Microbrew Review of Samuel Adams Double Bock - by the Boston Beer Company

March is here and spring is just around the corner finally. And with Spring comes the spring seasonal beers. I have a few spring craft beers that I look out for each year around this time, but I'm always trying to find new beers to sample no matter what the season.

Tonight at the local six and save beer shop, I was able to procure a craft beer that I hadn't tried to date. This beer is none other than Samuel Adams Double Bock. This late winter/early spring seasonal beer is brought to me by our good friends at the Boston Beer Company. I've noticed this past year that Samuel Adams has produced seasonal beers as a limited time offerings. I'm not sure exactly when this practice started but this is the first time I'd seen Samuel Adams Double Bock anywhere. But hey, I'm a guy and an amateur and I don't pay alot of attention sometimes I guess. Maybe this Doppelbock beer from Sam Adams has been around for years and I just missed it. Either way, I was excited to give this craft brew a shot.

I poured this beer into an unchilled 10 ounce glass mug. The beer was a beautiful deep coppery mahogany color and shimmered when held up to the little. Very tiny, frisky bubbles of carbonation dodged and darted their way quickly to the surface forming a creamy eggshell colored head that lasted but for a brief minute or two before settling to a meager corona of foam against the mug wall. I was a little surprised to see so much noticeably active carbonation.

The aroma of Sam Adams Double Bock is of strong, sticky sweet syrupy malt with tinges of alcohol stinging just a little on the nose. An almost carmel and licorice hint lingered very faintly in the background.

I'd poured this beer a little bit cold and found the first sip to be noticably strong and chewy with alcohol presence more present than I'd have expected. It actually was a little more present than I would like. As the beer warmed about half mug, the alcohol fell more into the background but provided a warming sense to the belly. I was impressed with the amount of spider web lacing down the side of the mug that Sam Adams Double Bock left as a ghost of the beer that used to be there.

Samuel Adams Double Bock got smoother and more enjoyable as it warmed. It's filling and chewy and finishes admirably clean for such a malty brew. The Bavarian hops ingredient in this craft beer only makes a forgettable cameo as Double Bock is all about massive quantities of malt and that's really what a good double bock beer should be.

My bottom line is that I really enjoyed my review of Samuel Adams Double Bock. It's a great spring seasonal beer and I found it very drinkable yet almost a meal in itself. It was filling and thick yet crisp and refreshing in an "end of winter" sort of way. I couldn't see myself pouring this beer on a hot summer lawn mowing day, but for the first few mid 50 degrees days of the coming spring, Sam Adams Double Bock hit the spot. I will caution that this Double Bock rates a whopping 8.8 percent alcohol by volume, so be respectful and sip responsibly. It's not really a chugging kind of beer anyway.

I'm no expert on double bock beers, but I really liked Samuel Adams Double Bock and will seek out another bottle or two to sample again before the heat waves of summer. I'm also looking forward to whatever Samuel Adams might come out with as their special Summer Seasonal Beer in the upcoming months. Sam Adams Double Bock rates an 8.25 out of 10.00 with me and I hope you like it too if you get a chance to try it. It'll shake you right out of those late winter doldrums and into spring.


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