Saranac Black Bear Bock - Matt Brewing Company

deltatauhobbit

Maine

3.58/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours a light amber color with a good sized offwhite head, fades at a slow rate and leaves some nice lacing on the glass.

Smell is pretty much all sweet malt with a subtle hint of toffee.

Taste starts out with a sweet malt front, hops are essentially non-existent, toffee is decent and adds a more complex layer, slightly fruity which is odd, carbonation is strong but not overdone, decent creamy body.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2013 21:05:43 | More by deltatauhobbit

FrankShirley

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev 0%

05-02-2013 17:19:31 | More by FrankShirley

OldTime

Georgia

4/5  rDev +14.3%

04-29-2013 18:59:38 | More by OldTime

beergoot

Colorado

3.45/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Nice amber body with a thick, sticky head. Decent caramel malt aroma and flavor; bit of hop bitterness to balance out the malt sweetness; slightly noticeable alcohol warmth. Medium bodied, smooth feel.

Good bock with a nice malt-centric character. Good balance overall. Worth a try...

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2013 00:31:10 | More by beergoot

Mojoman8561

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev 0%

04-21-2013 12:50:07 | More by Mojoman8561

dsshuck

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev 0%

04-04-2013 00:40:22 | More by dsshuck

drt72

Virginia

3/5  rDev -14.3%

03-31-2013 01:24:25 | More by drt72

Chevelle66

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +14.3%

03-26-2013 23:28:04 | More by Chevelle66

UCLABrewN84

California

3.51/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Pours a hazy dark orange with a foamy tan head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of toasted malt, caramel, and some bready aromas. Taste is much the same with a malty flavor on the finish. There is a mild amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with some super malty aromas and flavors.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2013 02:10:29 | More by UCLABrewN84

h4ger

Connecticut

3.25/5  rDev -7.1%

03-23-2013 04:04:34 | More by h4ger

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

3.14/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

Look: Slightly hazed orange with a dense off white foam. Definitely light for a traditional bock, looks decent enough as a beer.

Smell: Sweet bread, apple like fruit and musty yeast.

Taste: Strongly malty, with bread and light cocoa hints. Moderately acidic, grassy, lemony hop adds a layer of bitterness. A touch of mineral and alcohol. Caramelized malt and toffee round out the flavor.

Mouthfeel: On the light side of medium bodied, well carbonated, a bit thin but quite drinkable.

Overall: A mellow, malty offering from Matt's Brewing Co. About average for the style, but drinks easy and makes a worthy component to any sampler pack.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2013 22:08:28 | More by Stinkypuss

ujsplace

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +14.3%

03-17-2013 21:53:23 | More by ujsplace

magine

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev 0%

03-10-2013 02:31:57 | More by magine

BEERchitect

Kentucky

2.95/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Malty-sweet and a with a light peppery tinge- this Saranac bockbier carries a one-dimensional sweetness from the starting gate 'til an extended finish of caramel and nuts. For it to be a bock, it has a lot in common with American amber ales as well.

And like those amber ales, it pours... well, amber of course; albeit on the slightly darker honey side. Bright clarity keeps the beer appealing with those long lager-like cold filtered appearance. Where it struggles to build a head or maintain its longevity, the foam character is slighted and reduces to a necklace to skirt the beer and glittered retention.

Medium intense aromas are heavily reliant on caramel and grain sweetness. Accompanied by tea leaves and freshly torn tobacco leaves offers an earthy counterpart to the caramel, buttered toast and honey. But its the scent of non-descript fruit gives the beer more English roots than German.

In similar fashion, the malt flavors do their part. But instead of the toasty-dry taste of those dark German lagers, the beer is caramel-rich instead. Lacking in complexity or those bock elegances, the caramel is partially balanced with herbal hops, light grass, and alcohol. Light peach, apricot, and apples play along with the more English-like themes and further disconnect from bocks.

Medium bodied from nose to finish, the beer carries an inordinate amount of tacky residual sweetness that plagues its mouthfeel. The prohibited dryness keeps the beer cola-sweet and clings to the teeth with grain sugars and sugary effects. It ignores the rich bock creaminess, its elegant dryness, and its true malt underpinnings.

In the end, there's really no bock here. Its an amber ale that shows only moderate success at that. Anyone looking for a malt-balanced, slightly ambiguous beer may find comfort here, but bock-seekers should keep looking.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2013 05:56:36 | More by BEERchitect

jp312

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +7.1%

02-23-2013 02:14:09 | More by jp312

smakawhat

Maryland

3.69/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a pilsner style glass.

This is one of the nicest looking bocks I have seen. A deep and crystal reddish bronze body, with a soupy and creamy light tan head. It billows up on the pour with a thick 3 fingers deep, and sits with a soapy retention and lace. Body has some cola carbonation stuck to the sides, but slowly dissapears. Body is filled with a mix of small slow rising carbonation, and the occasional fast rising cola bubble. Very very good looking beer.

Light toasty grains hit the nose, with a slight sticky malt. Faint caramel and grass hit a bit in the back with a little bit of spicy sense. Quite solid.

Palate seems to miss some of the bouquets qualities. Hammered down malt, but at least a lengthy sticky yeasty finish. Mouthfeel seems ok to style, but not providing much depth to the beers flavor profile. Clean but a little wet. Sticky malts and yeast travel down the palate with a light grass, but with a dominant yeast profile overtaking. Virtually no caramel sweetness.

Overall it's not a bad brew, but just not that memorable. It's certainly something I could have again and drink, but wouldn't go out of my way to really have again.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2013 20:49:16 | More by smakawhat

bsopko

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -14.3%

02-16-2013 17:39:39 | More by bsopko

mattyrubes

New York

2.75/5  rDev -21.4%

02-10-2013 13:19:13 | More by mattyrubes

sketchyhoodie

New York

4/5  rDev +14.3%

02-10-2013 04:39:02 | More by sketchyhoodie

Utica_Brew_Review

New York

3.5/5  rDev 0%

02-03-2013 00:22:19 | More by Utica_Brew_Review

puboflyons

New Hampshire

3.16/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

From the 12 fl. oz. bottle. Sampled on February 1, 2013.

I enjoyed looking at it. The color was medium amber or closer to reddish-brown with a small, short-lived off-white head.

The aroma has a toasted bread quality to it with sweet malts, molasses, burnt caramel but nothing that smells like hops.

The body has a smooth medium texture to it.

The taste begins fairly sweet and less toasty like the aroma with a low bitterness in there but it does not hang around much at the end. It is an alright beer but I would not go out of my way.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2013 02:03:44 | More by puboflyons

decaff

New York

3/5  rDev -14.3%

01-29-2013 22:27:23 | More by decaff

phishbone23

New York

5/5  rDev +42.9%

01-25-2013 14:31:42 | More by phishbone23

cliff1066

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev 0%

01-22-2013 04:26:50 | More by cliff1066

tpauer

New Hampshire

3.5/5  rDev 0%

01-21-2013 15:14:47 | More by tpauer