Yuengling Bock - Yuengling Brewery

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.78/5  rDev +11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Reviewed from notes.

Pours a nice moderate brown color with a bit of a tan head. The nose brings a good deal of caramel as well as a bit of toffee and light hops. The taste is confined to caramel and bread, bit is still nice. Medium body with good carbonation. Pretty tasty and a great value.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2010 22:31:32 | More by Thorpe429

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.88/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

6-pack ($5.99) from Bullock's Wine & Spirits in Marietta, Georgia. Yes, an entire six-er!

Appearance: Pours a clear, deep, aged copper body with a froth, incredibly light beige-colored head. Thin spackling of lace on the way down.

Smell: Nose of toasted biscuits and bread backed by some spicy-scented hops and hints of caramel and molasses and dark fruit.

Taste: Malty tastes of biscuits and dark bread with light, sweet flourishes of molasses and dark caramel. Fruit hint of boxed raisins. A spicy, herbaceous hop presence emerges from beneath the sweet maltiness to deliver a bit of balancing bitterness (given a small boost by the relatively crispness of the beer). Sweetish maltiness mingled with the subtly spicy hops on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Medium-plus carbonation.

Drinkability: Apparently, it's been nearly forty long years since ole Yuengling produced a bock. I found it to be not only easily drinkable and reasonably sessionable, but a decent bargain at six bucks a six-er.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2010 21:22:50 | More by ChainGangGuy

BEERchitect

Kentucky

3.45/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A crazy little beer that neither fits its style or any style for that matter, but is a pleasure to drink regardless of its class.

A sweet caramel, malt, and toffee aroma and flavor carries with it a bit of toast or light roast. Smooth malty mouthfeel is a pleasant welcome. American hops give some citrus (grapefruit, pine, and grass) give the beer a pro-bitter balance, pale ale flavor. Both type and intensity is not common for Bocks, neither is the roast. But the beer is flavorful and bold with good textures and an overall favorable beer drinking experience. Maybe an Amber Ale is a better descriptor.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2010 01:18:11 | More by BEERchitect

oberon

North Carolina

3.63/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This "small" bock is really nicely priced,I think a good value.Poured a rich amber with a nice creamy-like one finger head that settled into a creamy mass.Mainly caramel in the nose,slight roast as well.Flavors are caramel accented with some roasted nut notes,a sweetish bready malt flavor comes in as well.Not bad,its modest but decent in my mind.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2010 21:40:37 | More by oberon

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Yuengling Bock

I like the retro style of the label. Very nice. I'm not sure if Yuengling ever made a bock, but I'll assume they did as every brewery used to make one in spring. It was tradition. Quite often it was just their regular beer with a food coloring such as "Porterine" added in, but people thought it was something new and interesting. (I looked it up, yes, the label is original from 1941).

It pours a clear, very deep russet brown colored body beneath a short-lived head of tan foam.

In the nose it's lightly malty with a hint of caramel and toastiness, and some floral character. There's not really much there. There's very little malt considering it's a "bock", and what hops are there are only in the background.

The flavor delivers the same floral and gently toasty & caramelish character found in the nose; and although malt is most certainly present, it's not really sweet, and it doesn't seem "malty", at least not in terms of what you's expect from a bock beer. A firm bitterness balances it, and it finishes dry with some pleasant spicy hops lingering. Some astringency, unfortunately, mars it a bit.

Overall it's a little bit above average (think mass-produced golden lagers), but it's far from a bock. The 5.1% abv excludes that right off the bat with traditional bocks starting at 6.3%. The lack of malt flavor then completely shuts it down. Otherwise they're at least on the right track.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2011 18:01:42 | More by NeroFiddled

TMoney2591

Illinois

2.95/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Served in an Ayinger Celebrator doppelbock glass.

Continuing the bock mini-kick, the Celebrator glass (after a nice rinse) welcomes the characteristic amber brown of the Yuengling Bock. The sweet, caramel- and toffee-loaded nose also reaches par. Things go downhill once the tongue insists on getting involved. Now, call me crazy, but I expected something akin to the nose (and every other bock ever brewed). Unfortunately, what hit me was some strange combination of leather and flat cola. This isn't to say that the brew was flat; indeed, it was not overly effervescent, but carried enough bubbliness to get by. Rather, it had the same flavor that a flat cola would have following about an hour in the car during some sunny July afternoon. Am I a fan? Nope. The rest of the brew worked out fine: a nice, smooth feel with a fairly dry, but still somewhat pleasant finish. If only that unsatisfactory taste hadn't been there...

