Silver Gulch Winter Rye Bock

Draught. Pours sparkling amber with an average, creamy, off-white head, somewhat diminishing with fair lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (husky grain, cereal, meal), light hop (grass), heavy yeast (sweat) with notes of dust, rye, and cooked corn. Light bodied, sticky texture, average carbonation, and a metallic finish. Average duration, light sweetness, acidity, and bitterness.

Sampled at the ’09 Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival. Old gold color with a fizzy yellowish beige head. Almost spun sugar sweetness in the nose with some cereal grains. Some dark rye notes buy with white sugar sweetness and an alcohol burn in the finish.

18-Jan-08 (Draft: 2008 Great Alaskan Beer and Barley Wine Festival in Anchorage, AK) The nose is roasty, not hoppy and has an odd corn aspect. It’s fairly corny on the palate too, lightly sweet, and dry and roasty. Rye adds a chewy component to the full body, and this tends to weigh down the palate a bit much. This is somewhat countered by the dry mouthfeel and the medium carbonation. Medium-brown in color with ruby highlights. The small, off-white head settles to a thin ring. Overall, it’s okay, but a bit one-dimensional.

I wasn’t impressed. Light, and relatively flavorless. I guess malty, but not memorable enough. No intrigue.