Rye Bock Lager
Left Hand Brewing Company

Rye Bock LagerRye Bock Lager
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From:
Left Hand Brewing Company
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
Doppelbock
ABV:
7.6%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.95 | pDev: 7.59%
Reviews:
54
Ratings:
63
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Oct 27, 2014
Added:
Mar 05, 2007
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3.75 by Hellpop65 from Kansas

Oct 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by jaydoc from Kansas

Dec 14, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by mpayne5 from Indiana

Jul 13, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by mwz5021 from Pennsylvania

Jun 06, 2013
 
Rated: 4.75 by Josievan from Iowa

Jun 25, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by buckyp from South Carolina

Mar 30, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by Tyrawlings from Ohio

Feb 12, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by jophish17 from Georgia

Dec 24, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by djrn2 from New Jersey

Dec 12, 2011
Photo of vfgccp
Reviewed by vfgccp from New York

3.85/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
A – Great dark amber body with an off-white head that sits low, but hangs with a nice retention and lace.

S – Untoasted brazil nuts with light raisin and brown sugar.

T – Faint hazelnut with bready malt and with rolling notes of brown sugar, maple. Deeper in the profile the nutty flavors take center stage and drive a lightly sweet, roasted nut backend.

M – Touch of booze and rolling roast finish. Medium body. Touch watery at times.

O – While it's not a spectacular doppelbock, it’s not a bad beer. I definately enjoyed it.
May 09, 2011
Photo of SkeeterHawk
Reviewed by SkeeterHawk from Texas

3.9/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
I picked this beer up today at the recommendation of the guy at Hop City in Atlanta. I am not normally too big on Rye beers, but I really like DoppelBocks. Left Hand also brews some pretty good beer, so let's see what the Hop City guy knows about Rye Bocks:

Appearance: A bold pop from the cork when opened. The beer poured a pretty cloudy burnt orange color with a small head of tannish bubbles. There are quite a few bubbles rising as you can see from the active little islands on top of the beer.

Aroma: Man, the Rye is absolutely obvious in this beer! There is no doubt it is a Rye beer. Otherwise, I get some sweet caramel and some reserved toasty notes. Other than that...the Rye is king. No hops or anything else going on in the nose. As the beer is warming, the Rye is starting to soften up some, but there is some oxidation starting to show up. This isn't bad, but notable.

Taste: The flavor isn't dominated by the Rye as the aroma was. It is still a huge player, but there are other malty components co-existing with the Rye. There are sweet caramel and some toasty notes and bread crusts. The sweet malt and Rye are mixing together in the flavor to come across to me a bit like soggy bread...I don't know what that is, but that is what I think when I am drinking it. Overall the body is medium to full with a little bit of velvet in the mouthfeel which is nice. There is lots more caramel noticeable in the finish as the beer is warming up. After a few ounces, I am starting to get a little warmer, so the alcohol is reserved, but definitely present. The caramel and other notes are becoming a lot bigger player as the beer warms up further. There is some significant caramel coming out at the beer warms up further.

Opinion: This is a pretty good beer overall. I was quite concerned from the aroma at first, but as the beer sat and stabilized and warmed up, it redeemed itself. I guess all things considered, this is probably the best Rye beer that I have tried to date, so it is among about 10 or more. That said, I am not sure if I would try this beer again, but I am glad that I did. If you really like Rye, by all means, try this beer if you can find it. Otherwise, check it out if it is convenient.
Mar 17, 2011
Photo of claspada
Reviewed by claspada from New Jersey

3.85/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Aromas of toasted malt and toffee, initially, followed by some figgy/date notes. Not picking up any rye of hops and wouldn't expect to on the hops since this is from 2008.
Taste follows the nose with excellent bock characteristics. Bready, doughy, toasted caramel malts, with sweet toffee to add a slight bit of bitterness. Could also come from the rye malt as well. Dark fruits really explode on the backend here; mouthfeel is slightly slick and sweet but the lager yeast helps to allow this to finish somewhat dry. No alcohol detectable at all. Overall a very good example of a doppelbock, not too thick or malty or yeasty (banana/clovey) at all, with I had sampled sometime closer to bottling so I could get more of the rye maltiness that I have come to enjoy a lot recently.
Feb 21, 2011
Photo of JMforman
Reviewed by JMforman from Tennessee

4.18/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A- Cloudy and deep amber with a nice fluffy head that settled down into very nice lacing. Not totally sure though, because its kind of dark in here. Oh well.

S- Buttery with cherries, bread, and toasted malt

T- Buttery in the taste as well with chocolate, cherries, caramel, toasty biscuit (try to say that and still sound manly), and some rye on the tail end. The rye gives it a nice slightly bitter finish. Very nice.

M- Medium and creamy.

