Now this is one big brute of a Bock.
I had a little panic as I popped the cap and there was no hiss, but I shouldn’t have worried as the beer poured a divine dark chestnut with a subtle ring of bubbles for a head.
The aroma is roasty warm chestnuts dipped in sticky toffee with a slight smokiness drifting around in the background.
As for the way it tastes, well, the malts are absolutely massive.
They’re rich with deep and dense toffee and a lovely crumbly digestive biscuit and bran flake cereal backbone.
There’s a slight smoky feeling here too, but it’s beautifully subtle as it hovers like a mist in the corners of the beer.
You get some very nice fruity flavours in here as well.
It’s all stewed plums, some bruised apples and a very welcome glug of brandy heat form the alcohol.
Towards the end the hops give a lemony zing and a soft herbal slap before going all fry and crisp through the finish.
In a word, brilliant.