Sunday, April 30, 2006

Beer Tasting: Anchor Bock

This Anchor Bock is a spring seasonal beer brewed in San Francisco. It was purchased in 12oz. bottles from the Beer Yard in Wayne, PA and served at refrigerated temperature. This is one of Bryan's favorite beers of the past 3 months. He tasted on draft in the brewery in San Francisco and was almost, but not quite, as impressed by the bottled version. What will Adam, Matt, and Mark say???? Have you tasted this beer? Let us know what you think in the comments section and we'll move your comments up into the tasting notes. As a suggestion, try to keep the review as brief as possible for each of the following: appearance; smell; taste; mouthfeel; and drinkability. Appearance Bryan: dark as night, with just a tinge of deep red color; light tan head that slowly fades to a thin ring Adam: dark, nice head, disappates to thin head with islands Matt: Thick pour, almost syrupy; Dense lingering head; Dark, almost ruby red when held up to light Mark: Reddish Dark Brown; Head 1/4" - quickly dissipated. Smell Bryan: rich, oak, molasses, alcohol, fig (?) Adam: light, licorice and finish is incredible and shrinks to bitter Matt: Roasted nutty goodness... a bit of hops, but not much Mark: No pronounced identified smell other than that of any typical beer. Taste Bryan: roasted grains definitely come through in the flavor along with a noticeable, but not huge, hop bitterness Adam: oh clean sweet fresh malted spring! mmm Matt: Some more hops, but the roasted barley comes through first; Sweet malty edge Mark: Clean, light but slightly astringent; Bit of an lingering after taste. Mouthfeel Bryan: bigger upfront, fades to something of a whimper as it finishes; a bit thinner than I recall on draft Adam: carbonated, not mouth coating, clean Matt: Coats the mouth with a decent amount of carbonation Mark: Light but not lacking in body; Slightly carbonated. Drinkability Bryan: yes, it is quite drinkable Adam: lighter than you would expect, yes it is drinkable Matt: This is a sippin beer for me, but much better when it's cooler (the beer that is) Mark: Goes down easy due to lightness and carbonation, but astringency lingers. Seconds? Bryan: at 5.5% ABV, I could afford to have a few of these and be happy! Adam: the nose makes you want to come back, the taste is light enought to allow that :-) Matt: Being a very dark full flavored style of bock... maybe just one more ;) Mark: One enough, not a bad beer - just not my personal preference.

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