Roggen Rauch Bock - Craftsman Brewing Co.

Gueuzedude

Arizona

4.45/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Sampled on tap at Lucky Baldwin's March 2007
Pours from the tap with a nice, three-finger thick, tan colored, frothy head. The beer is a lightly hazy, ruby amber color. The aroma is a mix of caramelized beech wood smoke, touches of fruit that just peeks through the dominant smoke character (hints of raisin, and plum are most noticeable) and a tartness that seems to be derived, at least partly from the smoke character.

The taste is sweet, and fruity up front, but most definitely it is quite smoky. In fact it is very smoky, with a chewy, thick, hearty character to it that makes it a joy to sup upon on this cool spring day in LA. Fruity notes of raisin add an interesting character and counterpoint to this beer. Despite the ample smoke character here, this beer is amazingly well balanced; the smoke is not dominating and allows the beer to be surprisingly fruity with lots of sweet malt character.

This is a stellar brew, despite that I am a sucker for Rauchbiers. I will definitely have to give this brew another try.

Serving type: on-tap

04-24-2007 05:38:25 | More by Gueuzedude

Boilermaker88

California

4.08/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: clear coppery hue. Ample carbonation but a modest whitish head and thin tendrils of lace.
Smell: sweetly smoky, with fruity overtones and a slight sour note, probably from the rye.
Taste: quite sweet with a teriyaki-like flavor and subtle smokiness. No, the teriyaki taste doesn't mean soy sauce. It simply has a touch of a meat nuance in the smoke that, once blended with the other malts, really gave it a teriyaki tang. Hops profile is seriously supressed which didn't come as a shock.
Feel: meduim body, lively carbonation, moderate finish.
Drinkability: this really hit the spot for me and I was halfway through the pint before I knew what happened. A nice solid merging of the bock and rauchbier styles. Another quality brew from Craftsman.

Serving type: on-tap

01-02-2007 20:15:24 | More by Boilermaker88

SacoDeToro

California

3.98/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at the 10th Annual San Diego Strong Ale Festival.

The beer poured a nice copper hue with a small white head.

The aroma of the beer was of a nice smoky bbq. Maybe a little smoked bacon in there...

The flavor of the beer was richly malty and smoky with some notes of floral noble hops. The flavors blended together very nicely and the beer seemed very well balanced. Much smoother and cleaner than other bock-based rauchbiers I've had.

The carbonation was just right and the mouthfeel was medium with some creaminess.

A very interesting beer with unique characteristics in the right amounts.

Serving type: on-tap

12-03-2006 05:44:40 | More by SacoDeToro