Beer of the Weekend #202: Anchor Bock Beer
Tonight is a Shoveling Special version of BotW.
My chest and arms have ached all day, and I was looking forward to the prospect of not shoveling another flake of snow for at least one day. (Flurries are forecast tomorrow.) However, I got a call from Mervgotti: he needed help digging his car out.
Overwhelmed by the amount piled up in the 1012 parking lot, he had his dad (also his boss) take him to work, so I drove to the Pabst Mecca and picked him up around six o’clock. I walked into the warehouse to find Papa Mervgotti and a bunch of his buddies chatting and drinking product — a kind of beer klatch, if you will.
In preparation for last Friday’s BotW, I checked out the webpage for Anchor’s bock beer, a seasonal brew available from January to April. I asked Mervgotti if they planned to distribute any and he did not know. He apparently told his old man about it, and a couple cases arrived in a shipment today. So tonight, during my time participating in the Thursday beer klatch, Papa Merv gave me two bottles of Anchor Bock Beer, brewed by the Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco, California.
After all this shoveling, I deserve a couple beers.
Serving type: Two 12-ounce bottles. The freshness code “ODJ” on the back label decodes to a December 10, 2010 bottling date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a becker glass. The color is a ruby brown. Three fingers of thick, tan head develop and dissipate slowly and leave a lacing along the glass and foamy ring around the edge.
Smell: A very enticing blend of slightly toasted and sweet malts. There’s a little bit of chocolate, a little bit of caramel, and maybe a hint of coffee. A butterscotch aroma seems to be the backbone, though, which gives the smell a lot of its sweetness. I get a little brown sugar scent, too, as well as some dark fruit, probably plum.
Taste: It almost mirrors the smell, but the taste is much toastier and bitter, especially the caramel malts. The toasted caramel is most prominent, and it is followed by a slight hint of toasted chocolate. The butterscotch is also present, though in varying degrees from sip to sip it seems. One sip is bitterer, and another sip is sweeter. Each sip, though, leaves a nice, lingering bitterness in the back of the mouth. The dark fruit from the smell is also present in the taste, providing a slight tartness, which becomes more prevalent as the pint wants.
Drinkability: Incredible stuff. God, I hope Anchor’s shameful corporate sellout does not ruin its ability to make awesome beer. It has not yet, and let’s hope it does not.
Fun facts about Anchor Bock Beer:
-Style: Bock. Here are the details from BA:
-Price: No clue. I didn’t buy it, but I assume it will be somewhere in the $9/sixer range at John’s Grocery.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends German cuisine, earthy cheeses (Camembert, Fontina), chocolate, and game meat.
-Anchor Bock Beer was first brewed and bottled in 2005.
-BA co-founder Jason Alström (one of “The Bros”) picked Millstream’s Schokolade Bock has his ideal bock. Way to go, Millstream.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
My chest and arms have ached all day, and I was looking forward to the prospect of not shoveling another flake of snow for at least one day. (Flurries are forecast tomorrow.) However, I got a call from Mervgotti: he needed help digging his car out.
Overwhelmed by the amount piled up in the 1012 parking lot, he had his dad (also his boss) take him to work, so I drove to the Pabst Mecca and picked him up around six o’clock. I walked into the warehouse to find Papa Mervgotti and a bunch of his buddies chatting and drinking product — a kind of beer klatch, if you will.
In preparation for last Friday’s BotW, I checked out the webpage for Anchor’s bock beer, a seasonal brew available from January to April. I asked Mervgotti if they planned to distribute any and he did not know. He apparently told his old man about it, and a couple cases arrived in a shipment today. So tonight, during my time participating in the Thursday beer klatch, Papa Merv gave me two bottles of Anchor Bock Beer, brewed by the Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco, California.
After all this shoveling, I deserve a couple beers.
Serving type: Two 12-ounce bottles. The freshness code “ODJ” on the back label decodes to a December 10, 2010 bottling date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a becker glass. The color is a ruby brown. Three fingers of thick, tan head develop and dissipate slowly and leave a lacing along the glass and foamy ring around the edge.
Smell: A very enticing blend of slightly toasted and sweet malts. There’s a little bit of chocolate, a little bit of caramel, and maybe a hint of coffee. A butterscotch aroma seems to be the backbone, though, which gives the smell a lot of its sweetness. I get a little brown sugar scent, too, as well as some dark fruit, probably plum.
Taste: It almost mirrors the smell, but the taste is much toastier and bitter, especially the caramel malts. The toasted caramel is most prominent, and it is followed by a slight hint of toasted chocolate. The butterscotch is also present, though in varying degrees from sip to sip it seems. One sip is bitterer, and another sip is sweeter. Each sip, though, leaves a nice, lingering bitterness in the back of the mouth. The dark fruit from the smell is also present in the taste, providing a slight tartness, which becomes more prevalent as the pint wants.
Drinkability: Incredible stuff. God, I hope Anchor’s shameful corporate sellout does not ruin its ability to make awesome beer. It has not yet, and let’s hope it does not.
Fun facts about Anchor Bock Beer:
-Style: Bock. Here are the details from BA:
The origins of Bock beer are quite uncharted. Back in medieval days German monasteries would brew a strong beer for sustenance during their Lenten fasts. Some believe the name Bock came from the shortening of Einbeck thus "beck" to "bock." Others believe it is more of a pagan or old world influence that the beer was only to be brewed during the sign of the Capricorn goat, hence the goat being associated with Bock beers. Basically, this beer was a symbol of better times to come and moving away from winter.
As for the beer itself in modern day, it is a bottom fermenting lager that generally takes extra months of lagering (cold storage) to smooth out such a strong brew. Bock beer in general is stronger than your typical lager, more of a robust malt character with a dark amber to brown hue. Hop bitterness can be assertive enough to balance though must not get in the way of the malt flavor, most are only lightly hopped.
-Price: No clue. I didn’t buy it, but I assume it will be somewhere in the $9/sixer range at John’s Grocery.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends German cuisine, earthy cheeses (Camembert, Fontina), chocolate, and game meat.
-Anchor Bock Beer was first brewed and bottled in 2005.
-BA co-founder Jason Alström (one of “The Bros”) picked Millstream’s Schokolade Bock has his ideal bock. Way to go, Millstream.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
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