Middle of the Week Review: Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock
Categories: American Beer, Cigars and beer, Middle of the week Review, beer ingredients, beer reviews
Written By: beer_scientist
Last night I drank this beer that I’ve not had for about 4 years. I remembered really enjoying it at the time, especially with a friend and some Davidoff cigars. It went excellently with those smokes.
Samuel Adam’s Chocolate Bock is considered one of their extreme beers, if you look at their website. They have four “extreme” beers: Chocolate Bock, Millennium, Triple Bock and Utopias (the strongest and most expensive beer in the world). While the Utopias and company are more extreme, this one is not so much extreme as it is extremely good.
The pour: There was a fair amount of carbonation in the brew with fair head retention. It had a deep brown color with touches of Crimson. The beer looked almost as smooth in the glass as it did in the bottle. By the way, the label on the bottle might be the most beautiful on earth. It’s pewter and almost rococo label speaks to its cocoa beauty inside. The bottle and look of the beer is truly an achievement in of itself.
The aroma of the beer was floral and simply popped. Chocolate, roasted grains, and yeast were prevalent.
The taste of the beer is really the awesome part of the brew. Since this Chocolate Bock is put on top of cocoa, it has obvious chocolate notes. There is more of a good deep dark chocolate taste and bitterness than other types of chocolate. Yet, the beer is extremely smooth and imminently drinkable. A slight sweetness in the beer is complemented by its ending dryness. Roastiness, a slight smokiness, and nutty qualities are also in abundance here. I also caught what I can only describe as the aftertaste of un-buttered popcorn in the brew. Call me crazy but its there.
All in all this is a magnificent brew. Do yourself a favor and try it.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I’ve been dying to try some of these beers, but for the life of me I have not found them anyplace!
December 5th, 2008 at 3:31 am
Scott,
I’m sorry that you’ve not been able to find these beers. We really want to create a desire for these beers that can actually be fulfilled. I know that it is not comforting right now, but If you travel you might be able to pick these up at some point. I imagine if we were located in different states (not Indiana and Ohio, respectively), we might have a very different beer selection that would sadden others. I guess one subtle goal of the site is to get people asking their local stores to get more beer, thus getting good beer in more places. If you want, find some beers that you’ve been wanting to try and post them here for us to try. We can see if we can get them and then review them here. I know you must have some stuff there that we are missing out on. I really do wish that you hadn’t missed out on some of these beers.
December 5th, 2008 at 3:33 am
By the way, I like your site!
December 5th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Here in Jersey, I see Sam Adams all over - I think I will take your advice and ASK a few of my regular beer places to get some in for me - especially the Chocolate Boch and Triple Boch - which I’ve heard from others are simply wonderful.
BTW, thanks for the compliment - I like your site too! I’ll keep you posted if I get my hand on any of those beers!
December 5th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Please do that. You will be doing yourself a big favor. Those two beers are certainly different ends of the taste spectrum.
December 14th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
OK, so I went out on a mission to find this beer - and I did! Needless to say, yum-yum-yum! When I post my own review soon, I credit you for the inspiration to try it. THANKS!
December 14th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hey man! Credit yourself, too. I’m glad you went on the journey and found this beer.