Schell Caramel Bock

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

On tap at the 2005 Schell Bockfest. Dark brown and almost black. Malty caramel aroma. A little too fizzy as served, but just place a red-hot poker into it and WOW! Caramelizing the beer makes it smoother, removes some of the excess carbonation, warms up the beer, and gives it a thick pillowy head. They call it "loggerheading" and it greatly improves this beer. After poking it with a red hot iron, the beer tastes like it was cask-conditioned. Too bad the majority of the kids drinking beer at the Bockfest were slurping up Schell Light instead of the Bock. Too bad Schell even serves Schell Light at the Bockfest. Too bad Schell has only 2 beer stands at an event approaching 10,000 attendees. I had expected the Bockfest to be a true German Fasching celebration, but sadly, this was merely thousands of drunken twentysomethings standing around drinking light beer. I would imagine that the event is more enjoyable when it is a usual Minnesota subzero temperature outside and the crowd is smaller.
Earlier Rating: 5/4/2004 Total Score: 3.3
In the bottle. Nothing dramatic in the aroma department, but it does have a nice malty smell for a lower gravity beer. Good-looking beige-yellowish head. A very dark amber appearance. Delicious sweetness sits enthroned upon a caramel pedestal. Light in body, but big in taste for an economy beer.

Mostly just some caramelly sweetness without much dark maltiness or hop flavors to balance it out. Similar to other "bocks" made by medium-to-large brewers.

Pours copper orange with light brown/tan head. Nose is rather malty with considerable sweetness. Flavor is of caramel and toasty malt character of a typical bock. Somewhat dry finish. Nothing overpowering here.

Bottled. A standard commercial bock: not incredible, but a good buy for the money. Pours a nice caramel color ’neath a parfait-like head. Taste is the right kind of caramel maltiness, an inauspicious hop nose, but just a touch of phenol. Still; drinks well, no really off flavors; I’d easily drink another.

Deep copper pour, with medium white head. malty, fruity, slightly floral, spicy, sour aroma. Tastes malty, with a slight tartness at the finsih, coupled with a definite cognacy aftertaste. Slightly light in palate for a bock, but not bad.

This is a very light bock, not to imposing, but not to bad either. The malt is slightly sweet, and the aroma is pretty much as you’d expect malt and carmel. This would be a good "everyday" beer, not to boring, but not that exciting either.

Aromas of malt and carmel. Dark copper color, small and short lived head. Flavor of carmel, malt, and sugar. Medium body. Not as sweet as many bocks. Good.
Earlier Rating: 2/21/2004 Total Score: 2.6
Tried this on tap at the Bock Beer Festival at the brewery. The festival was outside, so the beer was colder than it should be, until a metal rod is pulled from the bonfire and put into the beer, warming it and bringing out the flavor. The beer is nothing special I'm afraid, thin with a standard bock flavor. Some carmel.

Bottle, thanx duane. Poured carmel color with small fizzy light brown head. Head did not last long. Sweet aroma of caramel, more then anything else. I taste caramel. with a bitter of a sour note as well. There is an a bundance of carbination with this. The finish lingers ,, and has a dry end. Good.