This is another beer that was sent to me by Grand Canyon brewing Company. much like the last one I had, this one includes a flavor bomb. Since I didn’t have any luck with the last one, I figured I had better cracked this one open sooner rather than later, even though it is a bock and should age pretty good.

Location: Poured into a pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 6.75% ABV, ~200 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s deep dark brown in color, almost black, with some brown and ruby highlights. It appears to be fairly clear, even though it’s dark. The head fell after a minute or so to a thin, tan, creamy layer of bubbles across the top. The aroma is caramel and malty with a hint of a lagery smell.

Taste & Feel: The body is medium and the mouthfeel is fairly smooth and slightly creamy. The flavor up front is sweet and malty with caramel flavors. In the middle, the maltiness gets a bit richer with some earthy bitterness. In the finish a bourbon barrel flavor opens up nicely with caramel, vanilla and light, sweet, bourbon flavors. The caramel maltiness and bourbon barrel flavors last a minute or so in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer has some good caramel flavors, perfect for a hearty meal. I’d go with a burger, steak or BBQ, and I think it would go great with a chocolate and caramel dessert.

Overall Impression: Based on my last experience with a “flavor bomb” I wasn’t sure it would have much flavor, but it was much better than I expected with some good caramel and bourbon barrel flavors. It’s a great beer for this time of year, with some hearty, malt flavors, mixed with some caramel, vanilla and light bourbon flavors. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, and thought it could have been even better if it were a bit bigger with a hint of warming alcohol in the finish.

My Rating:

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