In honor of this weekend's Bockfest I knew I had to review a Bock. A staple of Cincinnati's German beer heritage and my favorite lager variety hands down. A lot has been made of Yuengling finally coming to Ohio, and that once you could get it without crossing state lines if the sort of mystique that it had would be lost. And to an extent I think it has been. I haven't bought that much Traditional Lager or Black and Tan since it's come to Ohio. At the same time however, it's a welcome addition to the beer aisle, and a great inexpensive option. While I haven't bought a lot of Yuengling's flagship beers when I saw a sixer of their bock on the shelves had to give it a try. To the beer!
The Yuengling Bock pours a crystal clear deep red in color with a finger of off white head that receded pretty quickly.
The aromas are predominantly of caramel. There are some biscuity malty notes as well as some slight oily hop notes.
The Bock has a fairly light body with a nice creaminess. The caramel notes in the aroma return here. The caramel is the predominant flavor with some slight toffee notes and hop spiciness. This is a very clean crisp beer with a slightly sweet finish. A pretty decent hop presence stands up nicely to the malt and gives the beer a nice crispness.
I enjoy bocks so much because they are big malty hearty beers. Perfectly suited for this late winter early spring time of year. Yuengling's offering falls a bit short of it's competitors. Those big malty flavors just aren't there, it's kind of one note. Don't get me wrong, it's an enjoyable beer and you absolutely can't beat the price. But it's ultimately a forgettable beer. If you must have a bock this weekend in celebration of Bockfest you'd be better served going with a Moerlein Emancipator.
Also, one more note today. Happy birthday to my brother (and loyal reader) Cart! Hope you have a great day! I love you, brother!
HD
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