Bock Night!

Fred volunteered to host, and the theme was going to be bock beers. Some of our favorite beers are bocks, so there was excitement in the air. We started off with the RFG of bocks, the Celebrator from Ayinger Brewery (6.7%). Not only does this beer taste great, it comes with a small plastic goat charm attached to every bottle. Some BC4M members have been known to wear these charms on their ears after consuming this great beer. The Celebrator was an RFG... a good start to the night. Next up was Leinenkugel's 1888 Bock (5.2%). This beer smelled as if they used the wastewater from the Franklin Paper Mill. It was not a good smell. The beer rated a so/so. Yuenglings Bock Beer (5.1%) was next. The label clearly states, "Tastes Good". However, this was somewhat false advertising. Yes, the taste was good, but it smelled like a goat shit in the bottle. Wear a clothes-pin on your nose when you drink this beer. Despite the smell, the group overall liked it, and gave it a good. Johnny then treated us to his growler of the new Gordon Biersch beer, Helen Keller Bock (8.1%). This was a real nice beer, with the familiar Gordon Biersch taste. It rated a good. Aventinus Wheat Dopplebock (8.2%) was next. This beer had very little wheat taste, and it rated a good. Rogue Dead Guy Maibock (6.5%) was next, and it too rated a good. We were on a roll now, with more good ratings than ever before. The next beer was a Hofbrau Munchen Maibock (7.2%). It too was a fine beer and rated a good. According to the label, it was Munich's first Maibock brewed according to the German Purity Laws. Sam Adams has been reamed here before, but their Double Bock (9.5%) was next, and it earned the coveted RFG. I take back all those rude comments that I have previously made about Sammy. But alas, not all beers can be good, thus proven by the folks who make Shiner. Shiner Bock (4.4%) is a Texas tradition. The label states that it has 100 yrs of brewing history. 100 wasted years according to the group, as this just was not a very good beer, rating a so/so. Gordon Biersch Maibock (7.3%), one of their standards, was next, rating a good. And like that, we were out of bocks and had to break out leftovers. First up was Weyerbacher Quad Ale (11.8%). This is an abbey-style ale, and a good one at that. The group gave it a good. And last was a malt liquor. And no, this wasn't Steel Reserve or Colt (although they both have a place in beer drinking circles), it was a Austrian number called Samiclaus Helles Malt Liquor (14%). This beer is brewed only one day per year... Dec 6th. It is not a day that will live in infamy, and I would suggest that these folks do something else on that day. The beer rated only a so/so. It was really sweet and syrupy. And like any good beer night, when the malt liquor comes out, the party's over!