D- Quite drinkable
Jan 17, 2011
Photo of Amalak
Reviewed by Amalak from New York

3.9/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
I had this out of a bottle that was corked and aged for three years.
A- It was very bubbly, with a good head a excellent lacing. Reddish brown in color. Relatively clear.
S- Very nice malt scent.
T- It has a very sweet malt taste and its quite carbonated. It has a very slight bitter, sourness to it. It leaves a dry taste.
Dec 23, 2009
Photo of tigg924
Reviewed by tigg924 from Massachusetts

3.95/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
2008 version

Appearance: tan in color, huge 1 inch head, clear, high carbonation

Smell: toasted malt, rye, and cherry

Taste: toasted malt, toffee, cherry and rye in the background that starts in the middle and lasts to the finish

Mouthfeel: sharp, very high carbonation, sweet start that gets slightly bitter in the middle as the rye starts in, and finishes sweet, medium bodied

Drinkability: I like rye beers and here the rye makes its presence known especially at the end. I will look for another bomber of this. It has the malty sweet edge that most Left hand brews have. I like the slight taste of fruit. A really interesting beer.
Nov 02, 2009
Photo of silentjay
Reviewed by silentjay from Massachusetts

3.22/5  rDev -18.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
750ml bottle which was bottle conditioned in 2008.
pours a reddish-brown which you can barely see through. generous head, over 1" on the first pour. good looking brew!

The smell is kind of off-putting. I have had this beer before over a year ago on tap a few times. I remember really enjoying it, but never noted this. It smells like a skunky lager. Like a Corona with no lime left in the sun for a couple hours.

The taste is much better than the smell. The first sip shows off the malt. Smooth and caramelized. Not as much of the dry rye finish that I remember and expect on a beer with rye malts, though its not overly sweet like a lot of doppelbocks, so the dry, peppery rye helps to balance the barley. Hops show themselves subtly. As it warms, chocolate is picked up, though it shows on the tongue, rather than in the aftertaste like a chocolate stout or porter. The aftertaste is of caramel.

Mouthfeel is excellent. Bottle-conditioning is apparent and well done. Velvety on the tongue.

Drinkability is good. Not wowed by the beer, but before I notice the bottle is empty.

Not a fan of Bocks normally, though I do like Rye beers, so this balances out to a very decent beer for my tastes. From what i remember, it had a more pronounced rye finish on tap which I would have enjoyed a bit more. Don't know if that is due to bottle conditioning, freshness, or just my memory being inaccurate.
Sep 26, 2009
Photo of grayburn
Reviewed by grayburn from South Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
The beer pours a dark reddish brown into the glass with a big bubbly head shaded tan that fades into a well-lacing ring after a short while.

The smell and taste are both somewhat subdued in this beer, but the characteristics of both are exactly what was expected. The pepper from the rye really melds together with the bock sweetness to create an excellent smelling and tasting beer.

The mouthfeel and drinkability are the definite superstars in this brew, just enough body to carry the abv, which seems much lower than it is...insanely drinkable, excellent beer.
Jul 27, 2009
Photo of mcsquint
Reviewed by mcsquint from Missouri

4.05/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
2008 batch. Poured from 750 ml bottle into dimpled mug:
A - Dark copper in color with tinges of red when held up to the light. Huge tan head that lasts a good while leaving fairly thick lacing.
S - Milky chocolate, toasty rye, grassy hops.
T - Malty flavor with notes of milk chocolate, rye followed by grassy hops.
M - Medium to full mouthfeel. Subtle carbonation. Lingers for some time.
D - This is much bigger than I expected. Very tasty. The fullness of flavor covers the 7.7% ABV quite nicely. For me, it's definitely not a session beer; but is worth a try.
Jul 11, 2009
Photo of Pencible
Reviewed by Pencible from Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
2007 vintage. This poured a clear dark copper with lots of tan head. It smelled like sweet milk chocolate powder and spicy rye and caramel, with some bready yeast. It tasted like roasted rye and milk chocolate malts with sweet caramel and some bready yeast, along with a bit of lemon hops. It was slightly thick with some smooth carbonation, and a bitter aftertaste. Overall this was a very well constructed and tasty beer! It had a clean and distinct rye taste with lots of other nice malts too. It had great bottle conditioned body too. It hid the alcohol well and was easy to drink. I'm curious how this tastes fresh, but at 2 years it was very enjoyable!
Jun 12, 2009
Photo of HiAIPA
Reviewed by HiAIPA from Maine

3.95/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
SErved from bomber with cage/cork. Popped to champagne like bubbly explosion. Sweet nose of rye and malt. Poured a toffee brown. Light and sweet, but not overpowering with the malt. I'm not a bock fan but the rye/lager combination piqued my interest. Overall good.
Jun 04, 2009
Rye Bock Lager from Left Hand Brewing Company
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 63 ratings