Sierra Nevada Pale Bock

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: Heller Bock
Chico, California USA

Draft pint at the brewery. Pale is right, this pours golden and crystal clear. The head goes away almost right away. The aroma is sweet and malty and the flavor follows suit. Textbook for a strong golden lager, rich with malt and some obvious ABV kick. In a blind, though, I hope you’d forgive me for thinking this were Michelob, only stronger. (#3386, 4/8/2008)

A light golden color and pours with a big head. Fairly light bodied but good balance between the hops and malt. Malty finish.

Draft at the Blind Tiger. Aroma of some slightly funky / earthy malt, but very similar to the malt found in Czech beer. The flavor is the same, and there is a slightly funky caramel aftertaste.

On tap at Pizza Port Carlsbad. Clear, light gold with a thin, medium, white head. Aroma is malty with grainy caramelized banana and light noble hops aroma. Sweet, light malt flavors with some fruitiness and good structure--quintessentially helles bock-like with an American twist. Fairly full-bodied but not heavy with some alcohol warmth.

Aroma was subdued sweetness. Pale gold. Flavor is mostly sweet and malty. Lots of malts makes it rather heavy. I liked it due to it being different than alot of other Sierra Nevada products I have had before.

Date: 08/25/1998
Mode: Bottle
Source: Beverages & More, SF

golden yellow, lots of tiny bubbles, solid fine white head, sudsy lace, sweet malt aroma with a touch of floral hops, rich malt flavor followed by a hop bite leading to a slight bitter finish, slightly sour twang (?)

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 10/20
Rating: 2.8/5.0
Score: *4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Draught pint at Sunset Grill on 6/23/07
Mostly clear, buttered popcorn colored body topped by a small, mostly diminishing off-white head that leaves some blotchy lacing.
Sweet, heavy honey-dough in the nose wraps about the nostrils with a pinch of herbal hoppiness inserted as an afterthought. Vanilla icing and light caramel intensify the sweetness, but add some moderate complexity. The dryness and "lager" character of the beer immediately seem questionable, though as it warms, there is a touch of dry yeast and definitely some emerging breadiness from the malts that "helps" to dry it out. I say helps, but it never really comes off as very dry in the nose. Perhaps a touch of medicinal qualities? It’s tough to separate the yeast character and herbal hops from what might be problematic phenols, as herbal hops and lager yeast tend to be very similar in aroma to certain peppery/medicinal phenols. Anyways, even if it is (doubtful), it’s marginally apparent. Medium strength of aroma overall, with no alcohol present.
Upon first sip, it comes of very sweet, and oddly slick (like oily almost). Partly due to the low carbonation, no doubt, but I’m not sure that’s the only reason. Vanilla icing and overly sweet honeyish malts build up and sort of wallop the palate. As it warms, more of the breadiness comes out and dries the beer, especially on the end, just as in the aroma. But again, it’s certainly got a huge sweetness to it, especially right away, and the sweetness is not a very elegant maltiness, but more of a simple sugariness. Herbal, obviously German hoppiness seems a little less than fresh, and sort of half-assed at that, but does at least provide something else to think about besides the heavy sweetness. I’ve never been a fan of bready maltiness used for balance, and though the style certainly has leeway for being sweet, I just think it’s a bit much. Too much wateriness on the finish, as well. No alcohol noted, however, and definitely nothing phenolic in the flavor.

A bit of a disappointment, a rather bland & flavorless offering from Sierra Nevada, golden color with a small off-white head, a very sweet nose & flavors, but a little shallow, light-medium body, drinkable but a bit flavorless, dry & crisp finish, but missed the mark of a nice bock beer