Samuel Adams Double Bock (Imperial Series)

The exquisite brewers of Samuel Adams came out with a new line of "Imperial Series" for 2009: Imperial White, Double Bock & Imperial Stout. My other beer nickname besides hop-o-holic is Imperial Jimbo-cereal because damn I live on hoppy and strong beers. I chose the Double Bock out of the 3 at Ramsey Liquors. It came in a cute (yeah I use budlight words like that) 4 pack. Lets see what Jim Koch can do...
Appearance: Pours a deep copper brown but looks rich and thick in the glass like a full bodied shiraz. Low head retention and seems quite intimidating, but I slay beer for a living so that will not stop me.

Smell: Deep vibes of applesauce from the caramelly malts. My nose is not feeling the hops at all. Clean yeast aromas that are fresh for this lager.

Taste: Caramel sweetness like the smell, but the taste of alcohol is not hidden too well. Still can't reach the hops.

Mouthfeel: Creamy and secretly thick. Carbonation tingles the tongue. This beer is like a full meal almost.

Drinkability: 9.5% abv. 8/10 rating. I wonder how glorious the Triple Bock is...

Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock

Ok, just look at that bottle. Can you blame me for seeing that badass in the store and picking it up instantly? The price seemed a little steep for a Sam at $14, but I also knew that the triple bock was priced at $200 according to the late Michael Jackson (not the glove wearing pedophile, the beer god). Hopefully the beer tastes as good as the bottle makes you think it does.

Appearance: Pours thick and dark, with no light whatsoever passing through. Very little head present, about half a finger, and it fades pretty quickly. Slightly carbonated, but for the most part it just looks like liquified chocolate in a glass (who knew?)

Smell: Chocolate, toasted malts with the tiniest scent of hops in the background. I expected the smell to be a little bit stronger and really shove a candy bar up your nose, but its pretty relaxed.

Taste: Cocoa beans and chocolate, but not overly malty like I was expecting, definitely had a good bitterness to it, nothing was really overpowering. Chocolate aftertaste, obviously.

Mouthfeel: Light and kind of watery, a little carbonation which is a plus, I was worried from the appearance that it would be flat, good finish.

Drinkability: I am a huge Sam Adams fan but was pretty underwhelmed with this one. There was chocolate as advertised, but that was it. It left you kind of wanting something else to appear from the beer, but it was over before you knew it. It is a very easy beer to drink thanks to a mild mouthfeel that doesn't try to attack you, and at 5.5% abv you could drink it all night. I just wouldn't want to because the taste isn't interesting. It says "Hey, I'm chocolate in a bottle" and that's all you get. I give it a 7/10, and combined with the pricetag I probably won't buy it again. Maybe one day I'll come across the triple bock.

Serving type: Bottle
Glass type: Stein

Anchor Bock Beer

I like the label on this beer so I got it (When I say "I got it," I just took it from my dads stash). It is some farm animal, perhaps a goat eating a branch with hops on both ends (kind of like a dumbell...lets call it a hopumbell). I also wanted to try a different style beer from my typical hop blasters that I love, so I got this. It may be from San Fransicko, but that is not stopping me from trying bottom fermenting lager.

Appearance: 1 fat finger of head after a bittersweet pour into my snifter. Dense and thick as it pours out like a stout, but the color is a mahogany farmhouse brown.

Smell: Very little hop aromas. Sweet malts that remind me of a red wine.

Taste: Sweet flavor with some fresh brewed coffee roast-y-ness going on. I even taste some kind of fruit (raspberry or red grape).

Mouthfeel: Thick and definitely creamy like a stout, but not overwhelming. Slight bitter but sweet after bite. It makes me want to drink more.

Drinkability: Raging at 5.5%, this beer exceeded my expectations. I am glad I gave this a try, I am sure the beer gods would approve my open taste to all kinds of beer (except Bud Light lime). Wouldn't mind having another for a day, but not more than two. I would keep this towards the beginning to middle of a beer cycle. 7/10 on the Jimbo scale.