finish. As bad as the aroma was it was a step up from the flavor. Well without bad beer how could one truely enjoy a good one?

22oz bottle. Poured a medium amberish / brown color with a small sized off white head. Aromas and tastes of caramel, earthy, and some grains.

Richmond "industry" gathering. Hoppy aroma of earth and floral notes. Caramel malt flavors and an intensely bitter floral hop note in the flavor that strays way outside of a typical bock. Nice, different, but I rather enjoyed it.

Cloudy caramel bock topped by a fading light beige head. Vegetal, honeyed and kinda toasty nose. Very bready and almost wheaty in mouth. Rather strong bitterness, quite flowery, sandy, long dry and ridiculously mineral finish. Biting, strong carbonation, medium bodied.

In short: Chaotic but drinkable mess of some kind
How: Mtl-crew beer-and-spagatt tasting. Bottle, young.
The look: cloudy brown body with a short-lived tan head.
In long: Kind of weird aroma, hard to describe, I’d say vegetables-cake if such a think existed. Taste is somewhat spicy with something that reminds me of nutmeg, various herbs, cinnamon, others. Again hard to describe. Rather sweet beer with a roasted brown sugar taste. Grainy malts. Weird unexpected dry bitterness that just adds to this mess. Chaotic from A to Z but rather drinkable in a weird way. Certainly not classy but certainly not boring either. Given its low ratings I feared a true Bock from Hell, it is not although it is far from heavenly. Rock Art Purgatory’s Bock.

My Bottom Line:
This spicy and sweet Dunkler Bock propels bready caramel maltiness onto the potent peppery and leafy hop flavors and bitterness. Unusual for the style, and rather incohesive, this big lager remains drinkable for its size.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the pale brown.
-The nose is rather upsetting, not offering much in the way of clean maltiness.
-The finishing hop bitterness is out of proportion for the style, and does not have enough malt sweetness to be pleasant.
-Alcohol is well concealed, increasing drinkability.

Bottle.

Caractéristiques très semblables à la Riddle ? de la même brasserie. Amertume grossière et malt gras. Est-ce que des bières "extreme" doivent forcément déséquilibrées ?

Appearance: Pours a hazy brown body with a wispy, off-white head. Smell: Aroma of caramel, dough, and tart-smelling fruits. Taste: Flavors of caramel and dough initially, but very little sweetness. Mild hints of dark, tart fruits. The bitterness is cutting, almost astringent, and throws the whole beer off balance. The alcohol is quite evident. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Moderate carbonation. Drinkability: Oh, I wanted to enjoy this, but didn’t.