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2010 03:44:24 | More by TMoney2591

WesWes

New York

3.48/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a translucent brown color with a 1/2" tan head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a dry pilsner and crystal malt scent along with a slightly metallic aroma. The taste is decent as well. It has a bone dry pilsner malt taste with a slight roasted/caramel character. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a medium bodied beer with good carbonation. This is your basic bock beer. It's easy drinking with non-offensive.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2010 19:31:33 | More by WesWes

metter98

New York

3.33/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A: The beer is clear amber in color and has a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a finger high off white head that quickly dissipated into delicate lacing.
S: There are light aromas of dark malts in the nose along with some hints of caramel.
T: The taste is very similar to the smell, except that the flavors are a bit stronger.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied and a bit watery on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The beer is easy to drink, yet it lacks the fuller body of other beers in the style.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2011 00:31:36 | More by metter98

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This is probably my favorite Yuengling release. I'm glad they brought it back from retirement. The first time I had this beer was at the Outback Steakhouse and they had advertisements for it on the tables and it shocked me to see that Yuengling was taking part in a seasonal release. I ordered one right away. It came with a nice tan head capping off a smooth looking brown body. The aroma of malts were the strong point of this brew. It's not the best Bock out there but I just thought it was awesome that they put this out to compete with all the other seasonals out there.

Serving type: on-tap

04-10-2011 04:40:55 | More by Knapp85

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.23/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

This was the best of a bad selection at the local IGA in NC

Pours a chestnut color with with 2 fingers of tan colored head

S: Bready notes, slight fuittyness, some metallic notes once warm

T: Some breadyness, a touch of apricot, herbal & metallic hops up front. A touch more fruittyness, then herbal & metallic hops as this warms. Finishes with apricot, brown bread, a hint of molasess & more metallic hops, the real detractor in this

MF: Okay body, but a touch wateryness creeps once warmish

Drank alright, would take this over say a shiner bock, but still nothing to get worked up about. Drink ice cold for better drinkability IMO

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2010 13:46:50 | More by russpowell

Gavage

New Jersey

3.35/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: dark copper in color with a 1" head that slowly falls to a thick surface foam. Some light lacing develops.

Smell: mild malt sweetness is all you can detect.

Taste: caramel, bready and slightly grainy malt, and a soft bitterness makes up a lighter bock style beer.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied. Lightly crisp to start, smoother towards the finish. Aftertaste is short and bready.

Drinkability: nicely quaffable but more than a few of these may wear thin on you. Worth trying since this seems to a be a one off beer.

Serving type: on-tap

07-24-2009 22:52:50 | More by Gavage

jwc215

New Jersey

3.7/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours reddish/copperish dark amber with a thin head that becomes wispy. Minimal dotted lacing slides down the glass.

The smell is grainy with toffee - slight hint towards chocolate, with an underlying bready and cherry-ish fruity character.

The taste is of caramel/toffee and grainy with bready and cherry-like fruitiness. Sweetish, but not too, with a minerally finish.

It has a medium body with medium, yet sharp (a bit too) carbonation.

An easy-drinking bock with a nice character and relatively mild abv for style.

Serving type: bottle

02-20-2010 04:03:29 | More by jwc215

tempest

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at Liberty St. Tavern for $3. Paired it with the mac & cheese pizza. Yum.

Frankly I'm not surprised, but this turned out to be a very bland beer. It was clean both in that there were clearly no flaws, but that the flavor profile is similar to that of water. There is a pleasant kiss of spicy hops in the aftertaste, but consider that's all my tongue could pick up, the hops are really the only taste. The beer reminds me a bit of bland "spring ales" or a watery copper ale.

Serving type: on-tap

03-15-2009 17:33:59 | More by tempest

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.78/5  rDev +11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on-tap at Ithaca Coffee Co's Green St. location.

A: The bock is a chocolate brown/black color that arrived with no head. A little to brownish to be a cola.

