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Bock Beer
Anchor Brewing Company
- From:
- Anchor Brewing Company
- California, United States
- Style:
- Bock
- ABV:
- 5.5%
- Score:
- 83
- Avg:
- 3.65 | pDev: 13.97%
- Reviews:
- 577
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Nov 08, 2023
- Added:
- May 26, 2005
- Wants:
- 33
- Gots:
- 37
The dark, satiny texture, with its rich hints of chocolate, caramel and roasted barley, is our interpretation of the historically strong German beers that signal the coming of spring.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by orbitalr0x:
Reviewed by orbitalr0x from Illinois
4.02/5 rDev +10.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
4.02/5 rDev +10.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
The Anchor Bock pours from the 22oz bottle a deep chestnut brown with a nice half inch of foamy khaki head atop the brew. When held up to the light the deep blood red streaks shine through. Aromas of deep roasted dark & chocolate malts with a strong dark fruit aroma. Black cherries mix with raisins, molasses and a touch of caramel. A tad bit burnt with hops chilling in the background. Nice!
First sip brings a nice, slightly sweet roasted malt upfront Notes of chocolate, dark fruits and burnt toast emerge. There's some raisins and molasses in the middle. Toasted toffee finish with only a touch of hops and a dry grain husk aftertaste. Malty madness all the way that's really quite tasty.
Mouthfeel is smooth and medium bodied with a slight creaminess and good carbonation. Fills the mouth nicely and satisfies the beer craving without incident. This is a bock I'd look for more often if it was available. Hopefully Anchor will put this out again with wider distribution. Another feather in the cap of one of the original microbrewers! Thanks to irishsnake for the opportunity!
Feb 09, 2006First sip brings a nice, slightly sweet roasted malt upfront Notes of chocolate, dark fruits and burnt toast emerge. There's some raisins and molasses in the middle. Toasted toffee finish with only a touch of hops and a dry grain husk aftertaste. Malty madness all the way that's really quite tasty.
Mouthfeel is smooth and medium bodied with a slight creaminess and good carbonation. Fills the mouth nicely and satisfies the beer craving without incident. This is a bock I'd look for more often if it was available. Hopefully Anchor will put this out again with wider distribution. Another feather in the cap of one of the original microbrewers! Thanks to irishsnake for the opportunity!
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho
3.69/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.69/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Nice sweet bock, dark and roasty with a hint of molasses sweetness. Dark brown with small foamy beige head. Aroma is sweet (dried fruit)with taste bringing in some roast grain bitterness. Finish is some lingering bitterness. Nicely done, Anchor!
Nov 08, 2023Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway
3.72/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.72/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
355 ml bottle, from the foreign beer bar at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 5.5%. Mahogany to dark ruby colour, big beige head. Malty aroma with notes of Schwarzbrot and caramel. The flavour is also very malty with notes of caramel and brown bread, very moderate hops. Nice enough to drink.
Jul 19, 2022Reviewed by Lone_Freighter from Vermont
3.75/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured into a lager glass, the appearance was a fairly dark red close to brown color with a finger and a half's worth of white foamy head that slid off at a moderate pace. Light stringy sliding lace.
The aroma had some dark breads, light cocoa powder, a whiff of semi-sweet grassy tones, and a touch of dark fruits.
The flavor presented some of those prior mentioned aromas sweetly and left out the grassiness. Mild dark fruit to dark bready aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was almost medium bodied, seemingly sitting just a touch under and having a pretty good sessionability about it. Carbonation felt fine. ABV felt good. Mild dark bready finish.
Overall, pretty good bock worthy of having again.
Aug 03, 2017The aroma had some dark breads, light cocoa powder, a whiff of semi-sweet grassy tones, and a touch of dark fruits.
The flavor presented some of those prior mentioned aromas sweetly and left out the grassiness. Mild dark fruit to dark bready aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was almost medium bodied, seemingly sitting just a touch under and having a pretty good sessionability about it. Carbonation felt fine. ABV felt good. Mild dark bready finish.
Overall, pretty good bock worthy of having again.
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada
3.5/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.5/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pulls out the brown and red notes into this one. Almost a mild cocao like aroma. Impressive retention that starts at 3/4" and does well in the lace department.
Taste pulled some coffee notes out of the malt, a little bitterness, hops, sweetness. A little bit of everything here. Reminiscient of the Anchor xmas series of beers.
Apr 16, 2016Taste pulled some coffee notes out of the malt, a little bitterness, hops, sweetness. A little bit of everything here. Reminiscient of the Anchor xmas series of beers.
Reviewed by Karibourgeois from Texas
3.5/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.5/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Dark brownish pour with a tan one-finger head. Sweet aroma of malt and dark fruit. Taste follows the nose pretty well with sweet malt and some raisin and prune flavors upfront. Slight hint of wood and light grassy hops as well. Medium bodied and carbonated. Finishes with a lingering dark fruit taste.
Dec 25, 2015Reviewed by Jeffreysan from Virginia
3.88/5 rDev +6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.88/5 rDev +6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
22 oz bottle, poured into a pint glass
Appearance: Pours a beautiful, completely opaque, pitch-black color with a half of a finger of caramel-colored head that quickly dissolved away into a thin lacing of foam that completely covered the top of the beer.
Aroma: Nice aromas of bready, toasted malt, imparting notes of freshly baked pretzels, and dark bread. There are also strong notes of brown sugar, a touch of vinegar and licorice, black pepper, and floral, grassy, piney and slightly citrusy hops.
Taste: Pretty nice. Lots of bready, toasted malt and brown sugar-like sweetness up front, followed by some black pepper, again, a touch of slightly sour vinegar (not sure if what that is from) and finished with a touch of floral, grassy, piney, hops.
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and pretty smooth as there is very little in the way of carbonation. With an ABV of 5.5%, there is no alcohol on the palate.
Overall: This is a nice bock beer, not one of the best I’ve had, but still nice. It’s a shame that Anchor has decided to discontinue it, as there aren’t enough bock beers being brewed here in America, in my opinion. Bock beers are a very underappreciated and underserved style and with Anchor discontinuing this one, we’re losing a good one.
Jun 20, 2015Appearance: Pours a beautiful, completely opaque, pitch-black color with a half of a finger of caramel-colored head that quickly dissolved away into a thin lacing of foam that completely covered the top of the beer.
Aroma: Nice aromas of bready, toasted malt, imparting notes of freshly baked pretzels, and dark bread. There are also strong notes of brown sugar, a touch of vinegar and licorice, black pepper, and floral, grassy, piney and slightly citrusy hops.
Taste: Pretty nice. Lots of bready, toasted malt and brown sugar-like sweetness up front, followed by some black pepper, again, a touch of slightly sour vinegar (not sure if what that is from) and finished with a touch of floral, grassy, piney, hops.
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and pretty smooth as there is very little in the way of carbonation. With an ABV of 5.5%, there is no alcohol on the palate.
Overall: This is a nice bock beer, not one of the best I’ve had, but still nice. It’s a shame that Anchor has decided to discontinue it, as there aren’t enough bock beers being brewed here in America, in my opinion. Bock beers are a very underappreciated and underserved style and with Anchor discontinuing this one, we’re losing a good one.
Bock Beer from Anchor Brewing Company
Beer rating:
83 out of
100 with
994 ratings
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