Schell Caramel Bock

Brewed by August Schell Brewing Company
Style: Dunkler Bock
New Ulm, Minnesota USA

I’ve tasted lots of different beers lately. This is one of the better ones. Absolutely nothing offensive. Here is the situation; it could have a bit more in flavor but that may change it’s perfect balance of enjoyability and drinkability. Couldn’t even taste the 6% alky in this one, dangerously smooth! Also, I was very happy with my variety case from Schell; pale ale, octoberfest, pilsner, caramel boch, firebrick, maifest, doppelbock, zommerfest, etc. Wow what a variety…..loved it. Schell has some of the best looking labels, too! And... I think they got a good handle on balanced flavor. This is the old Schell Bock with just a new label.

Smells like dusty hay and fall leaves. The beer has a moderately dark hazy colour with a hint of orange. I Enjoy the sweet carmel taste. Not exceptionally complex, but definitely something there... I’m just not sure what. The beer’s light oily palet lends itself to this variety of beer. Delisiously what I would expect frlom Schell.

Clear ruby brown with a quickly fading fizzy beige head. Aroma of sweet caramel malt and a bit of yeast. Flavor is sweet caramel and a yeasty tang, maybe some vanilla notes. The finish is mostly that tang again and a bit of nuttiness. Nice medium body but a little heavy on the carbonation. Not a bad bock but just has a few things detracting from it so you’re left with just average.

This beer pours a glowing brandy and port with a tall big bubbled beige head. Nice color! This left some sporadic dripping clumps of lace. “Caramel Bock, Eh?” Here’s some truth in advertising. The caramel tones really take this one away. I’m getting some stupendous caramel with some slightly burnt notes and a magnificent concord grape. Wow! The flavor starts with big gooey caramel malts with a little campfire and musky yeast, but then a sharp, crisp hops steps in and really changes things up, reintroducing that concord sweetness and a tingly, hop tang. The mouth feel is medium bodied and chewy, but the tiny tingly carbonation seems to sting with little bites of CO2 that detract a lot from the brew. I’m being overly critical. This is really a great beer, with some great potential. This is a great, simple, straight forward beer. I’m really missing Southern Minnesota.

Thanks to hopdog for the trade. Pours a translucent deep amber with a large foamy off white head that left lacing and did a decent job at sustaining. Aroma of yeah...caramel malts, but not much else. Maybe some light toastiness and a hint of nuts. Basically a very malty beer with no hops able to be detected in the aroma. Flavor of...you guessed it a sweet caramel malt, again some of the toasty/nuts with maybe the slightest hint of hops. A pretty average bock, nothing too much that stands out.

Bottle. Poured a nice reddish amber with a small amount of head. This beer has a distinct (and fitting) caramel aroma and taste, some sweetness. It is a tad harsh going down, and doesn’t leave much as far as hop and malt in flavor.

Bottle: Aroma of caramel, chocolate, and some raisin that seems out of place and throws things off a little. Pours a dark transparent copper with a small off-white head that quickly fades to a thin film. Lots of caramel up front with hints of chocolate. Light fruitiness in the middle and a light grassy finish.

Good social beer however definatly not something to hoard in your cellar for keeps. Decent although a bit watery.