7.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
New Limited Edition, sold in 22 oz. bombers. I picked this up at the Downers Grove restaurant. Label also shows it as a "Brewmaster’s Reserve," and has a best by Nov. ’09 date. Pours a clear, golden Pils body with a short layer of foam. Smell is something on the order of a better malt liquor: I smell alcohol and malts, but none of the nasty medicinal or adjunct note. Taste is pretty nice; I get a nice, strong, slightly toasty Pils malt taste. Very warming altogether on the tongue, and not just from alcohol. Label on current offering lists Hallertau, and the spicy bitterness of a good German hop load is evident, although it doesn’t bring itself up to IIPA standards. Very slight yeasty dough taste. Worthy to stand up to any American brewpub iteration of this style, maybe a little less fully rounded than Sam Adams’ version. But a big leap over the imported Euro diesels. A good deal at $7 per.
Tried
from Can
on 19 Oct 2008
at 22:38
6.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Draft at Downers Grove. Nice looking brownish amber in an English pint. Thin head. Caramel malt smell with a bit of yeast note. Taste has nice load of caramel or Vienna type malts, not too sweet. Light carbonation makes the mouthfeel a little heavy. Hop character can’t quite be picked out, but that’s okay for this style.
Tried
from Draft
on 18 Aug 2008
at 12:11
7.8/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Draft at Emmett’s, Downers Grove. Menu still shows this as an oatmeal stout, and it certainly seems like it to me. Nice nitro pour yields a black body, paler at first from a brief Guinness cascade. Cappuccino colored foam shows dark swirls. Nice mocha coffee smell presented in a proper English pint glass instead of a shaker. Sweet creamy taste and texture to start, thanks to oatmeal and nitro. Some roast coffee astringency at first, but it goes away. Thin nitro mouthfeel makes this go down nice and easy, keeping me from getting filled up. Maintains a milk chocolate impression all the way down. Yeah, I’m rating this higher than the first two. It just hit me at the right time of evening.
Tried
from Draft
on 14 Aug 2008
at 22:44
6.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Draft in an English pint, Downers Grove. Deep red-brown body, one-finger light tan head, nice and clean looking. Rich cocoa malt smell. Easygoing texture is the first thing I taste. Continues cocoa impressions, adding a bit of coffee, caramel malts and a small amount of dark roast malt. Bit of yeast in the background. Malts are slightly bolder than average. with a correspondingly stronger Engligh hop bill. Hints of molasses cookie at the finish. A brown ale, but more of it.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Dec 2007
at 07:59
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Draft at Emmett’s, Downers Grove. They’d just put this on when I visited May 18, and ja, it’s pretty fresh. Very cloudy, almost dark yellow in a tall weizen glass. After frothing up under the tap, settles to a behaved, meringue-type head, with a lemony weizen smell. No need for a lemon slice on this one. Taste offers soft wheat texture, coriander traces, and that citrus zest, but it’s hit hard by banana and bubblegum. I’ll put that down to it’s being new; who knows how old the imported hefes I’d judge as "to style" were. Turns orangey toward the finish. Not bad. Would hope there are extra kegs mellowing out to sample later.
Tried
from Draft
on 21 May 2007
at 10:25
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Imperial pint draught, Downers Grove. Deep garnet body under a half-inch white and brown head that slips off the sides of the glass as beer goes down. Smell is indeed smoky; not overdone, though, I need to nose in close to find it. Yes, smoky taste upfront, but more like a Gouda than the bacony whiff of Schenklera (if you ever get to a Tinkoff Rauchbier, it’s in that range. Anyway, equal balance of darker srystal malt and basic north German hop thread lets the rauch take center stage. Very nice.
Tried
on 04 Apr 2007
at 22:02
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Draft at Downer’s Grove. Served with no slice in a generous wheat glass. Clean light summertime wheat beer smell. Half-inch, lacy head above a slightly hazy golden body. Firmly on the American side of the style: no banana or spicy esters; just a good light, bready malt, accented by a basic hop bitterness. Midway through the glas, I start to get just a touch of citrus from the hops, like noble Germans accented by some C&C. A little gassy, but when it is, I get a taste of freshly milled wheat and malt, plus more hops. A fine complement to the currently hot weather.
Tried
from Draft
on 14 Jul 2006
at 23:40
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Draft, at Downer’s Grove. Nice brewhouse malt smell comes from the draft pour the moment it appears. Deep spring bock brown color, slightly fizzy cola head. Taste is loaded with well-roasted German style malts, and an equal proportion of noble hoppiness. The best way I can describe this is that it’s a very "hearty" beer. A rich, dark real Bock taste, with a note of fresh yeast at this stage in its serving life.
Tried
from Draft
on 08 May 2006
at 07:08
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
10 oz. snifter at Downers. Deep amber, you betcha, with a lacy, yellowish-brown head. A ’clean’ brandy smell. Dang if it doesn’t have a very hearty hop load, like a new Bigfoot. The Centennial hops don’t get much chance to show their citrus-ness, more of an excess English bitterness. Taste just has a slight alcohol burn in front of a caramel and biscuit malt roast.
Tried
on 25 Apr 2006
at 17:43
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
Draft sampler at W. Dundee. Very dark, but a satisfying brown color. Has a more roasty quality than the bocks I’m familiar with (of course that includes lots of artificially-colored almost megabrewed schlock labeled as "Bock"). Mild bitterness, slightly fruity malts. Goes down very nicely.
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Apr 2006
at 08:04