Winter Bock

Evening tasting with home made sweet potato fries baked with cinnamon, chili powder, cayenne pepper and salt all while glazed with olive oil (tasting preceded the meal, no worries). Thanks to Lucas Westblade for hauling this Craft Pack all the way from Michigan.

Appearance: Color is very rich and that of a rich brown mahogany. Very thin layer of bubbles make up the head. Visible but tiny carbonation bubbles, and this beer is very clear. There is a touch of red to this beers color.

Aroma: A little bit on the sweet side, lots of caramelized malt make up a majority of the aroma. Some sort of dark fruit could contribute to the overwhelming sweetness.

Taste: There are definitely flavors of roasted malt but surprisingly take a back seat to a slightly sour fruitiness produced by the dark fruit thrown into the batch. Nut skins/tannins emerge in the by the finish, rounding out the beer with a bitterness that tries to suppress the sourness. Caramel develops into a dominant flavor by mid glass along with the remaining toasted characters. Quite similar to a basic brown ale but with a more tart and fruity profile. Little profile related to most bocks, but was still able to retain that lager crispness and yeast like character.
Mouthfeel: Medium body and the carbonation is not too overpowering. I actually find it quite nice. However there is a very interesting aftertaste that resonates in the mouth and sticks around long after the beer is finished.
Overall Impression: I thought this beer was just OK. I wonder if the sourness I tasted in the beer was supposed to be there or was it a bad batch? Some funk that was a little deterring from the beer.