Winter Bock - Frankenmuth Brewery

Lillenk

Michigan

3.85/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had on tap at Grill One Eleven.

Appearnce is very dark brown with a cream head.

Smell was good. Lots of malts with some hops coming through also.

Taste was nice. Winter is my least favorite time for beer but this one worked well. Enough hops to balance out the malts.

Mouthfeel was alright and for a winter beer way easier to drink than I was expecting.

Serving type: on-tap

01-01-2011 23:12:46 | More by Lillenk

GRPunk

Michigan

3.48/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Twist top bottle into a mug.

A- Clean, copper body sports moderate-heavy carbonation. A normal pour creates a 1-1/2 finger, fizzy tan head. Hard drops a little quickly and leaves little lacing. Nice body otherwise.

S- malty at first. Caramel or English toffee. Significant hopping. Almost woody. More brown sugar and some baking spice comes out with a little warmth.

T- Quite malty. I expected a bit more punch at the higher end of the traditional bock ABV strength. Fairly rich. Hops add a spicy zing and keep the rich malts in check. It's growing on me halfway into my glass.

M- a little thinner than first expected. Clean. Moderate-heavy carbonation. A bit sticky in the end.

O- Heightened expectations aside, I'll keep it in perspective and call it a pretty good standard bock beer. At 7% ABV I thought it would be more robust. Still, a nice treat on a cold winter day.

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2013 18:59:39 | More by GRPunk

FanofHefe

Illinois

3.45/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served on-tap in a pint glass at Tony Saccos pizza. Hazy brown body with a small off-white creamy head. Very little retention and lacing.

Very little going on in the aroma. Faint notes of malt and molasses.

A little better on the flavors. Clean malty flavors up front and a slight hop note on the end. Some sweet caramel and brown sugar mix in as well.

Pretty smooth mouthfeel that is fairly highly carbonated. Not a superb beer but passable as a winter offering. Some tinkering with the recipe could step this up a few notches.

Serving type: on-tap

04-13-2011 21:48:50 | More by FanofHefe

SportsandJorts

Michigan

2.9/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass

appearance- deep red almost mahogany. thick off white head that slowly faded.

smell- caramel malts and a little bit of fruit.

taste- sweet, too sweet, caramel malts and maybe a little bit of fruity sweetness. i really enjoyed the first sip but the sweetness was way too overpowering.

mouthfeel- lighter body and medium carbonation

overall- the smell and first sip of this beer had me wanting more but the sweetness quickly took over and as the beer warmed even slightly, it was on a shelf not refrigerated, the sweetness became too much for me.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2013 05:01:36 | More by SportsandJorts

StoutHunter

Michigan

2.5/5  rDev -30%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

I picked up a bottle of Frankenmuth's Winter Bock a couple days ago for $1.59 at The Lager Mill. I was in the mood for a good bock so I decided to give this beer a try, so lets see how it goes. No visible bottling date, but I know it's fresh since the store just got them in. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a imperial pint glass.

A- The label looks ok and is a little plain but it still manages to throw in a little picture of a goats head, whats with goats and bocks? It poured a nice looking copper brown color that turned to a nice copper ruby red color when held to the light. It had a finger and a half worth of slightly off white head that died down to a thin ring which eventually faded to nothing. This beer looked good, I liked the color.

S- The aroma is very simple and straight forward, it starts off with loads of malts that have a medium sweetness and impart some grainy, caramel, molasses, and a slight nutty aroma. There was also a slight amount of earthy and grassy hops that showed up towards the end. The aroma isn't bad it's just pretty plain and boring with not a lot going on.

T- The flavor is pretty similar to the aroma and is even more plain and sweet. The first thing I pick up is loads of very sweet malts that impart a light caramel and grain taste that seems to be overpowered by the high sweetness. There might have been a little grassy hops but it seemed like the sweetness overpowered that too. The finish had a low amount of bitterness with a sweet and grainy aftertaste. I was pretty unimpressed with the flavor of this beer it was boring and way too sweet.

M- Smooth, a little cloying, on the light side of being medium bodied, with a low amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel seems to be pretty average.

Overall I was pretty unimpressed with this beer and I thought that it was not a very good Bock. The malt flavor wasn't bad it just wasn't as good as it could be and there were barely any noticeable hops combined with the high amount of sweetness made for a pretty sweet and lackluster bock. This beer didn't have good drinkability, the high amount of sweetness and lack of flavor didn't help, it was a little hard to finish this beer, there is no way I would want another. What I liked most about this beer was the appearance, it did look nice. What I liked least about this beer was the lack of flavor and aroma and the high amount of sweetness, the sweetness really hurts this beer. I wouldn't buy this beer again, it's not hard to find a much better Bock. I don't recommend this beer, it's too sweet and boring. I really wasn't a fan of this beer which only further reinforces the fact that I think this brewery can be pretty hit or miss, their Dunkle and Cass River Blonde are solid but I have been unimpressed with everything else I have tried from this them. This beer is up there as one of my least favorite bocks, the only thing worse then an overly sweet Bock is an overly boozy and sweet bock. I am still down to try some of their other beers but this one turned out to be a let down.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2012 03:44:20 | More by StoutHunter