Thursday, July 25, 2013

Twisted Oak Rye Bock (Phillips)


Brevity shall be the order of writing today. Not due to lack of verbiage but lack of positive things to say. I think Mr. Beaumont mentioned a few months ago that not all things need to be barrel aged. Barrel aging will not make things inherently good.

Twisted Oak Rye Bock = 3/10


Perhaps this is a bit nit picky, but where to start - the aroma. It is very faint of cola, spicy rye and cardboard. Wood aging can round out a beer's flavour with complimentary oxidization; mild beers just smell like musty wood. The mouthfeel is right on at light to medium and lowish carbonation. Perhaps mild flavoured beers do not mesh well with barrel aging. I love that spicy, powdery rye flavour like a good Canadian. This beer just doesn't cut it. Each sip is lackluster with temperate tastes of cola, tannic oak, stale coffee and watered down Jack Daniels. The ending is a little boozy and metallic. Great pangs of guilt sting my fingers with each tap of the keyboard, but unbiased thoughts are paramount. To be fair the other two barrel aged beers by Phillips have been great: rum barrel red ale and Scotch ale.

Taste +1
Aftertaste 0
Alcohol Content +1 6.8% AB1
Value 0
Appearance +1 (Elegant label with good description of beer)

Glassware: Technically this is a lager, so elongated pint glasses or mugs are called for. Seeing this is a barrel aged version, perhaps something slightly rounded would be good. A red wine glass would do well.

Food Pairings: Normally bocks are rich and pair well with wild game or rich bread dishes. This one, with its rich tannic notes, might do well with cedar smoked salmon.

Cellar: Nope



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