S: The nose is sweet chocolate malt and plenty of cereal grains. A stronger hoppiness keeps the malts in check.

T: Nothing fancy, this lagerbier offers a fuller, richer taste without throwing a lot of alcohol at you. Full, bready malts are heavy on caramel and chocolate, leaving a heavier taste in my mouth. A fresh hoppiness is subtle but present. The house yeast has left a familiar Yuengling fingerprint.

M: Nothing spectacular but a solid bock. The dark malts are bigger (relatively, of course), sustaining a longer, more consistent flavor.

D: A very low alcohol bock, I'd be happy sipping on this on a breezy spring day. Next time, I'll get it locally rather than drive to Ithaca.

Serving type: on-tap

08-03-2009 14:46:42 | More by akorsak

WVbeergeek

Ohio

3.43/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appears a filtered caramel amber hue with a full 2 fingers worth of foam, light khaki head dwindles at a moderate pace leaving scattered lacing to the sides of my glass. The retro Yuengling Bock label was a poster from when the brew was originally released.

Aroma is faint some mild fruitiness and a touch of caramel with light herbal hop accents, it's pretty straight forward. In the background there's some faint metallic slight mineral water notes going on.

Flavor is a balanced maltiness some earthy herbal hops roll in, with sweet caramel and slight tart apple fruit notes. Again the mineral content shines through with some metallic harshness but overall it doesn't get in the way of the overall experience.

Mouthfeel is medium to light bodied with ample carbonation, doesn't seem the most natural but it works for me.

Drinkability overall is solid for what it is, a throwback "bock" beer from Yuengling is a welcome addition to their bottled lineup. I had it on tap last season when they first re released it. A beer that I will definitely enjoy again in the future, it's more interesting than most other macros out there trying to brew something different.

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2010 13:17:27 | More by WVbeergeek

Billolick

New York

3.4/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 ounce bottle, w/o freshness info

The pour is medium amber, darker tan head, with moderate retentive capabilities. Leaves minor and quickly sliding lace.

Sweet malt and a bit of honey on the nose.

Mostly sweet malts again, honey and dark bready qualities. Low to moderate complexity.

Easy drinking brew, decent for a cool fall or winters day. Easily accessable near craft beer that would make sense to introduce to a newbie.

Also would work in a marinade or stew/pot of chili.

Serving type: bottle

09-24-2012 22:09:03 | More by Billolick

weeare138

Pennsylvania

3.13/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

On tap at Goodnight Irene's in North Wildwood...
Appears a transparent, copper toned amber with a small, off white head that leaves whispey traces of lacing left around the glass.
Smell is of sourdough bread, caramel, toffee, toasted nuts, and molasses.
Taste is of the mentioned aromas...dare I say, "too much sourdough tartness?" It reminds me a bit of an Oktoberfest that has had some lactic acid blended before bottling.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, creamy, sweet, a bit tart.
I actually like the idea of Yuengling doing a seasonal selection. It's much overdue. I think this one was a bit off kilter but I think there is a good chance that improvements could be made with this one. I also like the/my idea of a possible "Festbier" from the folks at Yuengling. I believe they could capitalize on that one during the Fall season with their signature lager yeast.

Serving type: on-tap

06-09-2009 20:51:20 | More by weeare138

DoubleJ

California

2.63/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

On-tap at Fox & Hounds, located inside the Desmond Hotel (Malvern, PA). On to the beer:

Dark amber color to light brown. No head on top and lacing is nonexistant. The aroam is weak. Well....the bread crust is there, but what's that in the back, coriandor?!? Very light in the flavor as well. There's a touch of bread crust and a touch of sweet bread. Light and fizzy in the mouth.

This is more Shiner Bock than Anchor Bock overall. You could kick back with this, but you won't get a kick of flavor with this beer.

Serving type: on-tap

08-11-2009 01:51:26 | More by DoubleJ

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.05/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: Burgundy red when backlighted shows a initially strong carbonation that quickly tampers down to a soft flurry. Fluffy beige head is a finger high, short on the hold and shows a light to medium rate of lace coverage.

S: The nose is a bit disappointing, fresh celery leafs, sweet malt, none to fruity, none to enticing, with a low aromatic appeal.

