Ok, so I fell for the hype and grabbed myself(and my brother and father)some bottles of Sam Adams Chocolate Bock. Everyone in town was freaking out about this beer(that retails for around $15 a bottle). I enjoy Rogue Chocolate Stout and Young's Double Chocolate Stout so I figured I'd give this one a try. Instead of going into this whole long winded spiel about the beer I figured I'd let Sam Adams do it themselves. Here is a description from their website:
Samuel Adams® partnered Felchlin, a renowned Swiss chocolatier, to develop a unique innovation, Samuel Adams® Chocolate Bock. We started with a complex selection of carefully roasted malts combined with hand-selected Noble hops from Bavaria, the world’s oldest growing area. After using a centuries old brewing process, called Krausening, we slowly aged the beer on a bed of rare dark cocoa nibs from Felchlin®, a renowned Swiss chocolatier. Known for their quality these wild cocoa nibs, harvested from the rainforest of Northern Bolivia, impart complex aromas and flavors of chocolate, honey and vanilla in the beer. The resulting beer, Samuel Adams® Chocolate Bock, has a big, malty character that is combined with the subtle sweetness of chocolate, giving this brew a complex full-body taste with a velvety finish.
Tettnang-Tettnanger and Spalt hops were hand-selected from the world’s oldest growing area and combined with a complex selection of malts including two-row Pale, Munich and Caramel to create a rich and satisfying brew. This dark beer has a big, malty character that is combined with the subtle sweetness of chocolate. Samuel Adams® Chocolate Bock was aged on a bed of cocoa nibs to create its unique layers of flavor. As the beer matured, the fruity, tart, earthy and chocolate aromas were released into the liquid to give the brew a complex, full -bodied taste with a velvety finish. A hint of vanilla was added to meld the symphony of flavors together.
Now see, wasn't that better and fancier than I could do? It makes it almost worth the $15 I paid for the bottle. Anyways, I decided Christmas Eve, while my wife and I were setting out my daughters presents, was a perfect time to drink this beer. Ok, it's true, my wife put out the presents and I drank beer and watched. On to the review!
Brewery: Sam Adams Brewery
Beer: Chocolate Bock
Style: Bock
ABV: 5.6%
Recommended Glassware: Flute, Pilsner, Mug or Stange
Serving Type: Sam Adams Glass
Appearance: This beer poured a dark, black with a nice fluffy tan head.
Smell: More cocoa-ish than chocolate. Some roasted malts. Not much else going on.
Taste: Small hints of cocoa. Lots of roasted malt flavors with hints of fruits. Again, as in the aroma not a whole lot going on.
Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium carbonation.
Overall: Overall not a bad beer but certainly not worth the $14.75 I paid for it either. The beer was an average beer at an above average price.
Score:
3 out of 5 Buddhas
2 comments:
Funny, I did the same thing on Christmas Eve with the same beer. Like you said, there is a lot of hype around this beer. I think the hype made the experience less than expected along with the heafty price tag. I enjoyed the beer and I think they did a good job with it. In my opinion, the chocolate smell was more intense than the taste. I also was surprised by the body. Thought it would be thicker. It was an enjoyable beer and I have a cool bottle for some home brew.
re my thoughts exactly. A pretty good beer, but no where near worth that price. I was expecting a meaty bock with some hearty chocolate flavors. Sadly, neither of those two things were to found in that bottle.
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