Archive for February 14th, 2009

• @smashtransistor just recently been really trying IPAs. Some decent ones though I’m still working on my hops love. #
• @smashtransistor the Dark Horse sound great. Mrs. Ohabeer is not a smoked beer fan but I def am. #
• @GoodBeerDrinker definitely going to try the rest of the Shmaltz brews. Had the pomegranite recently and was nicely impressed. #
• @smashtransistor hmmm have to say blueberry and beer sounds dubious but I am working through all of the Shmaltz brews. #
• @smashtransistor I’m currently learning to love the hops. Never really been a big hops guy. Sound interesting tho. #
• @3drx I’m hoping the choc bock gets better with age. It was good but not as good as the much cheaper Ft. Collins Double Choc Stout #
• Having @dogfishbeer Palo Santo Marron. Unlike any brown ale I’ve had. Aged in Paraguayan Palo Santo wood. Caramel vanilla and a bit citrus #
• @food140 slow cooked chili chicken with lime black beans and brown rice. #
• @food140 red onion def sweeter. Will give better flavor. Unless you have vidalia. #
• @food140 god help me that sounds incredible. #
• Ommegang Hennepin while finishing off the cooking of chili chicken w/lime black beans and brown rice. #

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Brewery: Samuel Adams
Location: Boston, MA
Style: Chocolate Bock

I’m a bit late getting around to reviewing this. It was all the rage over the holiday season as the “it” beer of the moment. I decided if so many folks were raving, I had to go out and try it.

Then I saw the price…

$15 per 650ml bottle? REALLY?!?!

Oh yes, there is that pretty pseudo-pewter label. Plus it is a limited edition. According to the Sam Adams’ 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.

Fair enough. Rarefied ingredients. Slow expensive aging process. fine fine. I guess that should be worth $15 per bottle.

But really is is not…

Do not get me wrong. This is a good beer. Just not a $15 beer. Pours a beautiful black with a nice rich head. There is a bit of a chocolate aroma, but not as much as I was hoping for. It is definitely a big beer. Nice strong malt taste with a bittersweet finish. I tasted a bit a chocolate but not as much as I was hoping for. I did notice a strong chocolate flavor developed as the glass progressed perhaps due to warming. Possibly this is a better slightly above room temperature bock.

The 5.5% ABV is not really going to get you anywhere fast – so you are free to have a couple. I split the bottle with Mrs. Ohabeer and she felt it was also lacking a bit in the chocolate department. Especially – as I keep saying – for $15 per bottle. We did discover this goes quite nicely with Cinnamon Tequila Chocolate Balls.

We ended up buying two the day we bought this. Curreently have the second cellaring and may see what comes of it around June or so…