T: The flavor is sweet, a bit fruity of apples and sweetly toasted malt and cereal grains. Low warming of noble flowers, a bit of spicy hops on the close.

M: syrupy, pretty good stickiness and thickness, low level of carbonation.

O: Overall it can hardly compare to an Salvator or other notable bock. Seems to be a tweener and more of an introductory to the yuengling crowd or macro world to the world of bocks. Low alcohol, lack of fruity nature with a macro-infused flavor that lacks depth, substance and seems to trail off and thin out at knockout. Drinkability is low, enjoyment is low and grows tiresome by end of a single serving lacking enthusiasm for another. A c- to c rating is about right here, didn’t offend, yet didn’t offer reason to keep drinking.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2012 23:08:56 | More by beerthulhu

plaid75

New York

4.33/5  rDev +27.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Mr. Beerys in Bethpage, NY.

Poured a medium amber hue with a one finger foamy white head. There was good retention and lacing.

The smell featured a subtly sweet malt and a spicy herbal hop.

The taste consisted of an upfront spicy, almost citric hop, followed by a very nice moderate malt. Very well balanced.

The mouthfeel was toward the cleaner side of the style.

Overall a very tasty and well made bock. Bravo. I look forward to many more of these.

Serving type: on-tap

03-16-2009 19:07:01 | More by plaid75

Cyberkedi

Georgia

3.9/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a dark translucent mahogany with a decent beige head. What I got was not thick, but that is probably an artifact of preparing the pint. Aroma is malty and slightly spicy, not too strong. Flavor is rich, malty and yeasty with woody and toffee hints. Fizzy and lively texture leaves a nice tingle behind.

Serving type: on-tap

02-20-2010 01:33:01 | More by Cyberkedi

ccrida

Oregon

4.08/5  rDev +20%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into the Bock Beer pils/flute, Yuengling Bock is a pale mahogany with a small off-white head leaving light lace.

Smell is sweet, a little caramel, nice fresh bread

Taste is nicely balanced, not as sweet as I expected, nice hop bitterness to temper without tipping to far in the other direction.

Mouthfeel light, dry.

Drinkability is good, tasty bock, full flavor but light and balanced enough to enjoy on a brisk spring day working the yard, or in my case, after.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2012 23:31:09 | More by ccrida

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +25%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A. Poured ontap. The tap handle had an old school Yuengling logo and a goatshead, which is traditionally associated with the bock style. Fluffy pillowy off white head on a brownish malty looking body.

S. Smell is of malts and is inviting but not really strong, I was outside though.

T. Where have you been all my life, BockBier? This is great. Toasted malt sweetness, a bit sugary and bready. Just a touch of hops to balance. Nothing out of place. This is a beer you can live off of.

M. Full bodied and very smooth drinking.

D. Yuengling dials in a winner here. Excellent brew, and better than the rest of the Yuengling line, which is not too shabby. Would buy cases of this.

Serving type: on-tap

03-16-2009 12:00:13 | More by Stinkypuss

beertunes

Washington

3.33/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Yet one more from orcasteve. Poured into 16oz glass. Poured a clean, clear medium brown color with an inch of medium khaki head that had decent retention and lacing.

The aroma was the typical malty sweet scent of the style, but not as sticky smelling as some. The flavors were also fairly typical for this style. Slightly grainy and a touch sweet, there's a touch of hops on the finish.

The body is a bit on the thin side for a bock, I've found most to be a bit chewier. Drinkability was excellent, as this beer is only 5% it's a little lower in ABV than most examples, thus you could drink a bunch of these smooth brews.

Overall, a very nice beer. Nothing special perhaps, but certainly worth a yearly visit.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2010 21:04:09 | More by beertunes

bluejacket74

Ohio

3.48/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 ounce bottle, picked it up for $1.19 as a single. Served in a mug, the brew pours a reddish/amber color with about a 1/4 inch off-white head that went away quickly. Not much lacing. Aroma is sweet and malty, the brew smells like bready malt/grain and caramel. Not much to it, but it's a nice aroma. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's the addition of some apples and nuts. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it has moderate carbonation and it's easy enough to drink. I think it's a decent enough brew, it's worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2012 23:05:48 | More by bluejacket74